2019 NFL Draft Dynasty Review: NFC East
There are a lot of storylines building out of the NFC East. Can the Cowboys win the division? How will the Eagles play with Carson Wentz back under center? How bad will the Giants actually be? Can the Redskins rebuild on the fly? All these questions need to be answered.
The NFL Draft gives us a small taste of the future as we impatiently wait for the season to begin. Since we have plenty of time between now and week one, let’s view each team’s draft picks with a fantasy perspective.
Dallas Cowboys
Tony Pollard, RB Memphis (Round 4, Pick 128)
The Cowboys had an anticlimactic first two days of the draft. They didn’t have a first-round pick and they drafted a defensive tackle and an offensive lineman on the second day. However, with their first pick on day three, they drafted Pollard to add depth to their running back unit and possibly be the team’s new kick and punt returner.
At Memphis, Pollard played behind Darrell Henderson who was one of the top running backs in the nation. When given the opportunity he was effective, rushing for 7.1 yards per carry while catching 104 passes during his three-year collegiate career. He also has some experience lining up in the slot as a receiver, making him a very versatile asset for the offense.
Pollard is expected to be the team’s satellite back, playing the Tavon Austin role, catching passes out of the backfield and creating an extra dynamic for the offense. Austin is expected to hit free agency in 2020 and if things go well, Pollard should be the guy to fill the void for the Cowboys.
This is all fine and dandy, but Ezekiel Elliott is the man in Dallas and it will take an injury to him for him to see a large enough workload to become fantasy relevant. He’s not going to be a full-time slot receiver unless something happens to Randle Cobb. When you take that into account, he should be a player to pivot away from in rookie drafts.
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Mike Weber, RB Ohio State (Round 7, Pick 218)
The Cowboys went to the running back well again in the seventh round. He took over as the Buckeye’s lead back after Elliott left for the NFL and both running backs will now be on the same team. Weber will compete to be Elliott’s backup in training camp this year. Not only will he be competing for the backup job, but since he’s a seventh-round pick, he will also be competing for a spot on the roster.
Weber will definitely hold dynasty value if he develops into the teams second string running back since he will be just an injury away from being the lead back for the run-heavy Cowboys. Whoever plays behind Elliott will always hold value in dynasty. Considering his draft capital combined with his athleticism and landing spot, I suspect Weber to be a trendy play in the middle rounds of rookie drafts. Depending on what’s left on the board, I’m not against drafting him, but expectations should be limited considering he fell to the final round of the draft.
Philadelphia Eagles
Miles Sanders, RB Penn State (Round 2, Pick 53)
After adding Jordan Howard to the roster, it was presumed that running back wasn’t a glaring need for the Eagles. We were wrong. They showed their hand on the second day of the draft by selecting Sanders in the second round, making him the second running back off the board behind Josh Jacobs.
Sanders provides a healthy blend of speed and agility. He also has good vision and has an impressive highlight reel. His versatile skill set will allow him to see playing time early in his career. Even though there’s already a veteran presence on the team in Howard, Sanders should be able to earn a large market share of the touches out of the backfield as early as day one. After all, the team spent significant draft capital to obtain his services and he’s the new flashy toy in the garage.
With the fall of some of the top wide receivers in this year’s draft class, Sanders stock should be cemented in the first round of rookie drafts. Since the draft was very chaotic in terms of dynasty value for some of the top prospects, we are going to find Sanders drafted all over the place in the first round of rookie drafts. The hype is real with Sanders and he should be regarded as one of the top rookies in the draft.
JJ Arcega-Whiteside, WR Stanford (Round 2, Pick 57)
The Eagles took advantage of this year’s talented wide receiver class by drafting Arcega-Whiteside in the second round. Arcega-Whiteside is a big-bodied wide receiver who can post-up defensive backs while the ball is in the air, allowing him to convert contested catches. This trait will easily make him a quarterback’s favorite weapon in the red zone. Last year he caught 63 passes for 1,059 yards and nine touchdowns while owning a 29.83 percent market share of the team’s passing production.
Arcega-Whiteside will get the opportunity to compete for a significant role within the offense early in his career. Philadelphia implemented three wide receiver sets on 47.2 percent of their plays last year and they should deliver a similar usage this season. He might not be productive during his rookie year but he should see a considerable amount of playing time. His role within the offense should expand exponentially in the next few years and he should develop into one of the team’s main offensive weapons.
