3.01- Eno Benjamin, RB, Arizona State
Benjamin boasts an all-purpose skillset (77 receptions the last two years) and a similar size to the other top backs in this draft (5’9″, 207 lbs.) Mix in an 85th percentile college dominator rating and 87th percentile burst score and I’m optimistic we could see a team lean on him to handle their passing down work in the near future. Benjamin could shine if given the opportunity to carry the load but at 3.01 I’m looking for passing game chops and he has them.
3.02 – A.J. Dillon, RB, Boston College
Tyler Justin Karp- @DFF_Justin
Dillon comes into the NFL Draft with workhorse upside. In three years at Boston College, he averaged 282 carries per year and totaled 4,382 yards and 38 rushing touchdowns throughout his career. He also progressed as a pass-catcher, moving from zero to eight to 13 receptions from Year 1 to Year 3.
The main knock on Dillon is that he was more of a compiler than an efficient back. He only averaged 5.2 yards per carry in college and lacked explosiveness as a runner. However, at the NFL Combine, he managed to run a 4.53-sec. 40-yard dash despite weighing in at 247 pounds. That fast time gives me hope that Dillon could develop into a lead back over time. Coming into the NFL, Dillon will likely be a big secondary back, complementing a smaller starter. Dillon would fit in well with the Chargers, complementing Austin Ekeler or perhaps the Bills, pairing with Devin Singletary.
In my superflex rookie rankings, Dillon is my 20th ranked player, so getting him with the 26th overall selection was an excellent value. I’m happy to add him to my dynasty team.
3.03 K.J. Hamler, WR, Penn State
Brad Hartnett – @DynastyDiagnos1
In rookie drafts, the first two rounds typically have about a 50% hit rate of adding a starting worthy player to your fantasy team, come rounds three and on we are simply looking to get a return. As previously stated, this is an incredible wide receiver class, so I am going to go with my next wide receiver on the board in Hamler.
Hamler is a slot speedster from Penn State, and through special teams has a great chance to contribute immediately in the NFL as a return man. Hamler himself said that he molds his game after Steve Smith and he will have a similar path to success.
Hamler may be the most impacted by not participating in the NFL Combine and having a canceled pro-day. I could see Hamler going anywhere from the early second-round to being a day three flier.
3.04 – Jake Fromm, QB, Georgia
The guy from QB1: Beyond the Lights, The guy who pushed Jacob Eason and Justin Fields out of the program at Georgia.
There seems to be a lot of questions over his perceived lack of arm strength, that I can’t help you with, to be honest.
All I can say is that he’s intelligent and a hard worker who will no doubt endear himself to whatever organization lands him and why would he need serious arm strength if he goes to the right situation where they can exploit his “game manager” mode. Everyone wants the “Konami” code guys these days, but Fromm can be a solid value if he gets his shot.
3.05 – Chase Claypool, WR, Notre Dame
This could end up being the best pick of the draft. Taking a WR with so much athleticism and potential day 2 draft capital is a good move. However this pick has the upside to be more than that. Rumor has it that Claypool could make the move to TE.
This would skyrocket Claypool’s value, moving him to the front of this TE class. He would go from a very athletic WR to an extraordinarily athletic mismatch machine TE. Either way this pick is a good value with the potential to be a great value.
3.06 – Anthony McFarland, RB, Maryland
With the depth at WR this year, a lot of my second-tier running backs are falling to round three. In our draft, nine of the round two picks were WRs and two more were QBs, leaving Antonio Gibson as the only RB taken. This means that all the way at overall pick 30, I had the chance to snag any of my favorite tier two running backs. I have McFarland, Darrynton Evans, and Ke’Shawn Vaughn all tied at RB6. All three were available and I decided to take McFarland as I believe he has the highest upside and pedigree in this tier.
Coming out of college, McFarland was rehabbing a broken leg so he chose Maryland over Alabama so he could stay close to home. He showed why Alabama wanted him when he almost single-handedly beat Ohio State in 2019 with 21 carries for 298 yards (298 YARDS!!!) and two touchdowns. Not bad considering the week before he wrecked my Indiana Hoosiers with 29 carries for 210 yards. He has shown that he should be a top tier prospect, but the big issue with McFarland is that he can’t stay healthy. He missed time in a lot of games having to come out for several snaps with small injuries. His reliability with a big workload is extremely questionable, but his upside is as high as the top tier running back prospects in this draft and that’s why I chose him over Evans and Vaughn.
