After an exciting weekend of the NFL draft, I
wanted to take some time to recap the draft and see how some of the landing
spots for certain players will affect fantasy football. This was a really interesting
draft, with a lot of quality picks of offensive players that are not only going
to help the teams that drafted them, but also help fantasy owners for years to
come. The draft was full of trades and teams being aggressive to move up and
get the guys that they wanted. It is important to remember that these guys are
all rookies, so although there will be some who jump out at the start and help
teams, there will be a lot of them that take time to develop into star NFL
players. To recap, I wanted to go over the picks from the first round that are
going to be fantasy relevant and impact our leagues.
Pick 1) QB - Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns
The Browns kind of surprised everybody by taking
Baker with the number one overall pick this year. Many thought it would be Josh
Allen or Sam Darnold. The Browns choosing to draft Baker shows that they have a
lot of faith in him and that they belive he is their next franchise
quarterback. This is one of those picks that probably will not affect fantasy
right away since the Browns also just acquired Tyrod Taylor, but the long term
goal for them is to make Baker their star quarterback. He is a very athletic
player and accurate thrower. He is extremely competitive and all of his
teammates love to play with him. The Browns have been adding a lot of talented
playmakers around Baker, so I think that once he gets his shot he will come in
and succeed.
Pick 2) RB – Saquon Barkley, New York Giants
Saquon is the biggest fantasy name to come out
of this draft. He is the most talented player and it is almost a guarantee he
will come in and make an immediate impact. In one of my previous posts, I wrote
about how this would be the perfect fit for Barkley and sure enough the Giants
drafted the running back second overall. Barkley can basically do it all, he is
fast, strong, smart and is going to be a nightmare for defenses to stop. The
Giants have a lot of good weapons in the passing game, so this will take
pressure off of Barkley as teams won’t be able to stack the box against him.
Similar to Zeek two years ago, you can expect Barkley to go very early in
dynasty startup drafts this year.
Pick 3) QB – Sam Darnold, New York Jets
Darnold was a potential first pick, but after
the Browns drafted Mayfield, im sure the Jets were pleased to snag Darnold.
Unlike Mayfield, this is a pick where I see Darnold coming in and playing very
quickly. The Jets do not have a ton of weapons around Darnold, but he is a very
talented quarterback and the team is hoping he can finally start to turn things
around. I don’t really expect Darnold to be a game changer for any fantasy
teams, but he can be a solid starter.
Pick 7) QB – Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
The Bills decided to trade up to this pick to
draft Allen seven overall, so you know they have a lot of hope for him to be
their next star quarterback. Josh Allen probably has the biggest arm in this
draft class. He can sling the ball, but accuracy has been somewhat of an issue
over his young career. He gets a lot of comparisons to Matthew Stafford, which
is very encouraging to see. The weapons around Allen are good but not great. I
expect him to start the year behind AJ McCarron, but eventually take over the
starting role.
Pick 10) QB – Josh Rosen, Arizona Cardinals
Rosen fell further in the draft than he wanted,
but I think that this is a great landing spot for him. His arm talent is great
and compares to many of the league’s best throwers. The only down sides to him
are his mobility and also his attitude. The Cardinals have solid weapons around
him. Larry Fitzgerald and David Johnson are going to be extremely helpful for
him and they also just added rookie Christian Kirk to the team in the second
round. I think Rosen will be helping fantasy teams already this season.
Pick 24) WR – DJ Moore, Carolina Panthers
Moore was the first wide receiver to go off the
board in this year’s draft. It is hard to find receivers like him as dangerous
after the catch as he is. He is extremely smart too and can play for basically any
quarterback. This is a great fit for Moore to come in and contribute right away
as he is already going to be considered the team’s WR2. I expect Cam Newton and
DJ Moore to have a lot of success together.
Pick 25) TE – Hayden Hurst, Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens have been looking for a solid tight
end for a while now and they wasted no time in this year’s draft to address
that issue. Typically when a tight end is drafted in the first round it means
they are an elite talent and Hurst was the top ranked tight end going into this
draft. I like the fit a lot and think Hurst will be a solid fantasy guy for
many years.
Pick 26) WR – Calvin Ridley, Atlanta Falcons
I love this fit for Ridley as he now gets to
learn playing side by side with one of the league’s best, Julio Jones. The
Falcons could use a solid WR2 and Ridley is going to fit into that role
perfectly. This is a great offense that scores a lot of points so I think that
Ridley will have a lot of success in Atlanta with Matt Ryan throwing him the
ball.
Pick 31) RB – Sony Michel, New England Patriots
Sony is such a talented back so it is not surprising
to see him go in the first round. He is joining Tom Brady and one of the
smartest run offenses in the league, so they will find good ways to use Michel.
Although he will have some great weeks, Belichick tends to be inconsistent with
the way he uses his running backs which may get frustrating at times.
Pick 32) QB – Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens closed out the first round with Lamar
Jackson as the fifth quarterback to go in the round. This is another solid fit,
but you can pretty much guarantee he will be in a strictly backup role behind
Joe Flacco. He is a player that will need time to develop to the NFL game, but
I can see him being successful down the road.
Just a few honorable mentions for players from
the later rounds that I expect to be fantasy relevant are:
RB - Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns
RB - Ronald Jones II, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
WR – Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos
TE – Mike Gesicki, Miami Dolphins
RB – Kerryon Johnson, Detroit Lions
WR – Anthony Miller, Chicago Bears
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