When you take landing spot, draft capital, and his sheer talent into consideration, Arcega-Whiteside should consistently get drafted in the first round of rookie drafts. Since he didn’t test at the combine his dynasty value fell to the wayside because we couldn’t evaluate his athletic metrics. That’s totally understandable considering the depth of this year’s wide receiver class. However, we now know the Eagles value him highly, he’s tethered to a talented quarterback and Philadelphia’s passing volume should allow him to be fantasy relevant. I expect him to be a fantasy contributor around the second or third year of his career.
Clayton Thorson, QB Northwestern (Round 5, Pick 167)
Thorson is a developmental quarterback prospect who has a live arm and is a very accurate passer. He wasn’t surrounded with the best talent at Northwestern, but he did thrive in 2016 when he had Austin Carr to throw the ball too. Nate Sudfeld will provide stiff competition for Philadelphia’s backup quarterback spot. Thorson’s long term viability will be predicated on whether or not he can beat out Sudfeld.
Overall, he projects as a journeyman backup quarterback. If he develops his game, he could be locked in as a second-string quarterback for an NFL team. He might be worth a flier in deep 2QB leagues, but more often than not, you’re leaving him on the waiver wire.
Washington Redskins
Dwayne Haskins, QB Ohio State (Round 1, Pick 15)
Thanks to the New York Giants and the other teams who drafted ahead of the Redskins, Dwayne Haskins fell to them at 15 overall. Before the draft, there were rumors circulating that the Redskins were attempting to trade up into the top ten to draft Haskins. They couldn’t get a deal done, but luck fell their way when Haskins ultimately fell to them, giving them one of the biggest steals of the draft. The Redskins desperately need to improve at the quarterback position and Haskins has a chance to fill that void.
During his final year at Ohio State, Haskins passed for 4,831 yards and 50 touchdowns and completed 70 percent of his passes. He was easily thought of as one of the top quarterbacks going into the draft. With a strong accurate arm, Haskins has the intangibles to develop into a top tier quarterback at the NFL level. The Redskins recognized this and they were eager to draft him so they can build their team around him.
From a dynasty perspective, Haskins should at least be the second quarterback off the board in rookie drafts. In 2QB and Superflex leagues he will easily be one of the first picks off the board. Case Keenum is currently listed as the team’s starting quarterback, but that could change by the end of training camp and he should at least be the starter by the end of the season. Quarterback is one of the toughest positions in the league to predict. I’m not saying he’s safe, but taking into consideration how the dominos fell for some of our favorite prospects during the draft, we might want to think about pulling the trigger on Haskins.
Terry McLaurin, WR Ohio State (Round 3, Pick 76)
When a rebuilding team drafts their quarterback of the future, they usually either need to build their offensive line or get some weapons to ease the transition for their new quarterback. Speed kills and the Redskins know that. That’s why they drafted Terry McLaurin in the third round to help take the top off the defense. He also played with Dwayne Haskins at Ohio State, so he already has chemistry with the team’s rookie quarterback. The quarterback-wide-receiver relationship is already there for the two players, providing familiarity and easing the transition process for the two rookies.
Haskins and McLaurin might seem like a packaged deal, but McLaurin possesses some traits that could allow him to develop into a productive asset in fantasy. At the combine, he dazzled scouts with a 4.35-second 40-yard dash. He’s also a smooth route runner and is dangerous with the ball after the catch. At the Senior Bowl, he was one of the most impressive wide receivers there, burning defensive backs with speed and nuance.
His third-round draft capital might have cemented McLaurin in the second round of rookie drafts. All throughout the draft season, big events like the Senior Bowl, the combine and his pro day seemed to increase his stock for a short period of time. Ironically, the most important event, the NFL Draft, gave him one last boost as we head into to rookie drafts. There’s a lot of ambiguity in Washington’s passing offense and the team is definitely looking for a change. He will get a chance to compete for a large role within the offense early in his career.
Bryce Love, RB Ohio State (Round 4, Pick 112)
A torn ACL caused Love to fall in the draft. Giving his college production and his athleticism, he might have been selected a little bit earlier. Nonetheless, this is a very intriguing spot for Love. All indications show that the Redskins want to implement a run-heavy offense. They re-signed Adrian Peterson this off-season and they spent a second-round pick on Derrius Guice last year. Chris Thompson is already on the roster as the team’s satellite back but he’s expected to hit free agency in next off-season. Love appears to be in line to be the lightning to Guice’s thunder for the foreseeable future.
