NFL Draft Day One Winners and Losers: IDP Edition

Every NFL draft is exciting for the fans. Much like Christmas morning as a child, we cannot wait to be given brand new toys to play with. But, when given a toy to play with another toy becomes old news and isn’t as valuable to you. Let’s look at some of the IDP winners and losers from day one of the draft.

Winners

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Paul Posluszny, JAX

Most mock drafts heavily featured Myles Jack to Jacksonville as the replacement for Paul Posluszny. The bad news for Poz was the fact he was still on the team and hadn’t been informed of his eventual replacement which has to feel like staring at an avalanche coming down the mountain. Instead, the Jags selected hybrid corner/safety Jalen Ramsey and Poz is currently safe for now.

DeForest Buckner, Aaron Lynch and Arik Armstead, SF

The San Francisco defensive unit as a whole gets a big bump by the addition of DeForest Buckner, but the Lynch and Armstead specifically get bumps because of all of the attention he will draw away from them. The 49ers’ attempt to replace Justin Smith last season fell way short and the entire defense suffered. Buckner will step in from day one and wreak havoc on the NFC West.

Leonard Floyd, CHI

I don’t know if there was a better fit across the entire league than Floyd landing with Vic Fangio in Chicago. The Bears have used free agency and the draft to completely rebuild this front seven and it is downright scary. Like I stated in the Pick-by-pick IDP analysis, the easy comparison is to Aldon Smith but it works so well. Fangio knows how to manufacture pressure and a freak athlete like Floyd is going to excel big time in Chicago. Pernell McPhee benefits greatly as well. This could be the NFC version of Tamba Hali and Justin Houston.

Jake Ryan, GBP

When the Packers passed on both Myles Jack and Reggie Ragland for nose tackle, Kenny Clark, it showed they don’t necessarily view inside linebacker a dire situation as much as the outside world. Sam Barrington has yet to show his worth in Green Bay and Jake Ryan is entering just his second season. They’re not out of the woods yet and I do believe the Packers are going to find competition for Barrington as early as round two, but passing both of those players was surprising.

Losers

Myles Jack, Rookie

Even though there were draft day whispers of Jack falling out of the first round, there were just as many whispers of teams wanting to trade up for him. It was heartbreaking to watch him sit in the green room through the top 10, top 20 and ultimately, the entire first round without hearing his name called. Like Jaylon Smith of Notre Dame, Jack is considered one of the top five prospects in the entire draft when healthy. The possibility of future microfracture surgery is apparently scarier for NFL teams than an idiot smoking weed in a gas mask. I hope to hear his name called early on day two and by a team who will put him in a good situation.

Shaq Lawson, BUF

This will come down to positional designation for Lawson. Even though he was announced as a defensive end and Rotoworld still has the Bills as a base 4-3 defense, there is speculation he will be listed as an outside linebacker. Obviously, this isn’t what we want in the IDP world. If he can maintain a defensive end designation he will be a high end DE2 as a rookie, but, if it goes the other way and he’s a linebacker, he’ll have minimal IDP impact as a boom or bust LB4. It seems inevitable that Rex Ryan will eventually make the switch to a 3-4 defense.

Clay Matthews, GB

The addition of Kenny Clark will undoubtedly help build the trenches but the Packers need to give him help in the second level. Asking him to be their premier pass rusher as well as kicking inside puts too much pressure on Matthews. I’m sure Ted Thompson has a plan but like I mentioned earlier, having a top five talent like Myles Jack available at pick #27 is unbelievable. Jack could’ve been the defensive equivalent of having Aaron Rodgers falling into their laps.

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