2013 NFL Draft Winners and Losers: NFC West

Chad Scott

russell_wilson3We bring our Premium members a team capsule for every team in the NFL every off-season. These quick snapshots in time give you a good assessment of where we feel the value of those players lies at the moment. Unfortunately, things change often in the NFL and in dynasty leagues. The biggest value rises or drops come as a result of the NFL Draft. Rather than leaving those capsules untouched until next year, we decided to go division-by-division with extended coverage of veteran winners and losers from the off-season. Many values have stayed the same, so an entire team capsule would be redundant. However, these articles will cover some key draft additions that have a huge impact in dynasty leagues one way or another.

We begin our journey through the NFL with the NFC West.

Arizona Cardinals

1.07 Jonathan Cooper, OG, North Carolina

2.13 Kevin Minter, ILB, LSU

3.07 Tyrann Mathieu, CB, LSU

4.06 Alex Okafor, DE, Texas

4.19 Earl Watford, OG, James Madison

5.07 Stepfan Taylor, RB, Stanford

6.06 Ryan Swope, WR, Texas A&M

6.19 Andre Ellington, RB, Clemson

7.13 D.C. Jefferson, TE, Rutgers

Winners

Carson Palmer

The sieve that was the interior part the offensive line should be somewhat stabilized by the first round selection, Jonathan Cooper.  Pressure up the middle is no Bueno for Palmer and he should have more time to make better decisions in Bruce Arians’ offense.  Swope in the sixth round gives the Cardinals a burner to take the tops off defenses.  I don’t expect much from Swope this year, but he’ll need to be accounted for when/if he’s on the field.

Michael Floyd

The Cardinals didn’t draft a high-end wide receiver, which tells me they’re more than comfortable with Floyd moving forward.  He was a nice sleeper during the winter, but the word is out and no one is sleeping on him anymore.  He’s going to be the starter in 2013 and we all know Larry Fitzgerald will demand double teams.  With the addition of Palmer, a better offensive line and the bevy of throws that spawn from Arians’ offense, Floyd will be trending up as we move closer to the season.

Losers

Ryan Williams

Arians spoke glowingly of Williams when he was first hired.  Then the Cardinals signed Rashard Mendenhall.  Williams owners were somewhat optimistic he could still be “the guy.”  Then, after day three of the NFL Draft, we were left holding onto false hope.  When the Cardinals drafted both Taylor and Ellington, it should tell us it’s time to move on from Williams – even if he is the most talented RB on their roster.  If you believe in someone as much as Arians’ was said to believe in Williams, you don’t bring in three RBs through free agency and/or draft, you just don’t.  Luckily, he’s a free agent in 2015 and Rashard Mendenhall is only on a one year deal.  Don’t cut him yet, just wait to see how things shake out.

San Francisco 49ers

1.18 Eric Reid, FS, LSU

2.08 Cornellius Carradine, DE, Florida St.

2.23 Vance McDonald, TE, Rice

3.26 Corey Lemonier, DE, Auburn

4.31 Quinton Patton, WR, Louisiana Tech

4.34 Marcus Lattimore, RB, South Carolina

5.24 Quinton Dial, DE, Alabama

6.12 Nick Moody, OLB, Florida St.

7.31 B.J. Daniels, QB, South Florida

7.40 Carter Bykowski, OT, Iowa St.

7.46 Marcus Cooper, CB, Rutgers

Winners

Marcus Lattimore

This was an ideal landing spot for Lattimore.  The 49ers have the luxury of waiting until he’s 100% recovered from the brutal knee injury he suffered last year before he sets foot on the field.  He will be Frank Gore’s successor when the time comes.  Must be nice to have luxuries like this.

Losers

Kendall Hunter

Last year, Hunter was the darling and favorite to take over for the aging Gore, but as luck would have it, he injured his Achilles tendon, ending is season and perhaps, ending any hopes of becoming the lead dog in San Francisco.  The Lattimore draft pick spells doom for Hunter and should be looked at as nothing more than a change of pace back for however long he’s in the Bay area.  I’ll miss seeing this on Twitter: #FreeKendallHunter

A.J. Jenkins

When the team who selected you with their #1 draft pick a season ago is able to draft a player better than you at the same position three rounds later, you’re in trouble.  Mr. Jenkins, you’re in trouble.  The Niners already have too many mouths to feed and his piehole just complicates matters.  Michael Crabtree, Vernon Davis and Anquan Boldin will be the primary targets and they still have veteran Mario Manningham on the roster.  Jenkins could see himself as the WR5 when the depth charts come out this summer and he’s not someone I’m willing to wait another year on.  I’m moving on.

