The events of the NFL Combine made some major waves on upcoming dynasty rookie drafts and the way dynasty owners value the incoming rookie class of 2017. Some players took advantage of their huge stage and put their names firmly on the map, while others flopped and will need an impressive Pro Day or individual team workout to regain some momentum as we approach next month’s draft.
To get a better gauge of these rookies’ current standings after the events of recent weeks, I organized a rookie mock draft including some of the top folks in the industry, including several of our own writers from here at Rotoworld.
Here are the participants in draft order:
Curtis Patrick, Dynasty League Football
Raymond Summerlin, Rotoworld
Matt Kelley, Player Profiler
Matt Harmon, NFL.com
Ryan McDowell, Rotoworld & Dynasty League Football
Graham Barfield, Fantasy Guru
JJ Zachariason, Number Fire
Scott Barrett, Pro Football Focus
Evan Silva, Rotoworld
Patrick Daugherty, Rotoworld
Sigmund Bloom, Footballguys
Rich Hribar, Rotoworld
Now, on to the picks, along with my thoughts on each round.
First Round
1.01 Leonard Fournette, LSU RB
1.02 Corey Davis, WR Western Michigan
1.03 Dalvin Cook, RB Florida State
1.04 Christian McCaffrey, RB Stanford
1.05 Mike Williams, WR Clemson
1.06 Joe Mixon, RB Oklahoma
1.07 John Ross, WR Washington
1.08 Juju Smith-Schuster WR USC
1.09 O.J. Howard, TE Alabama
1.10 Alvin Kamara, RB Tennessee
1.11 Evan Engram, TE Mississippi
1.12 Taywan Taylor, WR Western Kentucky
After a solid Combine performance, former LSU RB Leonard Fournette seems once again to be the favorite to be the top choice in most dynasty rookie drafts and that’s just where he is selected here. We all know Fournette is a big, strong runner, and his impressive 40-yard performance raised some eyebrows and helped dynasty owners overlook some subpar agility drills. Receiver Corey Davis was unable to work out at either the Combine or his pro day, yet his stock is on the rise, partially due to others in this range faltering. It wasn’t long ago that Dalvin Cook was the runaway favorite to be the top pick in rookie drafts, but now he is fading after an all-around disappointing Combine, along with questions being asked about his off-field issues in the past. These could combine to push Cook closer to the middle of the round than the top. Christian McCaffrey excelled in February’s Combine and he is rising up the boards, both in dynasty leagues and reportedly amongst NFL teams. McCaffrey seems to be a lock for the first round and could be in consideration to be the top player chosen in dynasty drafts with a favorable landing spot. In this mock draft, running back Joe Mixon, who was not invited to the Combine due to his well-documented off-field history, concludes the top tier of rookies at the 1.06 spot. Mixon’s range of outcomes is maybe the widest we’ve seen in any year at this point in the pre-draft process. Many are banging the drum for him to be the 1.01 rookie pick, while others are concerned NFL teams could essentially blackball him. That doesn’t seem likely at this point.
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The back half of the first round begins with speedster John Ross, who broke the Combine record with a 4.22 40-yard run. Ross obviously has the speed, but he also has a lengthy injury history and recently underwent another procedure, this time on his shoulder. Pass catchers continue to dominate the later first round picks as wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster and Taywan Taylor, along with tight ends O.J. Howard and Evan Engram come off the board. While this 2017 rookie class has been praised based on the strength of the running back crop, this could be the best group of tight ends we’ve seen in many years.
Second Round
2.01 Curtis Samuel, WR Ohio State
2.02 D’Onta Foreman, RB Texas
2.03 Chris Godwin, WR Penn State
2.04 David Njoku, TE Miami
2.05 Carlos Henderson, WR Louisiana Tech
2.06 Kareem Hunt, RB Toledo
2.07 Zay Jones, WR East Carolina
2.08 K.D. Cannon, WR Baylor
2.09 Marlon Mack, RB South Florida
2.10 Samaje Perine, RB Oklahoma
2.11 Dede Westbrook, WR Oklahoma
2.12 Jeremy McNichols, RB Boise State
The depth of this class really shines in this second round as players who would typically find themselves in the first round of dynasty rookie drafts are falling to this range thanks to the ridiculous depth of the class. It begins with Curtis Samuel, a do it all former Buckeye, who could end up playing in the backfield as much as he lines up in the slot. Samuel has been compared to Percy Harvin, which should excite dynasty owners looking for big play upside. Texas running back D’Onta Foreman is well-known for his big build and powerful running, but he recently displayed some surprising speed at his pro day which has him rising up the ranks. He could easily climb into the first round of rookie drafts. I see this tier going all the way down to the middle of the round with players like Chris Godwin, David Njoku and Kareem Hunt each have their strong supporters. The third tier includes players who will need the perfect situation to really return significant value, as is usually the case. With that said, even this group of players includes record-breaker Samaje Perine and Heisman finalist Dede Westbrook, further showing the depth of talent in this class.
Third Round
3.01 Malachi Dupre, WR LSU
3.02 Wayne Gallman, RB Clemson
3.03 Josh Malone, WR Tennessee
3.04 Isaiah Ford, WR Virginia Tech
3.05 Bucky Hodges, TE Virginia Tech
3.06 Deshaun Watson, QB Clemson
3.07 Cooper Kupp, WR Eastern Washington
3.08 Chad Hansen, WR California
3.09 Robert Davis, WR Georgia State
3.10 ArDarius Stewart, WR Alabama
3.11 Jamaal Williams, RB BYU
3.12 Joe Williams, RB Utah
Finally, the third round ends the mock draft exercise. Often, dynasty owners consider these picks outside of the top-24 as lottery tickets or even worthless draft picks. That won’t be the case this year as there is still plenty of talent to go around. When you get this late in a rookie draft, you won’t find consensus on any player, but investing a late rookie pick in former Virginia Tech Hokies Bucky Hodges or Isaiah Ford, wide receiver Cooper Kupp, or any of the trio of former SEC receivers selected in this round should be an excellent investment.
