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Each year the draft brings us a wave of new players to get excited about in the fantasy football realm. It also wreaks havoc, muddying up depth charts or creating talent vacuums where positions were ignored.
The 2014 NFL draft is no different. Here are some of this year’s biggest winners and losers from the draft in the fantasy football realm.
Winners
Matthew Stafford, QB, Detroit Lions
Forget what the Lions did after the first round, at least in terms of fantasy football. Drafting Eric Ebron out of UNC was a magnificent move to boost Matthew Stafford.
Ebron gives Stafford something he hasn’t had in his entire time as Detroit’s quarterback—a bona fide seam threat.
Sure, Brandon Pettigrew has had his opportunities, but he has been nothing but a unicorn fantasy owners have chased for years. He was brought back on a four-year, $16 million deal this past offseason, but that shouldn’t preclude the Lions from using their shiny new toy.
In fact, Ebron might be moved around and utilized like a receiver.
Whatever the case may be, it was clear the Lions wanted to get Stafford some pass-catching help this offseason. Inking Golden Tate—finally, a real live No. 2 receiver—to a five-year deal was a nice start. Ebron was the icing on the cake in the draft.
Even if Stafford doesn't approach the record he set for most passing attempts in a season, the quality of targets should improve under new management. More importantly, the quality of his receivers has drastically improved, at least on paper.
Bishop Sankey, RB, Tennessee Titans
There were few teams with a major need at running back heading into the draft, part of the reason why the position took such a hit overall.
Tennessee was one of those teams, and the Titans wound up with their pick of the litter late in the second round, Bishop Sankey out of Washington. It was an interesting battle between the top prospects at the position during draft season, with Carlos Hyde and Tre Mason in the mix to be the top back drafted.
Sankey won out, a nice all-around option for the Titans. He has been compared to last year’s rookie sensation, Giovani Bernard. Perhaps a better comparison would be to Ray Rice. Here is how they compared, physically, heading into their rookie seasons:
Height | Weight | 40-yd dash | Bench reps | Vertical | Broad | 3-cone | 20-yd shuttle | |
Sankey | 5'9" | 209 lbs. | 4.49 s | 26 | 35.5 in. | 126.0 in. | 6.75 s | 4.00 s |
Bernard | 5'8" | 202 lbs. | 4.53 s | 19 | 33.5 in. | 122.0 in. | 6.91 s | 4.12 s |
Rice | 5'9" | 195 lbs. | 4.42 s | 23 | 31.5 in. | 119.0 in. | 6.65 s | 4.20 s |
Rice had knocks on size as a prospect, but he has bulked up since getting to the NFL and there is no reason to think Sankey can’t do the same. Purely looking at metrics, Sankey looks like a stud in the making. He also had fantastic production in college, averaging 5.4 yards per carry last season en route to 2,174 total yards and 21 touchdowns. But how does he look on film?
That is just one cutup, but it's clear Sankey looks the part of a starting running back at the next level—an elusive, athletic runner with good vision.
Unlike last season, when several rookie running backs made big impacts—both on the gridiron and in fantasy lineups—Sankey is the only one who has a clear path to significant playing time. Not only was he likely going to see the field a lot as a rookie because plodding Shonn Greene was the incumbent starter, but Greene recently had a second knee surgery that should keep him out until July.
Greene should be back and garner playing time, mainly because he is better in pass protection than Sankey. The latter also saw a ton of touches over the past two years—653, to be exact—which could lead to a “touch limit” in his first year. But the rookie has promise as a fantasy option in redraft leagues.
Sankey might become too expensive by the time your real draft rolls around, but keep an eye on him throughout the offseason and preseason.
Ryan Tannehill, QB, Miami Dolphins
Alright, so Ryan Tannehill isn’t high on many fantasy draft boards. That is understandable—he is probably outside the top 15 on many rankings, and there is little reason to significantly move him up at this stage.
But there is a strong chance Tannehill could wind up in the top 10 in fantasy scoring this season. The reason? A markedly improved offensive line, at least on paper.
Tannehill was sacked a team-record 58 times last season, a woeful statistic that surely stunted development and impeded fantasy scoring. While some of that was his own doing, the offensive line needed work.
After paying big money to bring Brandon Albert over from Kansas City to man the blind side, the Dolphins turned their attention to addressing other holes in the draft. Ju’Wuan James out of Tennessee was taken in the first round to plug the right side, and North Dakota State’s Billy Turner will bring his nasty demeanor to the left guard position right away.