Seattle Seahawks

2.30 Christine Michael, RB, Texas A&M

3.25 Jordan Hill, DT, Penn St.

4.26 Chris Harper, WR, Kansas St.

5.04 Jesse Williams, DT, Alabama

5.05 Tharold Simon, CB, LSU

5.25 Luke Willson, TE, Rice

6.26 Spencer Ware, RB, LSU

7.14 Ryan Seymour, G, Vanderbilt

7.25 Ty Powell, DE, Harding

7.35 Jared Smith, DT, New Hampshire

7.36 Michael Bowie, OT, NE Oklahoma St.

Winners

Seahawks

By trading their #1 draft pick, the Seahawks were able to land Percy Harvin.  The only other wide receiver they would have wanted there was Tavon Austin, so they had no real shot at getting him anyway.  Harvin is just six months older than Russell Wilson – this duo should be fun to watch for years to come.  How’s that for analysis?

Like the 49ers, there’s no real “winner” post draft because of the talent they both had before the draft.  The teams, in general, are winners in my book.

Losers

Robert Turbin

It was so much fun to envision Turbin as the heir apparent to Marshawn Lynch.  There was no reason to think otherwise after posting solid rookie season numbers.  Then, Pete Carroll and John Schneider happened.  When they drafted Michael, it was apparent to us fans who the heir was going to be.  #RIPTurbinator.

St. Louis Rams

1.08 Tavon Austin, WR, West Virginia

1.30 Alec Ogletree, ILB, Georgia

3.09 T.J. McDonald, FS, USC

3.30 Stedman Bailey, WR, West Virginia

4.16 Barrett Jones, OG, Alabama

5.16 Brandon McGee, CB, Miami

5.27 Zac Stacy, RB, Vanderbilt

Winners

Sam Bradford

There are no more excuses for Bradford.  It’s his time to put up or shut up given the offensive additions the Rams accrued.  Jared Cook is a clear upgrade over former super sleeper Lance Kendricks, and Austin will fill the void left by Danny Amendola.  Not to mention Bailey, who had a huge following in the Twitterverse pre-draft.  Sure, the Rams are young and inexperienced at all the skill positions, but the talent is undeniably there.  The Rams have a look of an overly pass happy team come 2013 and as we all know, volume breeds success in fantasy football.  Could be a sneaky, low end QB1 in the coming years.

Brian Quick and Chris Givens

Both?  Yes, I think both actually have some ‘winning’ value now with the addition of Austin.  Quick and Givens should man the outside with defenses keying in on the electric rookie from West Virginia.  If I had to pick one, I’d be on the Quick wagon, especially in PPR formats.  If he can develop during the off-season, there’s no question he can make hay with one on one matchups.  Now that teams know about Givens, I expect Quick to be the man to emerge as the WR to own in St. Louis – although I am in the minority.  This could all go sideways if  Stedman Bailey pans out in which case, Givens is a clear loser.

Losers

Daryl Richardson (or Isaiah Pead)

Speaking of being in the minority.  There’s little doubt when it comes to my infatuation with Pead this off-season.  I’ve been “pounding the table” about my dude from Cincinnati before Steven Jackson skipped town to Atlanta.  There will be a write-up coming soon on the whole St. Louis running back and wide receiver situation with commentary from Rotoworld.com’s, Nick Mensio, but Stacy brings a much needed “bull mentality” with him.  The Rams needed a bigger-bodied running back to run between the tackles for short yardage and goal line situations – Pead and Richardson aren’t those types of backs.  The only piece of the puzzle that makes sense in the running game is Stacy having a significant role.  He was a perfect addition to the Rams and if I’m a Pead or Richardson owner, I’m doing all I can to acquire Stacy in rookie drafts.

We’ll continue our winners and losers by division in the upcoming days and weeks.