Sure, it is easy to list winners and losers after the NFL Draft has come and gone. Just wait until you read the unconventional list below. Anyone can write about Bryce Young and Anthony Richardson being draft day winners and Will Levis possibly being a draft day loser, but nobody will give you the type of insight you will read below. So, let me put on all my best draft day jewelry. Yes, @Razzball has its own jewelry division, so all the writers/bloggers stay icy.
@BobbyLaMarco will be chatting about his more conventional draft day winners on the Razzball YouTube channel. Tune in and be a part of the discussion with your questions and comments. Who do you think won/lost and even throw in which dudes came dressed correctly and which looked like trash? As always, if you want to discuss anything in this article, feel free to drop notes at the bottom of this thread.
WINNER: Texans Offense – For a team that’s latest press is the embarrassing Deshaun Watson story, the Texans brass stepped up in a big way to kick off the 2023 NFL Draft! With the narrative changed and the team moving ever so promisingly toward the future, I love what the Texans did at the draft. They are still a long way away from being Super Bowl contenders, but I will happily take their 2022 O/U of 4.5 wins in 2023. The addition of C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson at the top of the draft should solidify two important positions as both are five-star talents and should prove studs from the start. The beneficiaries of those two picks are second-year RB Dameon Pierce and free-agent TE acquisition Dalton Schultz. Considering Stroud asked for the team to add/draft Houston WR Tank Dell, I look for the diminutive slot WR to get a lot of looks from the new QB if he breaks camp as a top-3 WR. Drafting two C’s (R2, R6) is an interesting strategy. I like it if either can play inside at G, as the need for OL depth is always a thing in the NFL. The goal will be to keep Stroud upright, thus allowing the accurate rookie QB to find the open receivers.
LOSER: Ryan Tannehill – Our favorite former WR turned NFL QB just watched the Titans war room draft his replacement two drafts in a row. Seriously, could there be a bigger kick to the nuts from your management than to have them quietly replace you twice without attempting to find a viable trade partner for your services? With the addition of Will Levis in the second round, the Titans basically labeled Tannehill as a lame-duck QB for 2023. Sure, Tannehill still has Derrick Henry, but why would this guy want to go out and give 100% for a team that is sure to push him further toward the door during the season? The one bright spot for Tannehill is Malik Willis looked awful, and we do not know what Levis will bring. What we do know is 30+ teams wanted nothing to do with him in Round 1. At this point, it does not matter. Tannehill’s headstone is being planted in Tennessee, and he will most certainly be looking at a new zip code in 2024. No doubt there will be suitors. The question for me will be when does Levis get his chance to prove he can be the starter? Do the Titans lose a few in a row and call it a season by throwing Levis behind center, or do they give him the obligatory Week 17 start as a ‘prove it’ game?
WINNER: Anthony Richardson – Who just went at 1.04? A lot of draft ‘experts’ had Richardson as QB4 behind Stroud, Young, and Levis. Not many saw Levis dropping to the second round, as many had him linked to this Colts opening. Richardson is a freakish athlete but has a lot of work to do on mechanics and accuracy, as he did not impress either category at the combine. The winning aspect for the rookie QB is that he is getting QB1 money to start his career and has no competition for the position. AR15 will get a chance to succeed or fail, and we shall see if he was, indeed, the better pick over Levis. Richardson does have a decent WR1 in Michael Pittman, Jr., but I want to see the two players gel before I hand the division over to the Colts. NOTE: I have not once considered the Colts to win the South, but this is a winnable division if Trevor Lawrence struggles in the least.
LOSER: Travis Etienne and Trevor Lawrence – With 13 picks, the Jaguars did little to nothing to help…from a fantasy perspective. I like the addition of Tank Bigsby, and I think he helps elongate Travis Etienne’s playing days…at the cost of fantasy points for the incumbent RB1 in Jacksonville. I think Bigsby slots in as the backup to Etienne and, as I wrote earlier in draft season, vultures many of the goal-line carries. Bigsby is the bigger, stronger RB, and I think he will entertain more goal-line work than Etienne does. Now, if Bigsby proves to have NFL-like hands, he may steal even more downs from Etienne, meaning Etienne moves down my draft board at least one-half of a round. The winner of Best Hair by a QB, Trevor Lawrence, got no help in the draft. Does he have enough downfield weapons in Christian Kirk and Evan Engram to win a Super Bowl? I doubt it. What he does have is enough to run away with this division, but the run will probably stop there as the Jags are not quite built for a deep playoff run in the AFC.
Overall, the 2023 draft was great for the Texans, which is a square I did not have on my bingo card. The Colts had a solid draft though it may not move the needle for a couple of years. The Titans and Jags seemed to mail it in, and I was left unimpressed with their draft from a fantasy perspective. As mentioned above, give me the Jags to win the division but not a playoff game. The other three teams will not sniff a Wild Card berth.
Thank you for coming back to read our stuff and be a part of the podcast by listening and commenting. We are here for you! We will come in the next few weeks to discuss other NFL tidbits.
-Mitch-
