2020 NFL Draft IDP Review: NFC
The 2020 NFL Draft is in the bank and we’ve all had a few days to digest the implications. This is one of the most fun times to be a dynasty owner. What have you got on your roster? How can you improve it? What will your opponents do? What are they not seeing? How confident can you be in your own opinions?
Here is a breakdown of the big IDP moves that affect NFC players.
Arizona Cardinals
The Cards saw superstar defender Isaiah Simmons fall into their lap at eighth overall and they couldn’t say no. He will likely be used primarily as an LB but this is the front office that used Tyrann Mathieu and then Budda Baker in creative ways. They even tried with Haason Reddick although it didn’t work out. Simmons should join Jordan Hicks as starting LB – but expect him to be moved around a bit too. Annoyingly this may well hurt his IDP value. Pass rush snaps just are not as valuable for LBs as coverage snaps are. His arrival also kills De’Vondre Campbell’s chances of starter value.
Leki Fotu is a nice NFL prospect and he should work into the rotation on the interior D line but he’s not an IDP target.
Evan Weaver was a sixth-round pick and as an old-fashioned, run-stopping LB will have his work cut out to ever be a significant IDP.
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons moved early to fill their yawning hole at corner by drafting AJ Terrell at 16th overall. He’s a strong candidate to hit high snaps as a rookie – which translates to value. There are worse ways to invest a seventh-round rookie pick, assuming you have roster space.
Marlon Davidson was the second-round pick. His usage will be intriguing. He projects to being more of an interior player even if he did play some edge in college (think Da’Shawn Hand). The Falcons played a lot of 3-4 last year and if they replicate that his production will be hurt. But with second-round capital, he’s still intriguing. 500-600 snaps are attainable but don’t expect him to get close to being a top-24 option.
Mykal Walker was just a fourth-round pick but is also interesting. He spent time on the edge as well as off-ball LB in college. It’s likely he’s an inside player in the NFL at 230-ish pounds. Deion Jones is obviously in control of one spot, but Walker could battle Foye Oluokon for the second job.
Carolina Panthers
The Panthers amazingly only drafted defensive players this year – seven of them. You can see how they’re rebuilding.
Their first selection was (surprisingly) Derrick Brown, the mammoth defensive tackle. He’s a top talent but he’s not a specialist pass-rusher and thus his IDP value is likely to be limited. He’s one to let your league mates draft on name value. When that happens, congratulate them and tell them you wish he’d fallen to you.
Yetur Gross-Matos was a top 40 pick in the end. He’s raw but he has the skill-set to play all three downs which Brian Burns may not have. Gross-Matos is one of the top three or four edge options for you in this draft.
Jeremy Chinn was selected 64th overall out of Southern Illinois. He walks in as the immediate favorite to win Eric Reid’s strong safety job. There’s also a chance he spends time playing in the box as an LB given Luke Kuechly’s retirement and the surprising decision for the Panthers to not draft any LBs.
Chicago Bears
Chicago selected Jaylon Johnson with the 50th pick. He’ll compete with Artie Burns to play the second corner role behind Kyle Fuller and he has every chance of winning that battle. Even so, it’s not the easiest depth chart and he’s in the second tier of rookie corner prospects.
Trevis Gipson was selected in the fourth round out of Tulsa. He’s another raw pass rusher but could see time behind Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn who could well be a miscast misfit in Chicago. Gipson is a classic taxi squad candidate in deep leagues.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys drafted corner Trevon Diggs in the second round and followed that up by signing Darryl Worley shortly after. Diggs is going to get on the field at some point, but he’s got an uphill battle with Chidobe Awuzie and Anthony Brown in possession of the top two jobs right now. They also drafted Reggie Robinson later in the draft. He’s not on the IDP radar – but it does show a certain lack of faith in Jourdan Lewis.
Bradlee Anae was a fifth-round pick. He’s going to struggle to adapt to playing DE in the NFL at his weight (257 lbs) but he’s a talented player and hopefully will make the team and get some opportunities. He might be a decent taxi squad option but he’s a long shot.
Detroit Lions
The Lions had a fascinating haul from the draft. It was very reminiscent of the Patriots – for obvious reasons.
Jeffrey Okudah (third overall) walks in as a presumed every-snap player as a rookie. He’s worth a pick in the last round of deep league drafts – but don’t be fooled into taking him except as a luxury. Corners are available for free all the time – even a small investment in normally too much.
Julian Okwara was their selection at the top of the third round. He’s good value there – but an interesting fit. In many ways, he’s a better fit at the OLB position (Devon Kennard’s old spot) than at DE. He’s a DE on MFL right now but this is a concern. Expect him to be a part-time pass-rush specialist as a rookie and therefore have limited IDP value.
Green Bay Packers
The Packers draft has been much maligned by almost everyone. They certainly added very little defensive talent. Kamal Martin was their fifth-round pick. He’s an inside LB but very little threat to Christian Kirksey. Given that this defense really only uses one LB to any great extent, there’s not much value for anyone else – especially as Oren Burks is a coverage player and Martin much more an old-fashioned downhill player.
Los Angeles Rams
The Rams have some major roster issues given the dead cap they have against Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks.
As such, it was a little surprising to not invest more in solving their edge rush problem. Terrell Lewis was the only edge pick – in the third round. He’s a good prospect who should be part of the rotation immediately. This is a position group where the top option (Leonard Floyd) had three sacks in 442 pass-rush snaps last season. Lewis has a good chance to be IDP-relevant as a rookie.
