NFL Draft Day Three Recap: The IDP Dynasty Impact

The NFL Draft has wrapped up. A lot of dreams were made this week, while many more were crushed. After going pick-by-pick for the first three rounds, we’ll highlight the draft’s winners and losers from the final four rounds on the IDP front.  Make sure you check out the other installments to get a full picture of my initial reactions.

Day One Recap
Day Two Recap

WINNERS

No. 105. Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, S NO

He can play either safety or corner but is probably best as a box safety. The Saints are always looking for help in the defensive backfield. If he gets tagged as a safety, he’s a good value late in your draft. If he gets the CB designation, I would only roll the dice in a CB-required league.

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No. 107. Anthony Nelson, DE TB

He’s a big body who plays well in the run game, but isn’t much of a quarterback hunter. He certainly isn’t any worse than Carl Nassib or Noah Spence, so I would expect Nelson to get some run. Draft him in the fifth round or later.

No. 115. Christian Miller, EDGE CAR

He’s the pass rusher the Panthers have been looking for during the past few seasons. He does have injury concerns, though. The pass rush players always get pushed down in IDP leagues and Miller won’t be an exception. Snag him in the late fifth or sixth round.

No. 116. Amani Hooker, S TEN

The Titans just killed this draft. Hooker is a do everything safety who won’t hurt you in any phase. This is a solid pick for the Titans. If you can get him in the fifth, you’ll be doing very well for yourself. He won’t win you a league, but you’ll be content with what you get.

No. 142. Ben Burr-Kirven, LB SEA

He’s a height/weight/speed kind of player the Seahawks like. I’ll be honest and say I wasn’t crazy about him pre-draft, but this is a good spot for him. Despite my misgivings, if you want Burr-Kirven, you’ll probably have to take him earlier, rather than later. Targeting him in the tail end of the third round might be high, but that might be what it takes.

No. 150. Kingsley Keke, DE GB

Keke is tall and long and can play up and down the line. He needs to work on his footwork, but he’s already a good pass rusher. You might want to put him on a taxi squad, but he could be a nice find in a couple of years.

No. 160. Daylon Mack, DT BAL

The Ravens do a nice job with DTs and Mack could surprise. He’ll forklift offensive lineman and move them wherever he wants, disrupting plays all over the place. If you play in a DT-required league, he is someone you will want to target.

No. 161. Charles Omenihu, DE HOU

The Texans got a steal here. Omenihu is a smart player and a traditional 3-4 DE. He sets the edge well and plays with really good leverage. I had Omenihu as my DE4 before the draft. His drop concerns me, but I’m still picking him up whenever possible.

No. 168. D’Andre Walker, LB TEN

Georgia asked him to drop into coverage a fair bit, but he’s best when he’s going after the quarterback. He’ll make a nice pairing on the other side of Harold Landry. I would take Walker in the sixth round and be pretty pleased doing it.

No. 207 Ulysses Gilbert, LB PIT

Gilbert has outstanding lateral mobility and is great in coverage. Akron also asked him to cover slot receivers and he has the athleticism to do it. He is definitely a sleeper pick, and one I think can reap major dividends.

LOSERS

No. 130. Drue Tranquill, LB LAC

He’s not on the Losers list because of his talent – that Chargers defense just has a lot of good pieces and he’ll find it hard to earn snaps without an injury. I would take a late-round flier on him based on talent alone, but I won’t trade up for him. In short, he’ll have to fall to me in order to be on my roster.

No. 132. Ugo Amadi, CB SEA

He was announced as a corner, but can also play safety. He’s smaller than what Seattle usually covets as a DB, which leads me to believe he’ll have a hard time finding the field. I already had him pretty far down my rankings, so this is an easy pass for me.

No. 139. Deionte Thompson, S ARI

I saw plenty of mock drafts that had Thompson as the first safety off the board in the first round. Instead, he was the first pick of Round 5. He struggles with change of direction and is coming off a wrist injury as well. Budda Baker has the strong safety spot on lock for the Cardinals, so he’ll need to rely on turnovers to generate big points, which I don’t see happening.

No. 144. Marvell Tell, S IND

This was a bad landing spot for Tell. He’s a free safety by trade and the Colts already have Malik Hooker in that spot, who is worlds better. You can put Tell on your fade list.

No. 155. Mack Wilson, LB CLE

On the bright side, Wilson is very good at chasing and tackling. The downside is he’s not so hot in the passing game and lacks play strength and a sense of urgency. Many analysts had him as the LB3, so to tumble into the fifth round is a major fall. On top of the poor passing skills, he goes to a crowded Browns linebacker corps. I would think long and hard before I pulled the trigger except for the deepest of leagues.

No. 158. Blake Cashman, LB NYJ

The Twitter draft darling landed in a tough situation. He won’t beat out Avery Williamson or CJ Mosley, which will limit his snaps. If you want him, you’ll have to stash him and probably draft him earlier than you want to.

No. 175. Sutton Smith, EDGE PIT

He’s the ultimate tweener and not in a good way. He’s too slow to be a linebacker and not strong enough to be a defensive lineman. I am honestly surprised he got drafted. I would pass quickly.

No. 188. David Long, LB TEN

I like the player, but his landing spot is pretty congested. His talent is good enough to warrant a flier, but I wouldn’t expect a ton of production.

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