Love rushed for 2,118 yards and 19 yards during his junior season at Stanford. He’s a small shifty one-cut runner who is a threat to score from anywhere on the football field if he hits open space. He might need to develop his chops in the passing game, but Love has plenty of talent to make Redskins fans excited.
He doesn’t have a clear path to being the team’s three-down back and it looks like he will be utilized in a part-time role as a change of pace back in Washington’s offense. Guice will be the team’s lead back and should handle a large market share of the workload out of the backfield. Love will need to make the most out of his opportunities to be fantasy relevant. Usage in the passing game will be detrimental to his dynasty value. If he’s not catching passes out of the backfield then he’s not going to be productive enough to be rostered in dynasty.
On the flipside, he has plenty of juice in his legs and if given the opportunity he could potentially help your dynasty team for a short stretch. It’s not outside the realm of possibilities that Love puts together a Phillip Lindsay-esque season somewhere down the line. I’m just not going to bank on it.
Kelvin Harmon, WR North Carolina State (Round 6, Pick 227)
When the snowball gets rolling down the hill it gets faster and faster before it reaches its stopping point. The same thing happened with Harmon’s dynasty value during the draft. He was expected to be a day two pick going into the draft, but the unforeseen happened when he tumbled all the way down to the sixth round. When it rains it pours, and a typhoon rained on his parade on draft day.
The NFL told us how they value players like Harmon. Big bodied flankers who don’t possess elite level production or athleticism are not in the favor for NFL scouts anymore. The league is transitioning to twitchy wide receivers who can separate with speed and nuance. They also want players who can play in the slot and on the perimeter.
Just because the NFL doesn’t prefer Harmon’s skill set, doesn’t mean he’s not talented. He’s still a very solid pass catcher. Going into the draft, he was considered one of the top receivers and was consistently drafted in the first round of rookie drafts. He’s still very tough at the catch point and has some of the best hands in the draft.
Harmon will reach the third round in a lot of rookie drafts. This will make him a steal considering his talent. However, his sixth-round draft capital makes him dispensable and all it takes is a bad off-season for him to get cut from the team. Sure he’s talented, but expectations should be on a wait and see basis. I’m not against drafting him. I just want you to execute caution before you take a stab at him in your rookie drafts.
New York Giants
Daniel Jones, QB Duke (Round 1, Pick 6)
Dave Gettleman wants to roll out Eli Manning for the next 30 years but in the meantime, he drafted Jones with the sixth overall pick to entertain the Giants’ fanbase. The Giants desperately needed to get their quarterback for the future, especially since they passed on Sam Darnold in last year’s draft. There’s a lot of controversy surrounding this pick. Jones was forecasted to be available later in the first round for the Giants’ second selection, but they pulled the trigger anyway, passing on Dwayne Haskins.
Jones passed for 2,674 yards and 22 touchdowns and completed 60.5 percent of his passes. He didn’t have much to work with at Duke and his completion percentage was hindered by a high drop rate by his wide receivers. He will need to work on his decision making and getting the ball out quicker if he wants to be able to take over from Manning in the near future.
The demand isn’t there for Jones in rookie drafts. He’s an underwhelming talent who got over-drafted by a bad franchise. His upside is limited at best and Dave Gettleman is already talking about letting him watch from the bench for his first three seasons. I wouldn’t even look his way in 2QB leagues.
Darius Slayton, WR Auburn (Round 5, Pick 171)
After dealing away Odell Beckham Jr, the Giants needed to add more wide receiver talent to their cupboard. The team decided to burn their fifth-round pick on Darius Slayton, who caught 35 passes for 670 yards and five touchdowns last year for Auburn. His speed will present a different dynamic to the offense. At the combine, Slayton ran a 4.39 40-yard dash and posted a 40.5-inch vertical jump which ranks in the 87th percentile among wide receiver prospects. His athleticism will help him carve a role within the offense.
Slayton is an upside flier you might want to take a look at in the later rounds of rookie drafts. However, there are undrafted free agents like Emanuel Hall or Ashton Dulin that I would rather take a swing on. Keep in mind, the New York Giants aren’t exactly the holy grail for offensive production. Even though he was drafted, that doesn’t even mean he will make the team. His price tag is free, but roster spots are valuable. You might want to utilize the backend of your roster on a flier that’s more talented.
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