With the 2014 NFL Draft behind us now, there are several draftees who could make quite the splashy debut in their rookie season. With new stars emerging, their fellow veteran teammates could be impacted both positively and negatively, which in result effects their fantasy football value as we consider drafting these veteran players in the upcoming season.
Here, I’ll review a handful of some of the popular, newly drafted NFL players chosen in the first draft round, to see how they might potentially effect fantasy value of the starters of their teams.
Johnny Manziel, quarterback, Cleveland Browns
Although, it’s rumored that the Browns plan to use Manziel as only a backup, he’ll be on the field soon enough, and we all know it. While this negatively impacts veteran quarterback, Brian Hoyer personally, this won’t hurt him for us, because surely we all can do better than drafting Hoyer in the first place.
Who fantasy football owners will want to keep an eye on, as Manziel will boost his stock tremendously, is the 6’-5”, 244, monster of a tight end, Jordan Cameron. While it’s looking like the Browns star wide receiver, Josh Gordon may face a season-long suspension, this only makes Cameron even more appealing as a fantasy football option. Cameron, at this time is the Browns best receiving weapon and Manziel should only up the tight end’s fantasy value in 2014.
Teddy Bridgewater, quarterback, Minnesota Vikings
Also drafted by a floundering quarterback team is Bridgewater, for whom the Vikings selected as the 32nd pick in the first-round of the draft. Sorry, Matt Cassel and Christian Ponder, Bridgewater will be looking to steal the Vikings starting quarterback role soon. Stay away from Cassel and Ponder in deep leagues or as a backup quarterback in fantasy drafts, as they will soon have little if any value.
Those, relieving a sigh of relief, and who will benefit from the addition of Bridgewater will be wide receivers, Greg Jennings, Cordarrelle Patterson and tight end, Kyle Rudolph. Now that these guys have a potentially better quarterback, they should make your fantasy football roster more viable in 2014 if you draft one of them.
Brandin Cooks, wide receiver, New Orleans Saints
When Drew Brees wants you as the team’s first pick in the opening round of the NFL Draft, you might be special. The Saints even traded up to secure Cooks, who had a mere, pun-intended, 1,730 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns in his last season at Oregon State. Right off the bat, this benefits Brees, himself, further validating him as a first or second-round fantasy quarterback choice.
The Saints needed to replace vacancies left by the departures of wide receiver, Lance Moore, and flexible running back, Darren Sproles. However, by adding Cooks to the team, those veteran Saints who might see a decline in fantasy value will be receivers, Kenny Stills, and possibly Marques Colston. Stills runs hot and cold and defenses will still be focused on Colston, while Brees breaks in the team’s first-round pick.
Odell Beckham, wide receiver, New York Giants
Drastic measures are needed to revive quarterback, Eli Manning from his horrendous performance in 2013. So, it’s Beckham Jr. to the rescue, as the Giants selected the Louisiana State product with their first draft pick.
Hopefully, if you drafted Manning last season, you dumped him before he tanked your whole fantasy team. Other than receiver, Victor Cruz, the other receivers, namely, Hakeem Nicks were useless to Manning. That is when Manning wasn’t playing catch with the opposite team, coughing up 27 interceptions.
Manning’s fantasy value should rise with the addition of Beckham Jr., who had 57 receptions, 1,117 and eight touchdowns in his last year of college football. If not, it might be time to call it a career. I could see Cruz’ fantasy value improving also, due to the fact that he will get some relief in the outfield as the defenses will start focusing on Beckham more.
Sammy Watkins, wide receiver, Buffalo Bills
The Bills were the extremely fortunate winners of scoring Watkins, who nearly every team that wanted to draft a receiver, coveted. Called the best receiver in the NFL draft, it would be nearly impossible to deny that he will enhance the value of quarterback, E.J. Manuel. Manuel makes a sketchy fantasy pick, especially for anyone who chose him last year. Even when he wasn’t injured, he only managed 1,972 yards and 11 touchdowns in the 10 games he played.
Did anyone even own a Bills wide receiver in their fantasy lineups last year, let alone can name one? Other than Stevie Johnson, who was pretty awful and who is now property of the San Francisco 49ers, the only Bill worth owning was running back Fred Jackson. Unfortunately for Jackson, Watkins may negatively impact his fantasy numbers, as Manual and his new receiver develop their game together.
On the other hand, Manual has nowhere to go than up, so he may be worthy of a backup quarterback draft if he and Watkins can get some chemistry started.
Over the course of the 2014 season, we will witness veterans who rise or fall due to the additions of newly drafted teammates. As the football season approaches and we prepare for our fantasy drafts, focus in on these rookies to see how they are developing with their new teams and watch those preseason games so you can get a sense of which veterans will be impacted most when the real season comes into full swing.