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

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Published on August 6, 2024

Are you craving stability in college football? That has been hard to find. Fortunately, the MAC is here for you. The roster of teams remains the same, though UMass joins next season, ending a decade of stability. Not only that but there was only one head coaching change this offseason. Maurice Linguist left Buffalo for an assistant coaching job down at Alabama, but his replacement is Pete Lembo, a MAC veteran. Before the MACtion begins, here's a look at the conference.

2024 College Fantasy Football Draft Kit

MAC All-Conference Fantasy Teams

First Team All-MAC (Overall position rank - not ranked if absent)

QB: Tucker Gleason, Toledo Toledo (49)

RB: Antario Brown, Northern Illinois (25)

RB: Jalen Buckley, Western Michigan (29)

WR: Chrishon McCray, Kent State Kent (47)

WR: Trayvon Rudolph, Northern Illinois (64)

TE: Harold Fannin, Bowling Green (1)

Second Team All-MAC

QB: Kadin Semonza, Ball State (95)

RB: Marion Lukes, Central Michigan (44)

RB: Jacquez Stuart, Toledo Toledo (45)

WR: Kenneth Womack, Western Michigan (80)

WR: Jerjuan Newton, Toledo Toledo (93)

TE: Grayson Barnes, Northern Illinois (22)

Third Team All-MAC

QB: Brett Gabbert, Miami (OH)

RB: Rickey Hunt, Ohio Ohio (46)

RB: Terion Stewart, Bowling Green (54)

WR: Ty Robinson, Ball State (100)

WR: Nik McMillan, Buffalo Buffalo (107)

TE: Anthony Torres, Toledo Toledo (35)

2024 MAC Fantasy Sleepers

QB: Ben Finley, Akron Akron

Akron's history of success on the football field is limited. Okay, it's extremely limited. Even Joe Moorhead, who was so successful as an offensive coordinator at Penn State he got the Mississippi State job, and who then got hired to coordinate the offense at Oregon, hasn't turned things around. Maybe even Moorhead's offensive pedigree can't make it work with the Zips. However, this year he has a new quarterback in Finley. He's seen action for NC State and Cal. That speaks to a certain level of talent, the kind of talent that should play in the MAC. "Should" is always the operative word with Akron, but there's a reason why he's a sleeper and not an All-MAC selection.

QB: Hayden Wolff, Western Michigan

Wolff was good at Old Dominion. He threw for 2,908 yards with 18 touchdowns and six interceptions. Wolff transferred to Western Michigan, and then essentially missed the first five games with injury (he played 15 snaps total). That made it hard for him to find his footing, but against Mississippi State, he completed 77.1 percent of his passes with three touchdowns and one interception. In his second year with the team in this offense, Wolff could see things click. Of course, he had a foot injury in the spring, so maybe health is going to stand in his way, but that's hard to predict.

RB: Braedon Sloan, Ball State

Semonza played a bit last season, but not enough that he had to burn his redshirt. The job under center is his. How do you make it easy on a young, inexperienced quarterback? With your run game. Sloan is a transfer from Eastern Kentucky. This is a step up in competition, but with EKU he ran for 765 yards and 10 touchdowns last season while adding 40 catches for 467 yards and three scores. Sloan was a true dual threat at the FCS level. He could really turn some heads at the FBS level.

RB: Dylan Downing, Miami (OH)

What is talent, and what is scheme and opportunity? Miami head coach Chuck Martin is not known for being, shall we say, offensively adventurous. He's a Brian Kelly acolyte, not from the Mike Leach tree. Last season, Rashad Amos carried the ball 210 times for the Redhawks. He's gone, and in steps Purdue transfer Downing. If he is the go-to guy for Miami, odds are he will tote the rock over 200 times. That, through sheer tonnage, would give him fantasy-related upside.

WR: Taji Johnson, Buffalo Buffalo

The Bulls are the one team with a new head coach. A regime change in modern college football often means major roster churn. Johnson played sparingly at Boston College, which is maybe not the best sign. However, he has years of college experience at the ACC level, and he's 6'3''. He joined Lembo at Buffalo for a reason. Opportunity abounds on this remade roster, and Johnson is the only FBS-to-FBS transfer of note in the receiver corps.

WR: Kenneth Womack, Western Michigan

Was Womack unlucky? Last season, after transferring in from Sacred Heart, Womack had 76 catches for 691 yards. That's impressive. However, he had all of one touchdown. Touchdown numbers can fluctuate and can be a product of luck. There are some guys who have certain tools that help in the end zone and certain guys who are more valuable in the middle of the field, but to have only one touchdown on 76 catches? That feels unlucky. With a few more touchdowns, Womack could have the best numbers of any receiver in the MAC.

2024 MAC Fantasy Busts

QB: Tucker Gleason, Toledo Toledo

Dequan Finn was the best quarterback in the MAC last season. He's gone, and as the bowl game indicated, Gleason is next in line. Jason Candle is still the head coach for the Rockets, but Gleason will not simply step into Finn's production. Finn is now at Baylor. That's how college football saw his talent after his time at Toledo. In the bowl game against Wyoming, Gleason went 14-for-34 for 184 yards and an interception. It feels like Gleason is riding Finn's coattails in terms of preseason perception, and I am not so sure about that.

QB: Connor Bazelak, Bowling Green

Sorry, Connor. You had your chance. He started for Missouri in 2021, Indiana in 2022 and Bowling Green in 2023. I was intrigued about a guy who had started for two FBS schools – one an SEC school – playing in the MAC. Well, in 2023 he only threw for 12 touchdowns against seven picks. Three of those touchdowns were against Eastern Illinois. It would seem even the MAC is too tough a level of competition for Bazelak.

RB: Delbert Mimms, Eastern Michigan

Mimms ran for eight touchdowns with NC State last season. So what concerns me? He tallied 282 yards on 96 carries. Mimms averaged a mere 2.9 yards per carry. This is a profile that screams "touchdown vulture." That worked at NC State last season, but the idea is for Mimms to be the go-to guy for the Eagles in 2024. You can't trust Mimms to score touchdowns at the same rate, even in a larger role. As such, the 2.9 yards per carry means a little more to me.

RB: Gavin Garcia, Kent State Kent

The Golden Flashes have a football resume only a smidge better than Akron's. Garcia paced the way for Kent State last season with 138 carries and 544 yards but with only two touchdowns. Not only that but 125 of those yards and both of those touchdowns came against Central Connecticut. Ky Thomas, after a year at Minnesota and a year at Kansas, transferred to Kent State. Then, he missed all of 2023. Now, though, Thomas is ready to play and could easily take over as the team's top back. Garcia certainly didn't play well enough last year to guarantee himself the lead role.

WR: Ty Robinson, Ball State

Robinson was part of the mass exodus from Colorado after Deion Sanders (and his cult of personality) took over. Unfortunately, after a strong opener, Robinson injured his thumb in Week 2 and missed the rest of the season. He's back atop the depth chart for an offense with upside, but how will his thumb be? Was his first game with the Cardinals a fluke? How will Semonza perform under center? I want to see Robinson healthy and build a proper rapport with Semonza before I trust him.

WR: Tyson Davis, Central Michigan

I thought when Jim McElwain took over at Central Michigan the offense would pick up. Instead, the Chippewas have been…fine. Davis led the team with 453 yards and four touchdowns in only 10 games. That's also fine. I don't know how much room for growth there is here. Central Michigan's new projected starter is Joe Labas. He was the third-string signal caller at Iowa. Iowa! I just don't see a ceiling higher than the usual "fine" here.