2014 Dynasty Rookie Rankings: Consensus Second Round
Rookie drafts are underway and it’s an incredibly exciting time within the doors of DLF. We brought you the first twelve rookies from our consensus dynasty rankings yesterday and we continue on with what would constitute round two in most rookie drafts, with rookies ranked #13-#24.
It’s been said the second round is a great place to have multiple picks as this draft is supposedly very deep. While I tend to agree with that idea, trying to pinpoint the best players in the second and third round this year is difficult as the talent vs. situation debate rears its ugly head early and often within this group. Our individual rankings for the second round were all across the board, but the average seems to make a lot of sense in the end.
Let’s get to it!
13. Donte Moncrief, WR IND
If you were to put all the rookie receivers on the field, fail to put their names on their jerseys and work them all out individually without knowing anything about them, Moncrief would likely stand out as perhaps the most physically gifted as he displays a great combination of size and speed. In short, the man looks good in a t-shirt.
The trouble with Moncrief is his production level just doesn’t match his seemingly elite physical capabilities. Over his three year career at Ole Miss, he had 156 catches for 2,371 yards and 20 touchdowns, while failing to ever record a 1,000 yard season. Those are good numbers, but nothing that screams future WR1 from the rooftops.
With all that being said, it’s hard to pass on Moncrief in this area of a draft because of his landing spot. The roster of the Colts is filled with question marks ranging from age (Reggie Wayne), injury (Hakeem Nicks), consistency (TY Hilton) and knuckleheadedness (Da’Rick Rogers). Don’t expect instant greatness here, but Moncrief could grow into being a really solid option for Andrew Luck and that alone can’t be ignored.
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14. Cody Latimer, WR DEN
A fast riser late in the draft process, Latimer finds himself suddenly thrust into the spotlight in Denver with Peyton Manning commandeering the most explosive offense in football. The allure for dynasty owners is obvious as he could quickly help supplant the loss of Eric Decker and become an instant contributor. The downfall is he could very likely take too long to develop and find himself catching passes from the, uhh, much less explosive Brock Osweiler. The second round is a time to start taking some chances and Latimer represents a high risk/reward selection.
15. Tre Mason, RB STL
For all the hype surrounding Zac Stacy, you’d think he somehow ran for 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns last season. Fact is, he failed to reach 1,000 yards or average even four yards per carry. Now, I’m not saying Mason is going to be the bellcow for the Rams any time soon, but the Stacy hype train seems to be going a little out of control for my liking.
When I look for running backs, I like to see production in tough conferences and you could say the SEC pretty much fits the bill. Mason rushed for 1,816 yards and a whopping 23 touchdowns on a robust 5.7 yards per carry last season for Auburn. He also finished extremely strong with 663 rushing yards in his last three games against Alabama, Missouri and Florida State. Six. Sixty. Three.
Mason isn’t the biggest, strongest or fastest back in the class, but he can find lanes, is tough to tackle and has a tendency to fall forward after contact. The running backs in general are a little lackluster this year, but a few pundits ranked Mason as the number one running back prospect in the class and you can certainly make a case for it.
16. Teddy Bridgewater, QB MIN
We finally have a quarterback on the board and it’s not Johnny Manziel. Bridgewater landed in a great spot with the Vikings and will immediately compete for the starting job. With Adrian Peterson, Cordarrelle Patterson, Greg Jennings and Kyle Rudolph to help out, he is immediately put into a position to be successful. Norv Turner has worked with less talented quarterbacks than Bridgewater and made most of them look pretty good in the end. Yes, his pro day was a disaster and yes, there are questions about how he’ll perform in cold weather. However, Bridgewater is seen as a player with a very high floor and he should be able to maintain QB2 value moving forward.
17. Jeremy Hill, RB CIN
Hill is another solid back who performed well in the SEC as he posted over 1,400 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns for LSU last year. Many feel his landing spot with the Bengals is a negative because of the presence of Giovani Bernard, but our rankers obviously disagree. Gio is never going to be used exclusively and Hill can easily take over the “big back” workload BenJarvus Green-Ellis was used for last season. While his ceiling may not be enormous with Gio in the fold, it’s likely these two form a nice 1-2 punch and that means something in dynasty leagues.
