2024 Conference USA Conference Preview: Sleepers, Busts and All-Conference Teams

Written by

Published on August 2, 2024

I say it every year at conference preview time, and not just because it benefits me as a guy who covers a non-power conference. It's the conferences out of the spotlight that offer you a path toward success. While your competitors might be focused on the bright lights of the blue blood programs, last year, a guy like Diego Pavia, Quinton Cooley, or Kris Mitchell could have paved your path to glory. The look of Conference USA has changed once again. Say hello to the Kennesaw State Owls, another team new to FBS football. Let's get to the breakdown.

2024 College Football Fantasy Draft Kit

Conference USA All-Conference Fantasy Teams

First-Team All-Conference USA (Overall position rank)

QB: Kaidon Salter, Liberty Liberty (1)

RB: Quinton Cooley, Liberty Liberty (13)

RB: Andrew Paul, Jacksonville State (88)

WR: Noah Smith, Sam Houston (24)

WR: Dalvin Smith, Western Kentucky (43)

TE: Holden Willis, MTSU Middle Tenn. St (8)

Second-Team All-Conference USA

QB: TJ Finley, Western Kentucky (46)

RB: Jevon Jackson, UTEP UTEP (91)

RB: Elijah Young, Western Kentucky (93)

WR: Omari Kelly, MTSU Middle Tenn. St (69)

WR: Treon Sibley, Liberty Liberty (107)

TE: River Helms, Western Kentucky (17)

Third-Team All-Conference USA

QB: Nicholas Vattiato, MTSU Middle Tenn. St (50)

RB: Marquis Crosby, Louisiana Tech (98)

RB: Michael Benefield, Kennesaw State (114)

WR: Easton Messer, Western Kentucky (96)

WR: Malik Phillips, Sam Houston

TE: Bentley Hanshaw, Liberty Liberty

2024 Conference USA Sleepers

QB: Logan Smothers, Jacksonville State

Last season, Jacksonville State was making the jump to FBS football, but they had Rich Rodriguez as a head coach, which helped smooth the transition. Zion Webb was the starting quarterback at first, but when he scuffled a bit, Nebraska transfer Smothers took over. Eventually, Webb took the role back and then took off with gusto, but Smothers finished with six touchdown passes against three interceptions. Also, 322 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. Rich Rod's offense remains built around the run game. The job is Smothers' for now, and his biggest competition is Furman transfer Tyler Huff. If Smothers shows why he was a Nebraska recruit, and why Rodriguez gave him a few starts in 2023, he'll turn some heads.

QB: Cade McConnell, UTEP UTEP

It's a new era in El Paso. That's not just the fact that Gavin Hardison, one of those college guys who seems to have been around for a decade, is no longer the quarterback. Scotty Walden was brought in from Austin Peay to serve as the new head coach for the Miners. The fact that he's only 34 isn't the only interesting thing about him. Walden's brand of football is what I like to call "rich with incident." That is to say, he pushes the tempo, brings the aggression, and runs a high-octane offense. McConnell isn't "his guy," so maybe he cedes the starting quarterback role. If he has the role, though, he could take off.

RB: Marquis Crosby, Louisiana Tech

You may have forgotten about Crosby, if he was ever on your radar because he missed all of 2023 with an injury. Literally, he got all of one touch in one game, and that was it. In 2022, though, Crosby ran for 917 yards and nine touchdowns while averaging 5.0 yards per carry. He's expected to be healthy and ready to go to start 2024. If he's the guy, and he certainly should be, this could be a season where he hits 1,000 yards and double-digit touchdowns.

RB: Billy Lucas, Liberty Liberty

The Liberty Flames steamrolled the competition last year. Jamey Caldwell's crew was clearly the cream of the crop in Conference USA. In circumstances such as that, multiple guys are able to put up notable numbers. Cooley, a Wake Forest transfer, sliced through opposing defenses. However, Lucas got his as well, and he was making the move from Duquesne, so he was playing FBS football for the same time. Lucas ran the ball 114 times for 597 yards and five touchdowns. He averaged 5.2 yards per carry. Maybe his ceiling is 700 yards and seven touchdowns if Cooley stays healthy, and obviously I don't want anybody to get hurt. Cooley is only 5'7'', though, and he quadrupled his previous career high in carries in 2023. What we want to happen and what happens aren't always the same thing.

WR: Michael Mathison, Western Kentucky

Tyson Helton's pass-happy offense at Western Kentucky has kept on rolling in the years since the Bailey Zappe season. Malachi Corley was the guy for the Hilltoppers for a couple of seasons, and he was so good that he was drafted 65th overall in 2023 out of a Conference USA school. Dalvin Smith will likely step into Corley's role, but who will be the No. 2 guy? It could be Easton Messer, but Mathison could step back into the mix. In 2022, Mathison had 52 catches for 615 yards and three touchdowns. Then, in 2023, he sat out the season with a hip injury. Mathison is projected to be good to go for 2024. If he ended up the second option in this passing game, expect good things.