The improvements on the offensive line weren’t the only reason why Tannehill’s arrow is pointing up after the draft. Miami drafted wide receiver Jarvis Landry out of LSU. He might not be Julio Jones athletically, but Landry drastically improves Miami’s situation at No. 3 receiver. Having a crisp route-runner with fantastic hands could do wonders for Tannehill and cause problems for defenses trying to keep Mike Wallace from blowing the top off.
[Tampa Bay Quarterback]
We are still unsure if Mike Glennon or Josh McCown will line up under center in Tampa Bay this coming season, but we are certain one of them is going to have a bevy of big weapons to play with in 2014.
The Buccaneers needed to find another receiver to pair with Vincent Jackson after trading Mike Williams away. They got their man in Mike Evans, a 6’5”, 225-pound beast out of Texas A&M.
Evans was arguably the best receiving prospect in the draft, depending on what flavor of receiver you like. Sammy Watkins wound up going a few spots a head of him, but he is more of a run-after-the-catch kind of guy. Evans is a go-up-and-get it receiver with massive upside.
Not only did the Buccaneers give [Tampa Bay Quarterback] another 6’5” receiver, they drafted 6’6” tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins in the second round. That might have been a bit high for a guy with off-field and injury concerns, but a healthy ASJ will give [Tampa Bay Quarterback] a fantastic tight end option, something that has been lacking in Tampa for some time now.
The trio forms a mini-forest of big targets—and big targets tend to score more touchdowns in the passing game—making whoever wins the starting job in Tampa Bay a bit of a sleeper.
This one is rather elementary. The Vikings got better at quarterback by drafting Teddy Bridgewater, which should be a boon to the entire offense.
Of course, Bridgewater has to win the job first, but Minnesota did the right thing to snag him at the end of the first round. Greg Jennings, Cordarrelle Patterson and Kyle Rudolph all got bumps in value after the draft.
Ryan Shazier, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers are going to find ways to use Ryan Shazier all over the place on that defense.
The talented linebacker out of Ohio State was one of the most explosive players heading into the draft. He is more than capable of playing inside linebacker, where he would have plenty of value. There is a dearth of quality rookie options in the IDP realm, but Shazier could be a nice addition.
Of course, if the Steelers line him up outside, his value goes away, so mind his preseason.
Losers
Jamaal Charles, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City didn’t take a running back. So how did the draft affect Jamaal Charles? All you have to do is look at the big uglies to find out.
This offseason has not been kind to that offense. The Chiefs lost their three best offensive linemen from 2013—Branden Albert, Geoff Schwartz and Jon Asamoah. The latter two played the same position, but they were both significantly better than incumbent left guard, Jeff Allen. All three of the departed linemen were solid run blockers, to boot.
Nothing was seriously done to replace them, unless you think Jeff Linkenbach is a quality guard.
Now, that is not to say Charles is in for a bad year. He is still a pass-catching fiend, and he is a dynamic player who can do more with less. But a negatively impacted offensive line could ding Charles’ production this season, particularly in the running game.
Johnny Manziel, QB, Cleveland Browns
Cleveland is a hellscape of failed quarterbacks, a land littered with career corpses from Tim Couch to Brandon Weeden. But that’s not why Johnny Manziel is a fantasy loser post-draft.
This isn’t about going Cleveland, where quarterback careers go to die. If anyone can buck that history, it’s Johnny Manziel. That is not to say he is a surefire thing—he did fall all the way to No. 22 in the first for a reason—but Manziel seems different than his predecessor, an electrifying playmaker capable of producing magic on any given Sunday.
Alas, he will have to do it all without all-world receiver Josh Gordon this season, at least if the rumors of his 2014 demise are true. Poor Browns fans couldn't even celebrate for 24 hours, finding out their star receiver may be suspended for a year less than a day after Manziel started a run on season tickets.
I cannot believe Johnny Manziel got Josh Gordon suspended already.
— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) May 9, 2014
Gordon was one misstep away from such a suspension, and now it looks like Manziel will be without his top guy, one of the top receivers in the league. Nate Burleson is also out with a broken arm, though that is of relatively little consequence.
