I enjoyed every minute of the draft this past weekend. But immediately, my brain started whirring (scary thought, really): Which current NFL players got the most help from rookie draftees? And how are some of these skill position rookies going to fare in their first season in the NFL? I’ll go into the first question a little bit and leave the second question for later in the week to address. But juicy stuff to consider, from a fantasy perspective. Let’s go over some of the players most likely to benefit from getting help in the draft.
Quarterbacks: You have to like what the Redskins have done by providing QB Jason Campbell with talented receivers like Devin Thomas, Malcolm Kelly and TE Fred Davis. Big Ben Roethlisberger got lots of help on the offensive side of things with the addition of RB Rashard Mendenhall and WR Limas Sweed, potentially the best WR in the draft. He already has Santonio Holmes, Hines Ward and Heath Miller at his disposal. Finally, Panthers QB Jake Delhomme got both help on the O-line with first rounder T Jeff Otah. He already has an improved receiver corps with the return of Muhsin Muhammad and addition of DJ Hackett.
Running Backs: I don’t know if too many backs had their situation helped by the draft, but you have to downgrade some guys now due to competition. For instance, Darren McFadden has to hurt Justin Fargas in Oakland, it won’t be Fargas’ show like it was at the end of 2007. Same goes for DeAngelo Williams in Carolina. The team obviously doesn’t trust him to carry the load by himself, and thus the draft pick in the first round on Jonathan Stewart. I think it’s also obvious that Willie Parker will see less touches now that Rashard Mendenhall is in the picture. You just don’t draft a guy like that and just sit him.
Wide Receivers: The player whose value is up in the air due to the draft could be Atlanta’s Roddy White, now that the Falcons have drafted QB Matt Ryan in the first round. Granted, White did very well last year despite receiving passes from both Joey Harrington and Chris Redman, so he’s proven he can produce if the quarterback play is less than stellar. I’m looking forward to seeing how the White-Ryan connection looks in camp.
That’s all for now. Be back later with my thoughts on the rookies who are worth drafting or picking up on your fantasy teams.
re: With Hines Ward fading fast, one injury could spell out a big season for Sweed as Pittsburgh’s primary possession receiver.
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LB23
Big Ben is going to be awesome next year he played really in the first year under Bruce Arians system and he’s only going to build upon that now. their RB situation is now solidified, successful NFL teams need more than 1 quality back these days, and the Steelers are poised to make a deep run next year. 30 TDs for Big Ben shouldn’t be a problem at all. 35 TDs is something to shoot for! -bB
hopefully people will underrate big ben again and I can swoop him up in the middle-late rounds! Good point, LeBron, Holmes is the number 1 guy in Pitt, Ward might go from number 2 to 3 pretty quickly.
- Freddie Footballer
Big Ben’s Problem Isn’t Offensive Receivers or RB’s…... ....it’s can the Steelers provide him with an offensive line that can protect him so he can make the throws to these weapons? The answer to that question is “no”.
Steelers lost Faneca and didn’t improve their o-line any with the draft, so unfortunately Rothlisberger’s stats won’t truly reflect any significant improvements from last year based on your logic.