NFL Draft Aftermath: Winners and Losers from the NFC South

Nathan Powell

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As part of our post-NFL Draft coverage, we’ll be bringing you winners and losers from each and every division of the NFL. Now that all the speculation of where the rookies will land is over, the landscape of the NFL and dynasty leagues has changed dramatically. Keep it here at DLF this Spring and Sumemr for all the coverage you can possibly imagine to help you dominate your dynasty or conventional fantasy football leagues. We begin our post-draft winners and losers with the NFC South.

Winners

The Buccaneers Offense and their Weapons

The Buccaneers got their quarterback. With the first overall pick, they selected Jameis Winston from Florida State University. Winston is one of the most polarizing prospects in this draft due to his off the field concerns, but most agree he is the most talented quarterback in this draft and ready to come in and play immediately – this is good news for the pair of weapons the Bucs drafted in 2014 (Mike Evans and Austin Seferian-Jenkins), as well as veteran Vincent Jackson. In his rookie year, Evans proved mediocre quarterback play wasn’t going to stop him from being a very good fantasy producer, but it will be fun to see what he will do with Winston if he succeeds at the next level. Jackson is in the twilight years of his fantasy production and being the #2 option for a rookie quarterback isn’t going to be great for his short term production, but I think a lot of his 2015 stats will depend on the development of Seferian-Jenkins. I think Jackson will be usable, but I think consistency will be an issue. Regardless, they all get a nice upgrade.

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Mark Ingram, RB NO

With their first pick at #13 overall, the New Orleans Saints continued to bolster their offensive line with the selection of Andrus Peat. Many believe Peat, along with the acquisition of Max Unger in the Jimmy Graham trade means the Saints are trying to switch to more of a power running game. One of the main concerns for Ingram throughout his career has been volume, but it looks like he will have plenty of quality carries behind a much improved offensive line.

Tevin Coleman, RB ATL

As the fifth running back off the board, Coleman was drafted to one of the most ideal landing spots the NFL had to offer in this draft. With minimal competition in Devonta Freeman and a very good offense around him in Matt Ryan/Julio Jones/Roddy White, Coleman will be able to produce early in his rookie year and the outlook for the Atlanta offense in the next couple of years seems fairly consistent.

Brandon Coleman/Nick Toon/Seantavious Jones, WRs NO

Surprisingly, the New Orleans Saints did not draft a receiver in the 2015 NFL Draft. In terms of being a productive NFL and fantasy player, I think Marques Colston is pretty much done, which is going to leave one of these receivers to be a WR3 (if not WR2) as well as a primary red zone target. All three of these players are the equivalent of dollar scratch-offs at the gas station (H/T-@The_FF_Engineer), they don’t cost much, if anything and they could net you a decent profit if you hit. If I’m going to choose one of them to roster, it’d be Coleman for me, but choosing between the three is personal preference.

Cameron Artis-Payne, RB CAR

After the release of DeAngelo Williams, the Panthers depth chart after oft-injured Jonathan Stewart is fairly barrren. Insert Artis-Payne from Auburn in the fifth round and you have the making of a quality late round target in upcoming rookie drafts. While the Panthers situation doesn’t present an immediate opportunity to start, Artis-Payne will likely see a good volume of carries in his rookie year if the Panthers stay true to their goal of keeping Stewart around 15 carries per game as has been reported this off-season.

Somewhere in Between

Devin Funchess/Kelvin Benjamin, WRs CAR

The drafting of Devin Funchess in the second round was an interesting one for the Carolina Panthers. Many, myself included compared Funchess to Benjamin predraft. There styles of play are very similar, somewhat like when the Buccaneers drafted Mike Evans to pair with Vincent Jackson last year. This is going to be one of those situations where I am going to see them on the field together to see who it is hurting or helping, or whether they are mutually beneficial. Either way, Cam Newton and the Panthers offense likely won’t have many red zone issues in the near future.

Garrett Grayson, QB NO

Many people considered this draft a “two quarterback” draft, with little to nothing after Winston and Marcus Mariota. Grayson was the third quarterback off the board, taken by the Saints at #75 overall. Is Grayson a draft winner or loser? I’m not really sure. He doesn’t have an opportunity to start for at least 2-3 years, but that will also give Grayson time to learn from Brees and develop his game for the NFL level. Grayson isn’t rosterable in 1 QB leagues, but he could be worth a stash in deep superflex or 2QB leagues.

Justin Hardy, WR ATL and Kenny Bell, WR TB

Hardy and Bell are entering similar situations – two offenses with two established wide receivers, one on the younger side (Julio Jones/Mike Evans), the other heading toward the twilight of their careers (Roddy White/Vincent Jackson). Both will immediately step in as their teams WR3, with the chances of being a WR2 on their teams in future years. Both have a minimal short-term outlook from a fantasy perspective, but they are both in situations where they could flourish in future seasons.

Losers

Devonta Freeman, RB ATL

The odds of Atlanta leaving the 2015 draft without a running back were slim to none, but taking Tevin Coleman in the third round likely means they see him as the feature back, with Freeman relegated to a role only on passing downs. I think Freeman can still put up RB3 numbers in 2015, but Coleman coming in hurts both his short and long-term outlook.

Drew Brees, QB NO

I know he got some nice protection in Andrus Peat in the first round, but the absence of selecting a weapon for the passing offense must have been frustrating for the aging Brees. It appears the Saints are attempting a rebuild while having an older quarterback, which isn’t exactly optimal. Signs continue to point towards the Saints being a power run offense, which isn’t great news for Brees as he has always been a high volume quarterback in his time in New Orleans.

Marcus Murphy, RB NO

Granted, I didn’t even know who Marcus Murphy was before writing this article (and I still don’t know much about who Marcus Murphy is), but being drafted to a team with a pair of backs entrenched as the top two in Ingram/CJ Spiller at #230 overall, the odds of Marcus Murphy ever being fantasy relevant are slim to none.

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