What is of cosequence is the fact the Browns did absolutely nothing to remedy the receiver situation in the draft. They had ample opportunity to draft a quality receiver only to stick to their board. Right now Andrew Hawkins, Greg Little and Travis Benjamin—who is coming back from a torn ACL—headline the wide receiver position in Cleveland for 2014.
Unless they know something we don’t know about Gordon’s suspension—as in, the length is far less than we have been told—there isn’t much to get excited about in Cleveland’s passing game.
Cam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers
The Panthers went into the draft with two huge needs—wide receiver and left tackle.
General manager Dave Gettleman set out to address one of those by selecting Kelvin Benjamin at the tail end of the first round. The 6’5”, 240-pound monster out of Florida State should help, right?
Well, maybe.
It’s not that Benjamin is a bad player coming out of college. He got some early buzz after catching the game-winning touchdown in the BCS championship game, and it’s hard to pass up a giant receiving option like that. He was the biggest wide receiver in the draft, only outsizing seventh-overall pick Mike Evans in weight.
The problem? Benjamin has issues, particularly with bad drops. He is also not highly athletic, as we saw with his lackluster combine performance. In fact, his size and speed combination more closely resembles a tight end’s.
Height | Weight | 40-yd dash | Bench reps | Vertical | Broad | |
Player A | 6'4" | 250 lbs. | 4.60 s | 24 | 32.0 in. | 120.0 in. |
Player B | 6'5" | 240 lbs. | 4.61 s | 13 | 32.5 in. | 119.0 in. |
If you haven’t guessed, Player A is UNC’s Eric Ebron and Player B is Benjamin. Granted, Ebron went 10th-overall to the Lions, but as a tight end. If the Panthers plan on using Benjamin as a tight end, their No. 1 receiver becomes Jerricho Cotchery.
Of course, Benjamin could overcome concentration issues and less-than-ideal athleticism to become great. He was simply not the best option for the Panthers at No. 28, and they didn’t do anything else to address the position.
More alarming was the fact the Panthers eschewed offensive tackle altogether in the draft. Jordan Gross retired, leaving a massive hole on the blind side. Newton is a big, mobile quarterback capable of dealing with pressure, but it’s tough to think Nate Chandler can fill Gross’ shoes. A little pressure combined with a weak receiving corps could lead to a depressed statistical season for Newton, at least in the passing game.
Frank Gore, RB, San Francisco 49ers
It has been a great run for Frank Gore in San Francisco. The Hall of Fame should eventually come calling for the talented running back, but fantasy owners should be running the other direction in 2014.
It’s not that Gore has fallen off a cliff—he was productive last year, putting up another 1,000-yard season and nine touchdowns after all. But Father Time is undefeated, and he is gaining on the 49er great.
Gore is 31 years old with over 2,500 regular-season touches under his belt. San Francisco is aware of this fact, hence why the 49ers have been drafting running backs like they are hoarding for a natural disaster.
Carlos Hyde is the latest of these, and he might be the best.
The former Ohio State running back fell a bit due to off-field concerns, but he could step in right away and contribute as a rookie. Gore also has last 2013 pick Marcus Lattimore on his tail, fully recovered from a nasty knee injury that kept him out for his entire rookie year.
With Kendall Hunter and Lamichael James also in the fold, it’s easy to see Gore’s market share diminish in the 49ers backfield. He might keep his starting gig, but he could easily see his touches halved if he has lost a step and Hyde and Lattimore live up to expectations.
Arthur Brown, LB, Baltimore Ravens
If you snagged Arthur Brown in rookie drafts last season expecting him to become an IDP stud in the middle of the Ravens defense, you might be waiting a little while longer.
The Ravens brought Daryl Smith back in free agency, and they took linebacker C.J. Mosley out of Alabama in the first round. That could leave Brown on the outs for serious playing time, at least in 2014.
Cecil Shorts III, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
Despite being the de facto No. 1 receiver before the draft thanks to an indefinite suspension to Justin Blackmon, Cecil Shorts III’s fantasy stock was on shaky ground.
Often injured, it was difficult to really trust him. Until the Jaguars drafted Blake Bortles, it was difficult to trust his quarterback, too. Of course, Jacksonville wants Chad Henne to start while Bortles develops, so it might still be tough sledding for fantasy owners.
More to the point here, the Jaguars selected USC’s Marqise Lee and Penn State’s Allen Robinson to shore up the receiver position. Shorts might hang onto his starting job, but he is not long for the fantasy dumpster at this point.