First Round Draftees in Prime Position for Fantasy Impact
Dorian “The Trashman” Colbert, Rosterwatch.com

The first round of the 2014 NFL draft was arguably the most exciting one in recent history.

No one really had a very good read on how things would go down, and to no one’s surprise, things didn’t happen exactly like anyone thought they would. What we do now know is that the some of the most highly touted playmakers are on NFL teams now, and we need to make some fantasy sense of them.

These are the players who have the best chance at having a fantasy impact this year. You’ll probably notice that neither Blake Bortles or Johnny Manziel are on this list, and that’s for good reason. I don’t think that either player will start more than half of their games this season. Chad Henne has already been named the starter for the Jaguars in 2014, and as crazy as it sounds, raw rookie Manziel is going to have a tough time getting Brian Hoyer off of the field that easily. Another glaring omission is receiver Sammy Watkins—our consensus No. 1 WR pre-draft here at RosterWatch. Before you reach for the backhand, consider that he has Stevie Johnson, Robert Woods, Mike Williams, Marquise Goodwin, and T.J. Graham to contend with for time. The cream will rise to the top I’m sure, but I don’t know that Watkins will come bursting out of the gates come Week 1.

Mike Evans WR, Buccaneers: Perhaps the receiver with the best chance at having major fantasy impact this season, Evans will enter the season as the number two receiver to Vincent Jackson in Tampa Bay. Before long, it could become a 1A,1B situation where both players are equally as viable. We’ve seen how productive Mike Williams was opposite VJax and Evans is a better player.

Odell Beckham Jr. WR, Giants: Beckham Jr. is a walking highlight reel waiting to happen. With no current Giants receiver coming off of anything close to a decent season, he has a chance to become top dog in this normally high-flying offense. This signing doesn’t bode well for the likes of Rueben Randle.

Brandin Cooks WR, Saints: Cooks can step in as the instant replacement for Darren Sproles/Lance Moore out of the slot position. Cooks was a volume receiver in college, and it looks like he’ll pick up right where he left off in the Big Easy. Drew Brees is going to love playing with his new toy, and Cooks now has perhaps the highest ceiling of any rookie receiver.

Kelvin Benjamin WR, Panthers: Benjamin has the path of least resistance to fantasy relevance for the simple fact that he is arguably already Carolina’s best receiver. A towering red-zone target, Benjamin will catch a lot of touchdowns, if not a lot of passes in the Panthers’ run heavy offense. A player we were NOT high on through our scouting process who has fallen to just the right situation by default.

Teddy Bridgewater QB, Minnesota Vikings: With the underwhelming Matt Cassel as his main competition, I don’t see why Bridgewater won’t win out the starting job in camp. He has familiarity with a pro-style offense and was the most polished QB coming out of college this year. With fellow Viking receiver Cordarrelle Patterson coming into his own this season, we could see a lot of minor passes turned into major gains, meaning fantasy majesty for Bridgewater.