NFL Draft Aftermath: Winners and Losers from the NFC South

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.

To start, let’s run down all of the offensive players drafted by the teams of the NFC South.

Atlanta Falcons

Austin Hooper, TE Stanford

Carolina Panthers

Beau Sandland, TE Montana State

Okay, maybe this is a stretch. I was tempted to write “nada, zippo, zilch – not even a kicker” but then they went and drafted the penultimate player of the draft in Sandland, one pick shy of Mr. Irrelevant.

New Orleans Saints

Michael Thomas, WR Ohio St.

Daniel Lasco, RB California

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Roberto Aguayo, K Florida St.

Dan Vitale, FB Northwestern

Another stretch, I know. They didn’t really draft any offensive players. Kickers aren’t offensive – but some might say it’s offensive that the Bucs drafted a kicker in the second round, AND they traded up to do so. Aguayo was listed only for that joke!

Now let’s break down the winners and losers.

Winners

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Kelvin Benjamin and the Carolina Panthers Passing Offense

Super Bowl 50’s runner-up had a pretty decent offense most of the year, which surprised many, including their opponents. I think it’s possible they could have added a receiver to complement the returning Benjamin and sophomore Devin Funchess, but the whole Josh Norman dust-up likely derailed any plans like that. The one offensive player they drafted, Beau Sandland, isn’t likely to usurp Greg Olsen anytime soon.  If Benjamin can return well from his injury, they may have a nice 1-2-3 punch in the passing game with Benjamin, Funchess and Olsen.

Drew Brees

Many thought he was done a couple of years ago, but Marques Colston held on in New Orleans through last season. The Saints finally cut ties with the venerable wide receiver, and they didn’t waste any time finding a player who might be a perfect replacement in Michael Thomas. Well regarded going into this draft, Thomas is a guy who also landed in what may be the perfect spot for him. He’s a big receiver that can and should slide right into Colston’s spot in the offense. Brees could have another highly productive year throwing to his now quite young group of wide receivers.

Vincent Jackson and Kenny Bell

It’s conceivable that the Bucs could have targeted a wide receiver in this draft. After all, Jackson is 33 (which is like social security collection age in the NFL – other players ask him if they had the internet back in his day) and Bell is unproven after missing his whole rookie year due to injury. But the fact is they didn’t draft any help there, which benefits both of these guys. Jackson was unspectacular, but he’s still really big and knows how to play the position. Bell is a burner who could look really good in three wide receiver sets. I’m also really, really high on Mike Evans, so I expect opportunity for the other receiving options in the Bucs offense.

Losers

Jacob Tamme

Tamme enjoyed a resurgent year as the de facto #2 receiver in the Atlanta passing offense. They just didn’t have anyone else that could fill that role. And Devin Hester still isn’t an NFL wide receiver (though he is the greatest returner of all time, lest we forget.) Not only did the Falcons pick up a new WR2 in Mohamed Sanu but they also picked up one of the best tight ends in the draft in Austin Hooper. Last year was likely a fluke for Tamme, and I wouldn’t rely on that production to continue, and I also wouldn’t be surprised if the rookie gets some of his playing time.

Brandon Coleman

There were some hopes out there that Coleman could take on a larger role with the departure of Colston. But with the high draft pick spent on Thomas, there’s a good chance that the rookie steals a lot of those extra targets. Coleman still could improve over last year, but I don’t expect him to vault up any rankings any time soon. We’ll have to see how this shakes out as we get into training camp later this year.

Jonathan Stewart

No, Jonathan Stewart didn’t wow anyone, but in a year beset by running back injuries, he was at least a reasonably steady producer. And the Panthers didn’t draft anyone to challenge him (unless you think Cameron Artis-Payne, one of last year’s late round darlings, will do just that.) But the reason he’s a loser isn’t because he’ll lose his job, it’s because the Carolina offensive line didn’t get any better. This offensive line lost most one-on-one battles in Super Bowl 50, and their failure was a key component in Carolina’s loss. Sure, Cam Newton can fight off would-be tacklers and extend plays, but both he and Stewart needed help in this draft.

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