NFL Draft Dynasty Fantasy Football Day One Winners and Losers: Veteran Edition
Dynasty players have been looking forward to this weekend for weeks, maybe even months. For the second straight season, the first round of the NFL Draft was expected to be full of wide receivers and quarterbacks and it delivered in spades yet again. By the end of the night, a whopping five quarterbacks, two running backs, one premier tight end and five receivers came off the board. The top of the draft was an offensive bonanza as the first eight picks were all on that side of the ball.
With all 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, at least for 24 hours. Let’s take a look at some of the players who could see their dynasty value affected by this first round rookie class.
Winners
Jacksonville and New York Jets Pass Catchers
The Jaguars and Jets landed their new franchise cornerstones in the form of Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson, respectively. In theory, the group that includes the likes of Corey Davis, Keelan Cole, Denzel Mims, Jamison Crowder, DJ Chark, Marvin Jones, Laviska Shenault, and others should all benefit. While Lawrence is the sure thing, Wilson offers a unique ability to make off-platform throws and has one trait any NFL receiver will love – the ability to be accurate with his throws. If both these players become what their franchises think they will, the fantasy ceiling of their offense has been raised. As Michael Jordan would say, “The ceiling is the roof.”
Tua Tagovailoa, QB MIA
There was some early chatter the Dolphins would be interested in a quarterback this year, but they decided to maneuver around the draft and position themselves to add Jaylen Waddle instead. With Waddle added to a group with Will Fuller and Preston Williams, Tua has a chance to be much more successful in the short and long-term. The Dolphins are now truly and 100% committed to Tua moving forward.
Joe Burrow, QB CIN
The Bengals likely had to decide between Ja’Marr Chase and Penei Sewell and they went with Burrow’s former teammate instead. Chase adds a dynamic weapon to the Bengals offense and should give Burrow one of the best young receiver duos in the league. Chase is the alpha receiver the Bengals have been longing for since the heyday of Chad Johnson. They still need to address their offensive line, but Burrow has to be excited.
Jimmy Garoppolo, QB SF
Wait. What!?! Yep, Garoppolo is on the winner’s list. Had the 49ers taken Mac Jones with the third overall selection, Garoppolo’s grasp on the starting job would have been tenuous at best. Instead, the 49ers went with Trey Lance, who they’d likely love to redshirt for most of the season, giving Jimmy G a chance to prove he can stay healthy and perform well as a starter for another team eventually. While he’s a value loser overall this off-season, this was a best-case scenario for him to at least salvage a little bit of value moving forward.
Matt Ryan, QB ATL
After the Falcons restructured Ryan’s contract this off-season, it was going to make it really tough to move on from him over the next two seasons. Instead, they’ve doubled down on their veteran and added an athletic freak in the form of tight end Kyle Pitts. With Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley and Pitts all running routes, Ryan will have no shortage of passing options and be the envy of just about any quarterback in the league. The Falcons choosing to pass on a quarterback locks Ryan into low QB1 status at worst moving forward.
Sam Darnold, QB CAR
Not only did the Panthers pass on quarterbacks like Justin Fields and Mac Jones, they exercised Darnold’s fifth year option this morning, thus officially going all in with their newly acquired quarterback. Darnold will have a legitimate chance to prove he was once worth a top three pick and was simply yet another victim of Adam Gase.
Drew Lock, QB DEN
Much like Darnold, Lock was likely biting his figernails a bit as Fields and Jones were still on the board when Denver picked at #9. The Broncos went with the first defensive player (Patrick Surtain II) and passed on both signal callers. While the addition of Teddy Bridgewater does put Lock on notice, it looks like the Broncos are going to roll with Lock for one more season. However, keep in mind the Broncos would be a prime trade candidate for Aaron Rodgers if the Packers eventually cave to the new Alex Trebek.
Jalen Hurts, QB PHI
When the Eagles traded Carson Wentz, they didn’t fully commit to Hurts moving forward and there was some chatter they could add a quarterback in the top ten. After trading back in the draft and adding DeVonta Smith instead of a new signal caller, they clearly have put all their eggs in the Hurts basket now. Hurts has a way to go before being trustworthy and needs to have a higher completion rate moving forward, but it’s hard not to love his athletic profile and adding the Heisman winner won’t hurt.
