NFL Draft Day Two Winners and Losers: Veteran Edition
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Dynasty players have been looking forward to this weekend for weeks, maybe even months. The first round of the NFL Draft was expected to be full of wide receivers and quarterbacks and it delivered. By the end of the night, four quarterbacks, one running back, and six receivers came off the board. It was a wild run in the middle of round one, that’s for sure. The second day promised another mini-run on receivers and a big day for running backs and it delivered.
With these talented players entering the league, NFL veterans will feel the impact, some fearing for their respective jobs while others will breathe a sigh of relief. Let’s take a look at some of the players who could see their dynasty value affected by the selections that came on the second day. While some of these players could still be in danger, things now need to be kept in perspective. A lot of third day picks don’t even make rosters, no less become starters.
Winners
Drew Lock, QB DEN
When you have a young quarterback, you simply have to surround him with weapons in every spot you can. After adding Jerry Jeudy last night, the Broncos came back with KJ Hamler of Penn State in round two. Add these two to Courtland Sutton, Noah Fant, and a full stable of running backs and you have a pretty stacked cupboard for Lock. I still wouldn’t be surprised to see them move Royce Freeman to a team that missed out on a running back tonight.
Jordan Howard, RB MIA
Stunning. The Dolphins had a huge need at the position but instead focused on different areas, seemingly deciding to stick with Jordan Howard next season. It’s a big short-term boost for Howard, who was most certainly going to be replaced in this draft.
Philip Rivers, QB IND
There’s no doubt the Colts are ready to move forward and make a run at the playoffs this season. By adding Michael Pittman and Jonathan Taylor, the Colts did their best to give Rivers as many weapons as they possibly could as his career undoubtedly comes to a close. As a side note, this is looking like a prime position for a young quarterback at some point.
James Conner, RB PIT
I created a draft of this article earlier today so I had it ready to post tonight. I chose James Conner as the featured image because I figured he was the safest bet to be the biggest loser of the night. After all, the Steelers weren’t really going to go into the season with the oft-injured Conner and Jaylen Samuels as Big Ben returns from injury, right. Right!?! Well, this a big surprise and the fact Conner made it through three rounds unscathed is pretty amazing. The Steelers either believe his injuries are in the past, they have their sights set on a veteran, or they simply believe he’s going to recapture the magic he had when Roethlisberger wasn’t injured. Regardless, Conner moved from the loser category to the winner category in one night. Amazing.
Joe Burrow, QB CIN
I know the Bengals have had their struggles. However, adding Tee Higgins at the top of round two to join AJ Green and Tyler Boyd in a revamped pass catching group can’t hurt Burrow’s short-term chance of success.
Chris Carson, RB SEA
Speaking of oft-injured running backs, Carson and his battery mate Rashaad Penny were in danger of being replaced. Instead, the Seahawks focused on defense and look willing to give this pair another shot at a healthy season. They’re great when healthy, it just hasn’t happened enough.
Gardner Minshew, QB JAX
The Jaguars gave Minshew a giant vote of confidence by passing on the quarterback position in the first three rounds. Minshew is going to have a legitimate chance to be the franchise quarterback. If he fails, the Jaguars will simply face plant and be in position for someone like Trevor Lawrence. They can deal with that.
Le’Veon Bell, RB NYJ
Bell looked cooked at times last year and makes somewhere around $4 zillion next season. However, the Jets added no competition and it looks like he’ll have a chance at redemption.
Jarrett Stidham, QB NE
The biggest winner thus far may be Stidham, who looks like he’s going to have a legitimate chance to be the starter this season at quarterback for the Patriots. Even if New England adds a quarterback tomorrow, they will have passed on the position at least five times in the draft (not counting times they traded back) and their actions are speaking pretty loud right now.
Austin Ekeler, RB LAC
With Melvin Gordon out of the way and the Chargers not addressing the position, Ekeler is in line for a huge workload next year. Justin Jackson could easily be added to the winners list as well.
Derrius Guice, RB WAS
Washington didn’t have a ton of picks, but it’s clear they want to give Guice at least one more chance to put up a healthy season. It looks like Guice and Adrian Peterson will carry the mail next season for the Redskins.
Losers
John Ross, WR CIN
With Higgins in tow, things just look bleak for Ross. He needs a new start somewhere else at this point – hopefully he doesn’t pull a hamstring on his way out the door.