18. Austin Seferian-Jenkins, TE TB
Once thought of as a top ten prospect in reality, ASJ fell off the map a bit with an inconsistent season and an injury that hobbled him through much of the pre-draft process. He bounced back with a fine private workout and the Bucs were impressed enough to take him highly in the second round. ASJ is much more talented than any of the current tight ends in Tampa and should make his mark as one of the three “red zone power forwards” for Tampa with Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson as they should easily lead the league in red zone nightmare match ups, rebounds and blocked shots. He’s undoubtedly looked at as the long term answer at the position in Tampa.
19. Jace Amaro, TE NYJ
Amaro did his best Jimmy Graham impression for Texas Tech last season as he posted a ridiculous 106 catches for 1,352 yards and seven touchdowns. Those numbers need to be taken with a grain of salt as the Red Raiders ran a pretty wide open offense, to say the least. Regardless, that shows a pretty amazing amount of ability and Amaro finds himself in a situation where he should be able to contribute immediately. It’s not like Jeff Cumberland and Zach Sudfeld are suddenly going to become great options and the safety valve for the Jets should get a fair number of targets. Amaro is easily the TE3 within the rookie class and you could even make a case for him to be taken over ASJ.
20. Blake Bortles, QB JAX
After being taken #3 overall by the quarterback desperate Jaguars, Bortles will be given every possible chance to be successful in the league. After all, everyone in the world knew Blaine Gabbert was awful and he ended up with around 18 cat lives. The Jags signed Toby Gerhart to play running back, then added Marqise Lee and Allen Robinson in the draft to compete with Cecil Shorts at the wide receiver position, so the cupboard is not bare here. Bortles needs some time to develop (hopefully he gets it), but he has Ben Roethlisberger-like ability and physical make-up.
21. Lache Seastrunk, RB WAS
Opinions on Seastrunk are all over the place at this point. Fact is, he’s been a pretty big disappointment this off-season. After declaring for the draft, his game was picked apart and he was exposed as a one dimensional running back who benefited greatly from the offense he played on. Much has been made of the fact he had more drops than catches as well. Couple that with the fact he was drafted in the sixth round by a team with a young, powerful running back on the roster and his value has taken a nose dive. In fact, there are no guarantees he even makes the team. Still, he has loads of talent and was once thought of as future stud in dynasty leagues. Again, the late second round is a time to start taking chances and this could be a worthy one – just be aware of the boom or bust factor here.
22. Johnny Manziel, QB CLE
Speaking of boom or bust…
There is no more polarizing player in reality or fantasy from this class than Johnny Manziel. After a record setting college career, Manziel will go to the Browns and quickly be labeled as the savior of the franchise. There are major concerns about how someone with his size will hold up and those concerns are more than valid. There are also questions about his arm strength and poise in the pocket. Still, Manziel is a once in a generation athlete who could revolutionize the game…or end up on some strange reality show. Don’t you feel like you’re getting Manning or Leaf here? He has an amazingly high ceiling and ridiculously low floor.
Feel lucky?
23. Ka’Deem Carey, RB CHI
Carey is an ultra-productive running back who posted nearly 4,000 rushing yards and 42 touchdowns over the past two seasons in the desert. However, there are major concerns about his speed as he was incredibly slow at both the combine and his pro day, which undoubtedly made his stock drop. Carey should slide into the backup role behind Matt Forte, but patience is going to need to be used here as he likely won’t see a lot of playing time initially. It’s also quite possible he’s simply seen as a backup and not the heir apparent to the Forte throne.
24. Davonta Freeman, RB ATL
There are lots of rumblings out there stating the Falcons see Freeman as a future lead back for the team. At 5’8″ and 203 pounds, color me a bit skeptical. Still, Freeman runs with authority and has a ton of upside. With Steven Jackson on his last legs and Jacquizz Rodgers being, well, Jacquizz Rodgers, the door is there for Freeman to open. He should get his chances early and often in Atlanta. We’ll may well know soon enough if he can handle a big workload at the NFL level after never really doing it in college. At this point in the draft, it’s well worth rolling the dice.
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Ken is on Twitter at DLF_KenK
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