In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter, presented by Bud Light:
Last week, I hypothesized that some players were sweating their way through the draft as they awaited news of potential youthful threats to their NFL futures.
Thankfully, most of them made it out alive!
But the sweat isn’t over yet …
The Old Sweat Was Real
Nick Chubb: While the Browns haven’t officially ‘closed the door’ on Chubb returning, their double addition at the position makes it double less likely (Editor’s note: we know that isn’t grammatically correct; get over it.)
- RB Quinshon Judkins (Round 2, Pick 36)
- RB Dylan Sampson (Round 4, Pick 126)
Stefon Diggs: The Patriots did take WR Kyle Williams with the 69th pick in the draft—Nice. But the real win for Diggs: The Travis Hunter WR1 scenario didn’t pan out for New England after all. Instead, their early draft capital was spent on OT Will Campbell and RB TreVeyon Henderson. So Diggs’ WR1 storyline is still safe … for now.
Bryce Young: The Panthers didn’t trade away their first-round pick! I repeat! The Panthers used their first-round pick! And unlike what most of the mock drafts had suggested, Carolina didn’t go defense at 1.08. Young now gets his fountain-of-youth pass catcher in WR Tetairoa McMillan—who should also see some level of fantasy success.
New Sweats
We’re not done yet! We’ve got plenty of new sweats moving forward.
New Sweat No. 1: Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR room
- WR Emeka Egbuka (Round 1 , Pick 19)
Prior to the draft, Baker Mayfield was already loaded with 3 fantasy-friendly WR weapons. And while I love the fact that he’s been given even more support with the Bucs’ first-round pick, WR Emeka Egbuka … this could only mean 3 things for the rest of the Fantastic Four WRs:
- Chris Godwin—setback insurance policy?
- Mike Evans—final contract year replacement?
- Jalen McMillan—the odd man out?
Either way, I want need Baker Mayfield on my Best Ball Mania team. BTW, more on the newest contest in the watercooler.
New Sweat No. 2: Cleveland Browns QB Room
- QB Dillon Gabriel (Round 3, Pick 94)
- QB Shedeur Sanders (Round 5, Pick 144)
Umm … Yeah. You’ve heard enough on this one. I won’t beat a dead horse. But I will be watching how this “QB battle” progresses very, very closely.
New Sweat No. 3: Houston Texans WR room
- WR Jayden Higgins (Round 2, Pick 34)
- WR Jaylin Noel (Round 3, Pick 79)
With the Texans adding not one, but TWO WRs to their roster this weekend, it seems Tank Dell’s path to recovery and his position on the depth chart once he returns are both in jeopardy. Either way, the boost to Houston’s WR corps is good news for C.J. Stroud.
FANTASY WINNERS AND LOSERS FROM DRAFT WEEKEND
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The Report Cards Are In
The dust has settled, and the final component of truly closing out NFL Draft weekend is here—NFL Draft grades.
Sure, Thor would love to give every team (besides the Packers) an A. Would that be realistic? No.
So what does he do? He gives out Fs. That’s right, in Thor’s grading scale, there will always be Fs, Ds, Cs, Bs, and As.
I know you’re all at the edge of your seats, biting your nails, praying that your team didn't get the F, so let me give you a hint. The first team that got an “F” on their report card won 15 games en route to a division championship. I ain’t lion lyin’.
Who else got the draft-day F, and which teams knocked the weekend out of the park? ⬇️
DO THE RAVENS EVER MISS ON DRAFT DAY?
It’s Officially Dynasty Rookie Draft Season
The NFL Draft is over, so what comes next? More drafting, obviously.
Dynasty rookie drafts are going to be firing left and right for the remainder of the summer, but primarily over the next couple of weeks.
With landing spots secured, we finally have the final Infinity Stone needed when it comes to confidently mocking the rookie class. For example ….
1.01 - Ashton Jeanty … obviously.
1.02 - Cam Ward … because there’s always a QB high on the board, right?
1.10 - RJ Harvey … THE biggest dynasty riser of the draft?
2.03 - Matthew Golden … landing spots matter, for better or for worse.
Full breakdown of who the top 24 picks in a rookie draft should be. ⬇️
Here’s some NFL news to sift through while you’re resting on the couch. You’ve earned it:
👀 The largest fantasy football league in the world (don’t fact-check us) is live. Everything you need.
📈 Bullish on the new Broncos RB? This Sean Payton stat should help.
💪 How does the loaded RB class look with their landing spots locked in? Let’s dig in.
🐠 A new Bill Belichick interview just dropped. Robert Kraft drama? It’s … weird.
🚨 ICYMI: fantasy football winners and losers from the NFL Draft.
