NFL Draft Aftermath: Winners and Losers from the AFC West
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 West.
Three of the four teams in the AFC West drafted players that are interesting for fantasy purposes. The Broncos, Raiders, and Chargers all drafted players that could start at some point during their rookie seasons. Before we sort through the division’s winners and losers, let’s take a look at all of the skill positions drafted by the AFC West.
Denver Broncos
Paxton Lynch, QB, Memphis (Round 1, pick #26)
Devontae Booker, RB, Utah (Round 4, pick #136)
Oakland Raiders
Connor Cook, QB, Michigan State (Round 4, pick #100)
Deandre Washington, RB, Texas Tech (Round 5, pick #143)
Kansas City Chiefs
Demarcus Robinson, WR, Florida (Round 4, pick #126)
Kevin Hogan, QB, Stanford (Round 5, pick #162)
Tyreek Hill, WR, West Alabama (Round 5, pick #165)
San Diego Chargers
Hunter Henry, TE, Arkansas (Round 2, pick #35)
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Winners
Paxton Lynch and the Broncos offense
Can’t you just picture John Elway sitting back in his high-backed leather chair, feet up on his desk, hands behind his head, and a cigar in his mouth while waiting for his QB situation to play out? Despite all the talks of potentially acquiring the likes of Colin Kaepernick, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and even Sam Bradford, the Broncos instead bided their time and when the time was right, shipped a third round pick the Seahawks to move up five spots and select their quarterback of the future. Lynch is a big, tall, athletic quarterback, who given enough time to develop, could be the ideal quarterback to run Gary Kubiak’s offense. Honestly, I don’t see much difference between Lynch and Carson Wentz long term and the Broncos paid a heck of a lot less to get their guy than the Eagles did. This was the best possible landing spot for Lynch. Going to the Broncos and learning from their coaching staff could make him a star.
Adding Booker in the fourth round gives the team another receiving threat out of the backfield. Some analysts have said they saw shades of Arian Foster in his game. I think that is a little far-fetched at this point in his development, but he is certainly a talented receiving back who should be able to carve out some sort of role for himself during his rookie season.
It’s possible the dynasty community is lower on Latavius Murray than Oakland is, but as of right now it looks like this landing spot is a huge win for Washington. Murray was pretty mediocre in his first year as a starter behind a good offensive line that is now ranked among the league’s best. Washington is a different style of runner than Murray is and should have a role from day one. His small, but thick, stature has led many to compare him to Maurice Jones-Drew’s “bowling ball” running style. At 5-foot-8 and 204 pounds he has a low center of gravity and great balance. His foot frequency gets him to top speed quickly. There is a real chance he outplays Murray in camp and relegates him to a short-yardage role.
Tyreek Hill is kind of a De’Anthony Thomas clone and is unlikely to add much value to the offense, but fourth-round selection Demarcus Robinson could be a boon to Smith and the passing game. He fell in the draft because of off the field concerns but if Robinson can get his head right then he has the talent to compete for a starting role across from Jeremy Maclin. Robinson excels at catching short passes and racking up yards after the catch. His skill set matches what Andy Reid wants to do and what Smith does best.
The Chargers’ running game
When the Chargers spent their second round pick on Hunter Henry they selected the heir apparent to Hall of Famer Antonio Gates and a starter for the next decade. Henry will contribute immediately in the run game. He was a big part of why Arkansas was so successful running the ball the last several seasons. Melvin Gordon flashed last season despite mostly disappointing. In my opinion, a big reason for that disappointment was an offensive line that never had all five starters healthy. By the end of the season, they had a screen door starting at center. A healthy line and the addition of Henry will go a long way toward getting Gordon back on track.
Losers
CJ Anderson and Ronnie Hillman
For the short term, Anderson should be fine. However, he has never shown the ability to play a full season. In each of the last two seasons, he has started slow and finished with a very strong second half. Devontae Booker is a great receiver out of the backfield and should easily beat out Hillman as the number two behind Anderson. If Anderson starts slow again I think there is a real chance that Booker takes over as the feature back. What saves Anderson in the short team is that the Broncos just shelled out a bunch of money to retain his services after a rather embarrassing mishandling of his situation during free agency.
Chris Conley and Albert Wilson
It’s possible that Demarcus Robinson is better than both of these guys who have yet to develop. I loved Conley as a prospect but he seemed like an odd fit for Andy Reid’s offense and Smith’s skill set when Kansas City drafted him in 2015. Wilson has had some good games for the team and is an intriguing player but hasn’t yet been able to put it all together. It’s possible he produced in 2014 just because the team had no other options at the position. Once Maclin came to town Alex Smith only had eyes for him amongst the wide receiver group.
Murray might be fine for this season but I believe the rookie Deandre Washington has a shot to outplay him in camp and take a larger role than we might think right now. If Washington plays well, the lead back role will likely be passed to him in 2016.
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Creator and Co-host of Dynasty Game night, the fantasy football game show.
Creator and host of the Zookeeper Stories podcast.
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