WR: Trey Goodman, UTEP UTEP

Goodman is a Walden guy. He's one of the many Austin Peay players who joined their head coach in this move from Tennessee to Texas. Last season, Goodman had 34 catches for 721 yards and seven touchdowns. By the way, that includes 70 yards and a touchdown against Tennessee. That's encouraging, because the move up a level of collegiate football isn't a smooth one for everybody. One game doesn't tell us for sure we can trust Goodman as an FBS receiver, but it's a data point, at least, and we know Walden is going to try and win track meets, which tends to bode well for offensive players from a sheer tonnage perspective.

2024 Conference USA Fantasy Busts

QB: Nicholas Vattiato, MTSU Middle Tenn. St

The Blue Raiders have continuity under center, which is not something most of the teams in Conference USA can say. Vattiato was good in 2023 as well, completing 66.8 percent of his passes and throwing for 23 touchdowns. However, he did throw 13 interceptions as well, as well as losing two fumbles while only rushing for two scores. My concern is where there is no continuity, and that is on the sideline. Rick Stockstill, who had spent 18 seasons as Middle Tennessee's head coach, is gone. Derek Mason has taken over. He's a defensive coach with a defensive mindset. His new offensive coordinator was brought in from Northern Iowa. I'm not sure I want to bet on Vattiato replicating what he did in 2023, or even being Mason's choice under center all season long.

QB: Santino Marucci, New Mexico State

Marucci transferred over from Wake Forest to get a shot to be a starting quarterback. Pavia did impressive work under center for the Aggies last year, but don't expect Marucci to simply replace that production, even if he is a former ACC-level recruit. One, Pavia's profile was considered good enough he's in line to start for an SEC team in 2024. Sure, that SEC team is Vanderbilt, but it counts! Two, Jerry Kill is no longer NMSU's head coach. Tony Sanchez is. New Mexico State's history is one of failure and futility aside from Kill's time there. Kill worked magic. Sanchez went 20-40 at UNLV. The Aggies could fall off a cliff this season.

RB: Elijah Young, Western Kentucky

If Young is a viable fantasy running back in the Helton offense, he will be the first. This offense simply does not turn to the running game with any gusto, and it has never made one running back the go-to guy. Young came in last year as a transfer from Missouri. Even then, he managed 474 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, and two of those scores came against UTEP, who fired its head coach. Young did add 20 catches for 247 yards and three scores, but Helton's offense has never really made the running back a big part of the passing game. Personally, I think we have seen Young's ceiling, and it's what he did in 2023.

RB: Shomari Lawrence, Florida International

Mike MacIntyre has improved the Panthers (I missed when they were the Golden Panthers), and he was starting from basically square one. When he got them to 4-8 in his first season, that was honestly impressive. Then, the team went 4-8 again in 2023. That's stagnation. Lawrence transferred in from South Dakota and ran for 566 yards and four touchdowns. He's in line for more competition in 2024, though. Kejon Owens was out at the start of the 2023 season. Lexington Joseph, who had over 700 total yards and seven total touchdowns in 2022, didn't play last year. Instead of improving in his second year with the team, Lawrence could end up with a smaller role and lesser numbers.

WR: Blake Bohannon, Kennesaw State

Consider this an overarching alert: I don't want any part of the Owls offense. Maybe somebody breaks through, but maybe not. Kennesaw State is making the jump from the FCS level to the FBS level. Now, last year Jacksonville State's offense performed at a solid level after making the move, but it had Rodriguez. The Owls don't have a Rich Rod. This is a program that has only been playing college football since 2015. After finding success early, the Owls went 5-6 in 2022 and 3-6 in 2023. Sam Houston joined Jacksonville State as being new to the FBS in 2023, and its offense really struggled. I think that is going to be Kennesaw State's fate. Like I said, I am down on every Owl, including Bohannon who is atop the Owls' receiving depth chart and is…let me check my notes…the son of head coach Brian Bohannon. Weird how that works out.

WR: Malik Phillips, Sam Houston

Phillips only had one touchdown catch in 2023, but he had 35 catches for 430 yards. My concern is not that the BearKats' offense is worse in 2024. In fact, I think it will be better. However, I also think it may be different. Jase Bauer has transferred in from Central Michigan, where he was the starter in 2023. What stands out is that he ran the ball 121 times for 365 yards and 10 touchdowns. Does the Sam Houston staff want to change the offensive game plan? Do the BearKats want to be CopyKats and follow the lead of Liberty and Jacksonville State who win with dual-threat quarterbacks and run-first offenses? If so, Phillips could see his targets drop, maybe significantly, and that will hinder his offensive upside.