James Conner and Chase Edmonds, RBs ARI
The Cardinals were rumored to be interested in a first round running back, but passed on both Najee Harris and Travis Etienne. If Javonte Williams goes somewhere else, owners of these two (especially Edmonds, who is the far superior option at this point in their careers) will breathe a big sigh of relief.
Zack Moss and Devin Singletary, RBs BUF
See Cardinals running backs above. The same situation applies here and the addition of Matt Breida doesn’t exactly frighten me.
Losers
James Robinson, RB JAX
Brutal. Robinson was the dynasty league darling last season as the undrafted free agent ran for 1,070 yards, caught 49 passes, recorded 344 receiving yards and scored ten touchdowns en route to being the RB7 last season. While the Jaguars were destined to add a running back to help take the load off Robinson during the draft, few expected that runner to be the dynamic Travis Etienne. With him being hand picked by new Head Coach Urban Meyer, the days of Robinson being a featured runner are all but over. He’s not just going to fade into the sunset, but Etienne is going to take most of the passing work at worst and could eventually rise to be the preferred option, leaving Robinson as a change of pace option. If you own Robinson, you have to hold him at this point. His value is shuttered and he’s on a shorter contract as an UDFA. There’s a realistic chance he’s posted his best season already, but he could still re-emerge.
Gardner Minshew, QB JAX
He can grow whatever facial hair he wants, but nothing will compare to the beautiful locks flowing from the head of Trevor Lawrence. Minshew belongs on the wire officially now.
Andy Dalton, QB CHI
Dalton landed in Chicago in hopes to rekindle some of the magic he showed in Cincinnati years ago. Instead, the Bears traded up for Justin Fields and he’ll immediately come in and challenge Dalton to start – a battle he’s going to win sooner rather than later.
Cam Newton, QB NE
In true Bill Belichick fashion, Newton has been declared the starter until someone plays better than he does. Based on last year’s performance, that should take Mac Jones about ten minutes. Newton’s time as a starter in the NFL is quickly coming to an end.
Hayden Hurst, TE ATL
In the same ten minutes it takes for Mac Jones to serve notice to Cam Newton, Kyle Pitts will likely do the same with Hurst. While the Atlanta offense is going to throw the ball a ton, it’s hard to see Hurst being a viable dynasty player as he’ll be the fourth option in the passing game at best. It’s a major buzzkill to his dynasty value that was looking to be on the rise last year.
Tyler Boyd, WR CIN
He could replicate his numbers from the slot, but it’s hard to see this offense supporting Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Boyd on a consistent basis. Boyd looks like the loser from this group and Chase will provide a massive upgrade over AJ Green this season and is already one of Joe Burrow’s favorite targets dating back to their dominant season at LSU.
Darius Slayton, WR NYG
The Giants adding Kadarius Toney was a bit of a head scratcher as they had a lot of other needs. With Kenny Golladay in the fold and Sterling Shepard being productive when healthy, Slayton looks like the loser here. He just hasn’t been able to show enough consistency to be counted on and the additions of John Ross and now Toney aren’t going to help that.
Sammy Watkins, WR BAL
Watkins was once one of the most coveted assets in dynasty fantasy football. He’s not any longer. The addition of Rashod Bateman to an offense that simply doesn’t throw enough likley makes the oft-injured Watkins a roster clogger yet again.
Benny Snell, Anthony McFarland, Jaylen Samuels, Kalen Ballage, RBs PIT
The Steelers have tried to deploy a committee of runners the past couple of seasons featuring this cast of characters and the newly departed James Conner. After taking Najee Harris in the first round and Mike Tomlin’s repeated desire to go with one bell cow runner, this is all Harris moving forward.
Neutral
Call me crazy, but I don’t see last night’s events as being that detrimental to Tee Higgins and Jalen Reagor. Higgins has already established himself as a solid option for the Bengals and Burrow is good enough to make two receivers relevant in dynasty leagues. As for Reagor, the addition of Smith may not help, but their strengths are different enough where Reagor should be productive if he can show some improvement. Both could be viewed as buy candidates in dynasty leagues at the moment.
We’ll have lots more from day two!
Ken is on Twitter at DLF_KenK
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