The Rams double-dipped at safety but that might be misleading. In recent years, they have used a lot of big nickel sets with safeties like Troy Reeder playing LB. Neither Terrell Burgess (third round) or Jordan Fuller (sixth round) look like one of those players, but having them on the roster might enable a fit-again John Johnson to play more in the box with Taylor Rapp again moving around the formation.
Minnesota Vikings
Mike Zimmer has traditionally been fairly reluctant to use rookie defensive players but the Vikings certainly did manage a haul of talent with nine different defenders selected.
The top position of need was corner which the team addressed decisively with Jeff Gladney at 31st overall and Cameron Dantzler 89th. Zimmer tends to use four separate corners each week so there’s every chance both have significant roles this year and some good IDP weeks.
Fourth-round DE DJ Wonnum has no obvious weakness but also no huge strengths.
Troy Dye was a popular pre-draft choice. His slide to the late fourth round and the fact he’ll be firmly stuck behind Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr will hurt his value. He probably needs an injury to be relevant.
New Orleans Saints
The Saints made just four selections in the draft and only one was a defender. 74th pick Zach Baun looks likely to fill the strong side LB role that was AJ Klein’s until he left. This is a fairly unproductive role in IDP terms so he’s probably worth leaving for one of your league-mates to draft.
New York Giants
Xavier McKinney surprisingly slid out of the first round, but the Giants nabbed him at 36th overall. He’s a good pick for them and gives them a very flexible pair of safeties – McKinney and Jabrill Peppers. Peppers is still the one to own but McKinney will slot right into that huge tranche of safeties who could finish anywhere from S15 to S45.
The Giants incredibly selected four different LBs in the last two rounds of the draft. The only one likely to stick on the roster and be a contributor is Cam Brown, a long, athletic inside LB out of Penn State. He has some potential but the chances are he’s never an IDP factor.
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles appear to be overhauling their LBs and secondary to load up on speed and mobility. General manager Howie Roseman said after the draft: “We want to be fast. This is a speed league”. Everyone assumed this was about drafting Jalen Reagor but it also holds true on the other side of the ball.
Davion Taylor in the third round was their first defensive selection. He is an excellent athlete at over 220 pounds and should have the opportunity to win a big role immediately. He’s a tier below some of the top LBs taken as he’s less sure of playing time, but he has the opportunity to be the best value LB in rookie drafts.
They backed this up by also selecting Shaun Bradley in the sixth round. He’s obviously even less assured of a major role but also fits the template of a blazingly fast modern linebacker.
Lastly, they picked Casey Toohill in the seventh round. He was an edge defender in college but may be asked to move to off-ball LB. Either way, with a 4.62-second 40-yard dash time at 250 lbs, he clearly fits what the Eagles are trying to do.
The other defender in Philly to be aware of is K’Von Wallace. He’s a slot DB and on most teams would be good enough to start. The Eagles also signed Nickell Robey-Coleman for that spot though and Wallace may have to wait his turn or play a bit more deep safety.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers surprisingly made just five selections in the draft. Given they started with a strong roster and two first-round picks, they could have easily amassed more capital.
The first pick (and only IDP) was DT Javon Kinlaw at 14th overall. He’ll come in and fill DeForest Buckner’s old under tackle role at a fraction of the cost. Kinlaw is a specialist interior penetrator and has the chance to become an elite IDP at the DT position. He certainly has the talent, situation and opportunity.
Seattle Seahawks
Seahawks gonna Seahawks eh?
As is almost traditional, Seattle used their first-round pick on a defender nobody expected to get close to the first round in LB Jordyn Brooks out of Texas Tech.
The team already has long-term starters Bobby Wagner and KJ Wright in place and drafted two LBs last season in Cody Barton and Ben Burr-Kiven. On any other team, this would be bizarre, but the Seahawks spent most of last year with three LBs on the field so maybe Brooks will slide into replace Mychal Kendricks. The draft capital suggests he’ll get plenty of playing time, but this is a risky pick as it’s so unusual.
Their second pick of the draft was edge Darrell Taylor. He was a high-motor, high-energy college pass rusher and fills a huge hole after the departure of Jadeveon Clowney and Ezekiel Ansah. This is Seattle so the likes of Benson Mayowa and Branden Jackson may well keep Taylor rooted to the bench but he’s worth a late pick.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs made just one serious investment into their defense which was second-round safety Antoine Winfield. He’s a very flexible player and should fit very well in Todd Bowles’ defense. What he’s not is a dedicated box safety so you should not expect him to turn into Deone Bucannon. Winfield will likely slot into the large, interchangeable group of safeties who are OK but not amazingly impactful as IDPs.
Assuming he’s a full-time player (which is not guaranteed), there’s not much production to go around Mike Edwards, Justin Evans and Jordan Whitehead.
Washington Redskins
Any draft where you snag a player like Chase Young is hard to get wrong. Young is a prospect on the same level as Myles Garrett, Joey Bosa and Nick Bosa. That is to say – he is exceptional. We’re wrong all the time with the draft, but it will be an enormous surprise for him not to be a very good NFL player. He’s going to be drafted early (early second, maybe late first round) but he might be worth it anyway. A long-term, reliable pass-rushing DE is a fantastic asset. Bear in mind that the sell window for Ryan Kerrigan is pretty much gone. If you’re still holding him, you might want to wait for any hype or a good week and get out for whatever you can.
Washington also selected three defenders late but none of them are on the IDP radar for now.
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