Devin Singletary, RB BUF
Things could have been much, much worse for Singletary had the Bills landed one of the premier running backs. While they missed out on the bigger names, they did add Zack Moss and that’s likely going to create more of a committee approach in Buffalo.
All current Raiders Receivers
Al Davis is alive and well somewhere on this planet as the Raiders used three of their first four draft picks on receivers by adding Henry Ruggs III, Lynn Bowden and Bryan Edwards. It’s clear they weren’t happy with their current pass catchers and completely overhauled the position in the span of 48 hours.
Parris Campbell, WR IND
The addition of Michael Pittman in Indianapolis throws some cold water on the value of Campbell, who was a massive disappointment last season. There’s still time for him to emerge, but he’s now clearly on the clock.
Kerryon Johnson, RB DET
Detroit just continues to be the place where fantasy running backs go to die. It’s unbelievable. This list includes players like Jahvid Best, Mikel Leshoure, Kevin Jones, Kevin Smith, Ameer Abdullah and now Kerryon Johnson, who is going to find it pretty tough to hold off D’Andre Swift. Johnson hasn’t been able to stay healthy and it looks like it finally cost him.
Marlon Mack, RB IND
The biggest loser of the night was likely Marlon Mack, who has little to no chance of holding off Jonathan Taylor as the lead back for the Colts. Like Johnson, Mack hasn’t been able to stay fully healthy and the Colts have never really looked committed to him as a featured back. With Taylor in town and Nyheim Hines a better pass catcher, Mack looks like the odd man out.
Dede Westbrook, WR JAX
DJ Chark really emerged last year while Westbrook took a step back. The Jaguars added Laviska Shenault and this should put a clear shot across the bow on the dynasty value of Westbrook.
Jimmy Graham, TE CHI
The Bears took the top tight end as they landed Cole Kmet. Graham will likely still be the red zone target this season, but his career is coming to an end and Kmet has the talent to push him off the field for the final time.
Miles Boykin, WR BAL
The Ravens have really struggled in picking wide receivers, but seemingly got it right with Marquise Brown last year. They added the speedy Devin Duvernay and that should put Boykin on notice.
DaeSean Hamilton, WR DEN
His value took a serious shot when the Broncos took Jeudy. It was destroyed when they took Hamler, who ironically also played at Penn State.
James Washington, WR PIT
He’s had his moments in Pittsburgh, but hasn’t really developed into the player the Steelers likely wanted. They added Chase Claypool in the draft and he has a nice upside. This is going to be a make or break year for Washington.
Darrell Henderson / Malcolm Brown, RBs LAR
Brutal. This duo looked to be in line to carry the load for the Rams this season, but that all went up in smoke when Los Angeles grabbed the talented Cam Akers in round two. This backfield is pretty crowded now, but it’s going to be stunning if Akers doesn’t lead this team in carries next season.
Mark Ingram, RB BAL
It’s hard to really label Ingram as a loser, but it’s also clear his time in Baltimore is likely going to be short. Ingram is still effective and the Ravens run the ball a ton, but JK Dobbins is looking like the future bellcow for the Ravens beyond this season.
Carson Wentz, QB PHI
There’s no way Jalen Hurts has any prayer of competing for the starting job in Philadelphia. Still, it seems pretty apparent the Eagles are also not 100% certain he can stay healthy long-term, either. The drafting of Hurts was interesting, to say the least.
Ronald Jones, RB TB
It looked like Jones was going to be a big winner tonight, but Tampa Bay ended up taking Ke’Shawn Vaughn with their last pick of the night and that doesn’t bode well for the future of Jones, who just hasn’t looked like an NFL running back so far in his career.
Jamaal Williams, RB GB
The drafting of AJ Dillon at running back was a bit of a head scratcher. After all, Aaron Jones was a touchdown scoring machine last year and Williams has looked capable when giving him a change of pace. However, Jones is in a contract season and owed less than $800,000 this year. If the Packers have no intention of paying him after the season, it seems wise to look at bolstering their running back stable. Dillon is good enough to be a change of pace to Jones and also push Williams into the afterthought category.
We’ll be back for the final day tomorrow night.
Ken is on Twitter at DLF_KenK
