NFL Draft Aftermath: Winners and Losers from the NFC East

Bruce Matson

Editor’s Note: As our coverage of the 2016 NFL Draft and its impact on fantasy football continues, we bring you our 2016 winners and losers series. These articles accompany our individual SWOT articles for over 30 prospects, as well as our IDP reviews and mock draft submissions. We’ll follow that up with team-by-team draft reviews because, you know, that’s kind of what we live for.

Make sure you’re ready for your dynasty league rookie draft by staying up on all these articles, checking out our rookie draft guide, rookie rankings, rookie draft cheat sheet and mock draft rooms. There are simply no better resources out there for dynasty fantasy football enthusiasts.

Without further delay, let’s review the post-draft fantasy winners and losers from the NFC East.

Dallas Cowboys

Pick #4, Ezekiel Elliott, RB
Pick #34, Jaylon Smith, LB
Pick #67, Maliek Collins, DT
Pick #101, Charles Tapper, DE
Pick #135, Dak Prescott, QB
Pick #189, Anthony Brown, CB
Pick #212, Kavon Frazier, SS
Pick #216, Darius Jackson, RB
Pick #217, Rico Gathers, TE

Draft Overview

The choice was between Ezekiel Elliott and Jalen Ramsey when the Cowboys were on the clock for their first round pick and as we now know they selected Elliott to shore up their rushing attack. Jaylon Smith was an interesting selection in the second round due to his injury concerns, but he is a tremendous talent and he could develop into one of the top linebackers in the league. Everyone knew Dallas was going to draft a quarterback but they didn’t know when they were going to pull the trigger or who it was going to be. They eventually drafted Dak Prescott in the fourth round to back up Tony Romo, providing an upgrade at the position just in case Romo would get injured again.

Winners

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Dallas finished last season ranked 27th in the league in passing, mostly because Romo missed the majority to the season with a broken collarbone. To help protect him from another season plagued with injuries, Dallas drafted Ezekiel Elliot with their first round pick, who is astounding in pass protection. Elliott is very reliable when it comes to blitz pickup which will help keep the pocket clean for Romo to operate in.

Losers

Darren McFadden, Alfred Morris and Lance Dunbar are currently shaking in their boot straps because Elliott dropped an atomic bomb on the depth chart. Elliott’s going to demand the majority of the touches – he’s good at catching passes out of the backfield and he’s an amazing blocker, so there’s no reason why he should leave the field. There’s a good chance one of the running backs get cut in the off-season. McFadden’s contract is up at the end of the year and there’s a chance he could be one the running backs cut if he has another training camp plagued with injuries. Dunbar has his own niche within the offense as the pass catching specialist but he’s recovering from a gruesome knee injury and he also risks being cut if he doesn’t make a full recovery.

Washington Redskins

Pick #22, Josh Doctson, WR
Pick #53, Su’a Cravens, LB
Pick #84, Kendall Fuller, CB
Pick #152, Matthew Ioannidis, DT
Pick #187, Nate Sudfeld, QB
Pick #232, Steven Daniels, LB
Pick #242, Keith Marshall, RB

Draft Overview

The Redskins stunned everyone in the first round by selecting Josh Doctson when most analysts projected them taking a defensive player with their first round pick. They used their picks in the middle rounds to plug holes and add depth for their defense. Keith Marshall, a highly athletic running back prospect, was an exciting selection in the seventh round and he could generate a lot of buzz during training camp.

Winners 

Kirk Cousins came away a big winner on draft day by getting a very talented wide receiver to throw the ball to. Doctson is considered one of the top receivers in this draft class and he will help ignite a spark in Washington’s passing game. Matt Jones gave a sigh of relief when the Redskins decided to not spend significant draft capital on a running back. Jones should receive the first crack at the starting running back duties going into next season.

