Draft Aftermath: IDP Winners and Losers, NFC West
Editor’s Note: We’ll be covering IDP “Winners and Losers” from the draft within each and every division in this series over the next couple of weeks. We’re happy to ramp up our IDP coverage as part of our all encompassing fantasy football review of the NFL Draft.
As exciting as it is to drool over incoming rookies each year, it inevitably has an inverse effect on some veteran players. While it’s important to realize a lot of these players were drafted to provide depth on NFL rosters and will potentially never make a single career start, the majority were selected with the intention to replace veterans throughout the league. Here we’ll touch on the IDP “Winners and Losers” in the NFC West.
[am4show have=’g1;’ guest_error=’sub_message’ user_error=’sub_message’ ]
Winners
Michael Wilhoite, ILB SF
After the sudden retirements of both Patrick Willis and Chris Borland, it was pretty surprising to see the 49ers fail to draft a single inside linebacker or trade for one on draft weekend with the likes of Mychal Kendricks reportedly available on the block. This leaves Wilhoite as the heavy favorite to line up next to Navarro Bowman in week one. Wilhoite offers a fraction of what Willis or Borland brought to the defense but then again, everybody thought the same thing when Johnny Moxon took over for Lance Harbor.
Bruce Irvin, SLB SEA
Rumors were swirling around Irvin possibly being traded on draft weekend. Luckily for him, they never came to fruition. After the Seahawks declined his fifth year option, he now finds himself in the last year of his rookie contract on one of the league’s premier defenses with the opportunity to make himself a lot of money next March. Nothing motivates a player more than money and the opportunity to make a team regret doing them wrong. It’s all on Irvin now.
Chris Long, DE STL / James Laurinaitis, MLB STL
The Rams surprisingly neglected the defensive side of the ball until the seventh round of the draft. Leading up to round one they were heavily linked to inside linebacker Benardrick McKinney and multiple edge rushers but passed on both to draft running back Todd Gurley. Long has the opportunity to prove doubters wrong entering his age 30 season. He bookends one of the league’s elite defensive ends playing across from Robert Quinn and outside of an impressive interior defensive line made up of Aaron Donald, Nick Fairley and Michael Brockers. He’ll have the benefit of one-on-one matchups 24/7.
Laurinaitis is coming off his most disappointing season as a pro. He recorded a career-low 109 total tackles and failed to intercept a pass for the first time. It led many to wonder if he had lost a step or if last off-season’s ankle scope was more than led to believe. The fact the Rams didn’t add competition or significant depth shows they maintain faith in the onetime IDP stud.
Losers
Calais Campbell, DE ARI
The Cardinals lost Darnell Dockett in free agency and somehow have gotten worse at outside linebacker with Alex Okafor and LaMarr Woodley expected to start. Campbell is the best player in this front seven and the players opposing offenses will look to negate until someone else on this defense can step up and be a playmaker. They did draft Markus Golden, a high motor “try hard” from Missouri who will be transitioning from defensive end but he’s more of a long term project than day one help.
Justin Smith, DE SF
I don’t believe the selection of Arik Armstead closes the door (or even lessens the 49ers desire) for Smith to suit up in 2015, but it takes the upper hand away from Smith and gives it to the team. He is a diminishing asset in fantasy land but still offers value as long as he’s in the league. Smith is scheduled to meet with the team brass within the next two weeks and decide his future. If this was all a play for money and time off, the team may decide to move forward with rookie Armstead, Darnell Dockett and Tank Carradine. This franchise has recently become far from predictable.
Jaquiski Tartt, SS SF
Admittedly, I didn’t know a whole lot about Tartt. Lucky for DLF readers and myself, I have TheFFGhost’s ORANGE Report. Ghost noted “Tartt’s hype is building quickly and looks to crescendo right when the NFL Draft will occur, absolutely perfect timing for a small school prospect that very few people know about at this point.” That’s fair and accurate. Tartt was the 46th overall pick in the draft and now has the burden of living up to expectations of a second rounder. He’s the heir apparent to Antoine Bethea but needs to adjust to NFL speed after playing his college ball at Samford.
Follow me on Twitter @OlingerIDP.
[/am4show]
- Dynasty IDP Waiver Wire: Week Seven - October 24, 2018
- Dynasty IDP Waiver Wire: Week Six - October 16, 2018
- Dynasty IDP Waiver Wire: Week Five - October 10, 2018
