Rookie Analysis
The Minnesota Vikings selected Justin Jefferson, Wide Receiver, out of […]
The Philadelphia Eagles selected Jalen Reagor, Wide Receiver, out of […]
The Cowboys selected CeeDee Lamb, Wide Receiver, out of Oklahoma […]
The Denver Broncos selected Jerry Jeudy, Wide Receiver, out of […]
The Las Vegas Raiders selected Henry Ruggs III, Wide Receiver, […]
1.06, Justin Herbert, Oregon, QB Height – 6’6” Weight […]
Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin Johnathan Taylor was taken at Pick 41 […]
Cam Akers, Florida State University Cam Akers was taken at […]
D’Andre Swift, Georgia University D’Andre Swift was taken at Pick […]
While we fantasy gamers rub our hands together in anticipation of a loaded class of prospects, let’s contemplate the whole picture of the draft goals of each team. Equally important, do these teams have the draft picks necessary to bring in impact players to immediately push incumbents?
In this seven-part article series, I have looked at the rookies from the 2019 class at each position. In this article, we will examine the best and worst of rookie tight ends.
These are the few teams that don’t utilize the tight end position very well or have trouble developing young talent.
The Steelers selected Johnson with the 66th overall pick in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Coming into the season, Johnson was the fourth receiver on the Steelers’ depth chart. He sat behind Juju Smith-Schuster, Donte Moncrief, and James Washington. However, after Week 1, the Steelers had seen enough of Moncrief. From then on, Johnson and Washington shared the WR2 and WR3 roles behind Smith-Schuster. In that role, Johnson received 92 targets, converting those into 59 receptions for 680 yards and five touchdowns. He led the Steelers in targets, receptions, and receiving touchdowns, and he finished just behind Washington in receiving yards.
In Week 1, Samuel led the 49ers’ receivers with an 88% snap share, although he had just three receptions for 17 yards. The 49ers benched Pettis, giving him only two offensive snaps. After Week 1, the 49ers rotated Pettis, Samuel, Goodwin, and Bourne, a rotation that continued through Week 7. In Week 8, the 49ers traded for Emmanuel Sanders. They benched Pettis and Goodwin and used Sanders and Samuel as their two starting receivers, with Bourne as the primary WR3.
Now, we’re on to part four of this seven-part series about the 2019 rookies. Previously, I’ve talked about QBs, RBs part 1, and RBs part 2. Now, it’s time to get into the wide receivers, which I will split into three parts. There are simply so many receivers that either had high rookie draft capital or achieved fantasy relevance in 2019. For part one, I’ll take a look at four receivers that were all first-round picks in a majority of rookie drafts. These are my rankings from late May 2019:
The 2020 running back class appears to be deep and filled with talent. David Montgomery may not even make a top-five list among players like D’andre Swift, J.K. Dobbins, Jonathan Taylor, Cam Akers, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and the list could go on. We love watching these guys in the combine and get excited about the NFL Draft. What we don’t want is for any of them to end up of the following teams.
Ingram led the way with 202 carries, with Edwards in second with 133 carries. Hill lagged with just 58 carries. Hill also only had eight receptions in all of 2019, a major disappointment for a player with highly touted passing-game skills. Edwards, who has almost no pass-catching ability, finished with seven receptions, just one less than Hill. Hill played in all 16 games, so his poor stats were not due to injury. He also played on only 17% of offensive snaps.
There were four top-drafted running backs in last year’s rookie drafts. How did they fair in their rookie campaigns? What is their outlook going forward? Become a member, hop in, and find out!
This series will look back on the 2019 class and explore the biggest hits and misses. Now, since this will be a long series, let’s start with the premise here in part one. For each position, I will examine all the rookies that were selected in a significant number of rookie drafts, or achieved significant production at that position. A hit will generally be a player that produced fantasy points in year one and gained or at least maintained their dynasty value. A miss will be players who didn’t produce or at least who underperformed. I will also have a third category; incomplete. In this category, I’ll discuss those players who did not receive significant playing time and where they can go in 2020 and beyond.
Listed at 6’4 220 pounds, Cole McDonald looks like an NFL talent. McDonald has a rocket of an arm and moves very well for his size. As a two year starter at Hawaii, the gunslinger threw for 8,010 yards and 69 touchdowns. Although putting up video game numbers, McDonald is considered a day 3 prospect by most. This is likely due to a funky throwing motion and less than desirable completion percentage of 61.4. However, with a strong performance in Indianapolis, I believe Cole McDonald can make his way into the Day 2 decision. To do this, he will need to run a good 40 time and show off his arm talent.
Here, we’re going to look at landing spots. Specifically, what are the best landing spots for a running back in the 2020 NFL Draft, or perhaps for a free agent running back? I’ll be focusing on each team’s current running backs, cap space, and NFL Draft capital.