Losers

Both DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon will be unrestricted free agents after this year and with the arrival of Doctson to the roster there isn’t enough room on the roster to re-sign both players. Garcon is likely the odd man out here because he plays the flanker position within the offense which is going to be Doctson’s role. Jackson is used primarily to stretch the field as the x-receiver and his role is harder to replace. However, this could be a sign that Washington plans to overhaul the offense in the future by drafting young talented skill players which could force Jackson out the door. He is also pushing 30 years old and he is no longer appealing as a long-term asset to the team.

 

New York Giants 

Pick #10, Eli Apple, CB
Pick #40, Sterling Shepard, WR
Pick #71, Darian Thompson, S
Pick #109, B.J. Goodson, LB
Pick #149, Paul Perkins, RB
Pick #184, Jerell Adams, TE

Draft Overview

The Giants startled everyone by reaching for Eli Apple tenth overall in the first round, but they made up for that pick by making some good selections in the middle rounds. Sterling Shepard’s superb route running is going to make him a great fit for their offense. Darian Thompson is a safety who can help the defense cover the deep third of the field and he should compete for playing time early in his career. The fifth round selection of Paul Perkins gives the Giants another talented player to add to their stable of running backs. 

Winners

Eli Manning came away a big winner from the draft as the Giants elected to supply him with a few additional weapons to help boost the offense. Shepard is considered one of the best route runners from this year’s draft class and he could make an immediate impact for the offense. Perkins was a highly productive running back from UCLA rushing for 3,488 yards during his collegiate career. He also was highly used in the passing game catching 80 receptions 739 yards during his tenure at UCLA. He should give Manning another reliable receiving threat out of the backfield to help elevate the team’s offensive production.

Losers

A lot of people are rooting for Victor Cruz to make a full recovery from his previous injuries and return to his old form as the explosive wide receiver doing salsa dances in the end zone after torching the defense for a long touchdown reception. Well, this might be a thing of the past since the Giants invested a large amount of draft capital at wide receiver by spending a second round pick on Shepard. Will there be enough targets to go around feed both wide receivers? Is Cruz progressing well enough from his injuries to make an impact for the offense? Those are variables that we have to take into consideration when predicting his production going forward.

Shane Vereen’s role might decrease within the offense since he shares a similar skill set to Perkins. Even though the added competition muddies the water a little bit, Vereen should still be first in line to contribute as the passing down back.

Philadelphia Eagles

Draft Overview

The Eagles traded a bevy of picks and mortgaged some of their future to move up to the second pick in the draft to select Carson Wentz. This was one of the biggest narratives of the draft and time will tell whether trading up for Wentz will work out for the Eagles. Most of their picks came in the back half of the draft where they drafted best player available while trying to add quality depth to their defense and offensive line.

Pick #2, Carson Wentz, QB
Pick #79, Isaac Seumalo, OG
Pick #153, Wendell Smallwood, RB
Pick #164, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, OT
Pick #196, Blake Countess, CB
Pick #233, Jalen Mills, FS
Pick #240, Alex McCalister, DE
Pick #251, Joe Walker, LB

Winners

We live in a world where Ryan Mathews might be a three down back next season. The Eagles didn’t draft a running back within the top-100 picks and they spent a third round pick on a guard to help strengthen the offensive line. They drafted Wendell Smallwood in the fifth round, but the starting running back job is Mathews’ job to lose. Things could have gone a lot worse for him as there were rumors stating the Eagles were going to draft Ezekiel Elliott before they traded up in the draft to get Wentz. The trade left Philadelphia with a lack of ammunition in the draft allowing them to not address running back as early as they would have liked.

Losers 

Sam Bradford became one of the biggest losers of the draft. He currently wants traded but the Eagles supposedly are not interested in dealing him. His future as the starter is currently in jeopardy since he is currently avoiding head coach Doug Pederson. We know Carson Wentz is eventually going to get the keys to the car and become the starting quarterback for the Eagles which gives Bradford zero leverage when forcing Philadelphia to trade him.

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bruce matson