3.07 – Darrynton Evans, RB, Appalachian State
Shooting for the stars with this pick. Evans is one of the best athletes in this class. That doesn’t mean he’s the best running back by any means but his college production was off the charts at Appalachian State. He finished with 1,480 yards and a whopping 23 touchdowns on 255 carries.
Evans scores in the 96th percentile in the 40-yard dash (4.41-sec.). What’s so exciting is his speed and athleticism show up on tape just as much as they do in testing. There aren’t any guarantees, especially with such a deep class but Evans checks the majority of the boxes for a successful NFL player.
3.08 – Ke’Shawn Vaughn – RB, Vanderbilt
Deep in the third round, I’m looking for guys that are going to stick around in this league. I don’t know that Vaughn will ever materialize into a 3-down workhorse back, but he does seem like a quality change of pace back. If he can carve out a role for himself on a team with a decent offensive line, he could be a nice handcuff or deeper flex play for many years to come. There is some room for optimism as Vaughn had back to back 1,000-yard seasons with the Commodores and has 4.51-sec. 40-yard speed. This late in a rookie draft if I can snag a guy who will be a nice piece in my lineup for 5 years I feel great.
3.09 – Joshua Kelly, RB, UCLA
Carl Churchill – @RookieWhisper
In round 3 I am swinging for the fences, going for high upside. Joshua Kelly fits that bill in my opinion. Kelly has shown bell-cow usage with over 240 touches per year, at 212 pounds. He has also shown receiving ability with 38 receptions in his two seasons at UCLA and to top it all off Kelly has 4.49-sec. forty speed!
On film, the UCLA RB shows a nice blend of both power and speed. He’s able to grind out the tough yards but is more than capable of busting off a long TD run too. The biggest hole in Kelly’s game is his below-average yards per carry of 5.1. Ideally, you’d like an RB to be in the 6+ YPC range, but when you’re picking in the third round you’re probably not going to find a bulletproof prospect.
Like all prospects, you hope for good draft capital and opportunity. I believe Kelly is a round 4 or 5 player in the NFL Draft. Ideally, he lands in San Diego, Tampa Bay, or Kansas City where he can look to carve out a role early on.
3.10 – Antonio Gandy-Golden, WR, Liberty
So here is where my strategy of thinking like the team drafting comes into play. At the end of the third round, I am looking for upside. There are plenty of knocks on AGG, primarily his lack of athleticism as shown at the NFL Combine (4.6 second 40-yard dash, 7.33 second 3-cone). However, he’s a big dude that was an excellent producer at a small school. If he can be coached up a bit by an intelligent staff and falls in a WR corps that has a smart QB, I think there is a lot of potential there. There’s also a possibility that I can flip him next year if he flashes at all. It’s getting late in the draft; now is the time to take your upside dart throws. Oh, and I live in Virginia and work with a guy who played for Liberty, so AGG has that homer tie-breaker for me.
3.11 – Donovan Peoples-Jones, WR, Michigan
Billy Beaman – @WillieBeamanDFF
The 2020 wide receiver class is deep so I decided to take a running back early (Clyde Edwards-Helaire) and load up on receivers in the middle rounds. Peoples-Jones came in the 99th percentile in burst score (vertical and broad jump). He’s an explosive athlete but has been labeled slow off the line and therefore unable to play on the outside in the NFL. That said, I’m happy with this kind of dart throw with what is essentially a fourth-round rookie pick.
3.12 – Lamical Perine, RB, Florida
Perine has been a third round target of mine all offseason, and for the exact opposite reasons of my prior picks. Perine was used all 4 years of his college career, but he wasn’t in the same league of production as Moss or Johnson. What Perine lacks in college production, he makes up for in potential. I think everyone is looking at CEH to be the MJD-like scatback out of the backfield, and he very well might be, but I see that in Perine. And he costs me a late third opposed to a first.
I’m shooting for the right situation here, but if the stars align I could have grabbed the next Ekeler type RB in Perine. These are the risk-rounds we’re in and I’m fine with taking a shot on Perine, as Duvernay is the next closest on my board but we already grabbed Tyler Johnson. The only QB remotely on my board is Eason and I’d rather just see if he falls another round.
