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We got to share yet another of maybe the most joyous holiday on the football calendar, the first round of the draft. Just like the Super Bowl, where and with who you celebrate is important. It’s probably a much more football-obsessed subset of your typical Super Bowl party, with just as many drunk fans cursing their team at the end of the night. We laughed, we cried, and if you are a Texans fan, you might have laughed and cried before the draft was out of the driveway.
First, let’s get to the bottom line, what actually mattered for fantasy football?
Fantasy Football Winners
Anthony Richardson (QB-IND) - The Colts love Richardson and didn’t hesitate to spend the #4 overall pick on him. New head coach Shane Steichen did wonders with Jalen Hurts, and Richardson gives him a lot more to work with in terms of arm strength, speed, and running ability. Arguably, Richardson has shown more advanced ability to adapt within a game and a season at Florida than Hurts did in college. This will be good; we just don’t know how good. Richardson is going to learn on the job and there will be growing pains, but the peaks for fantasy are going to be majestic.
Dalton Kincaid (TE-BUF) - The Utah product went only one pick after the wide receiver run, and the Bills were willing to trade up for him. His primary value is as a pass-catcher, and he’ll get paired up with a good quarterback in a good offense. Most expected multiple tight ends to hear their name called tonight. That Kincaid was the only one shows how much the Bills like him. On our show, Matt Waldman said his dynasty value might be higher than Kyle Pitts. Kincaid doesn’t have the redraft appeal that Richardson does, but his dynasty ceiling got a boost.
Jahmyr Gibbs (RB-DET) - The Lions were thrilled to land Gibbs. Ignore any shock from the football media that the Lions would take the Crimson Tide running back so high. Gibbs' pass-catching and big play ability were already amplified by fantasy football scoring. Add in a multiplier of a team smitten with his skillset that already has a highly efficient, productive offense, and Gibbs' night was pretty much a best-case scenario for his short- and long-term ranges of values.
Lamar Jackson (QB-BAL) - He got paid, and then he added a very useful weapon in wide receiver Zay Flowers from Boston College. Between the contract, the hiring of pass-happy Todd Monken to run the offense, the signing of Odell Beckham Jr, and now the drafting of Flowers, it sure looks like the Ravens are going to showcase Jackson’s passing ability. A fantasy football renaissance is coming for Jackson as long as he can stay healthy.
Adam Thielen (WR-CAR) - The Panthers made the safe choice in Bryce Young at #1. Pairing the Alabama quarterback with Thielen should create a lot of layup receptions for the veteran receiver if he isn’t washed up, and Carolina certainly doesn’t think he is. D.J. Chark remains intriguing, but he’ll be returning from ankle surgery, so monitor reports about Young and Thielen’s chemistry out of OTAs and camp. A hundred catches isn’t an outlandish number for Thielen this year. Hayden Hurst gains a notch or two as a sleeper tight end, too.
Rashaad Penny (RB-PHI) - The Falcons ensured that the Eagles didn’t get Texas running back Bijan Robinson, although Philadelphia might have preferred to move up to #9 to take Jalen Carter anyway. Robinson made only two pre-draft official visits - to Philadelphia and Tampa Bay - and there was a lot of speculation linking the Eagles to him, even if it didn’t happen at the 10th pick. Penny’s lack of durability is well-known, but he’ll likely lead a very productive backfield in touches as long as he is on the field unless Philadelphia takes a back in the second or third round. With no fourth-round pick and the team already missing their fifth because of the Chauncey Gardner-Johnson trade, they might not feel inclined to use one of their few remaining picks on a position that they seem to be willing to invest so little cap space in. Don’t forget Matt Waldman-favorite Trey Sermon is still in Philadelphia, too.
Kenny Pickett (QB-PIT) - The Steelers were decisive, moving up from 17 to 14 to get Georgia tackle Broderick Jones, who hopefully can be a solid starting tackle from day one. The interior offensive line is firmed up with the signing of Isaac Seumalo to go with 2022’s successful signings of Mason Cole and James Daniels, and now the team has wisely focused on tackle. Pickett is surrounded by solid to great offensive skill talent, perhaps the line can give him a chance to make more use of it this season.
Justin Herbert (QB-LAC), Geno Smith (QB-SEA) - The Chargers and Seahawks didn’t have glaring needs at wide receiver, so you couldn’t have been confident that either team would take one, but both did. TCU product Quentin Johnston gives Herbert a big, fast target that can make things happen after the catch with room to grow as a player, while Ohio State receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba gives Smith the player most had as the top wide receiver on the board. The Seahawks offense is run by Shane Waldron, who knows a thing or two about using three wide receiver sets from his time as passing game coordinator with the Rams.
