The past few days have been an absolute whirlwind. The feeling of having live sports back in our lives has been an incredible feeling and I have to give a tip of the cap to the NFL for pulling this off.
A virtual draft was no small feat, but the NFL managed to organize it very well and keep things from unraveling before our very eyes. It was highly entertaining and there’s now talk of trying to figure out how the NFL can continue to incorporate this style into future drafts due to its popularity!
Before we move on to analyzing each draft class from a fantasy football perspective though, there’s still one more day to break down the winners and losers. I’ve covered days one and two here, so it’s time to put a bow on this little series and see who improved their team on day three and who made some more questionable decisions.
Winners
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals defense last year was atrocious. They struggled to stop the run and they were historically bad against the TE position. They addressed the latter need with Isaiah Simmons, who will be able to shut down George Kittle every time that they play, but then they also came back and made some solid picks in the later rounds to address the run game. Leki Fotu was one of my favorite players in this class due to the upside he brings as an elite run-stuffer. He may not bring pass rush upside in the sense of 8+ sacks each year, but he’s so strong and powerful that he’s going to be able to collapse the pocket and force QBs to move around, which will only help out your EDGE rushers on the outside. Rashard Lawrence and Evan Weaver were tremendous pickups, as well.
"I feel like this board fell to us this year as good as it's ever fallen."
GM Steve Keim and Coach Kingsbury put a bow on the 2020 #NFLDraft.
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) April 26, 2020
Baltimore Ravens
If you’re a Ravens fan, you need to be excited about the way that this draft played out for your team. They absolutely crushed all three days of the draft. Adding guys like Broderick Washington Jr., Ben Bredeson, James Proche, and Geno Stone are great value picks at each slot. They won’t be asked to start, most likely, but they’re fantastic depth pieces. The James Proche pick is a bit redundant after adding Devin Duvernay in the 3rd round to play the slot, but they could potentially envision Duvernay playing on the outside and Proche coming in on 3rd downs. Either way, he’s a fantastic football player and he was a perfect snag in the 6th round.
GM Eric DeCosta wrapping up the 2020 NFL Draft ‼️ pic.twitter.com/a1ExGj24y4
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 26, 2020
Denver Broncos
Speed. That’s what the Broncos went after in this draft and they brought in some incredibly talented players. While their day three picks in a vacuum aren’t the most impressive names, they addressed some critical needs on their roster with good football players. Albert Okwuegbunam runs faster than he plays, but reuniting him with his old college QB is going to be the best way to maximize his talent. Otherwise, he’s a great blocker that can step on the field in two TE sets behind Noah Fant. Netane Muti, Justin Strnad, and Derrek Tuzska all plug minor holes on their roster with good depth. The Broncos definitely walked away winners of this draft and we’ll see if it translates to on-field success.
Off to the races. 🏎#BroncosDraft pic.twitter.com/I9imzf1XCv
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) April 26, 2020
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings handled day three of the draft masterfully. They added some incredible depth on their roster at key positions, including taking three corners overall in this draft, and also acquired future picks that can help them move around the board in future years. There may actually be too may bodies on their roster right now, which would mean that they’ll have some tough decisions to make come the end of training camp, but that’s a very good problem to have. The Vikings nailed this draft from the beginning to the end.
There's nothing like these life-changing calls. #VikingsDraft pic.twitter.com/3xB7H7lpmq
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) April 26, 2020
Losers
Green Bay Packers
Surprised to see Green Bay here for the third day in a row? You shouldn’t be…There’s a strong possibility that all of these picks work out and the entirety of draft media looks back and regrets their criticism, but I really do not see that happening. The Packers came in with a desperate need to upgrade the WR position for Aaron Rodgers and instead, in the deepest WR draft class potentially ever, decided to not draft one at all. Instead, the Packers chose to neglect their other big need on the defensive line and take depth pieces across the board. Packers fans shouldn’t be thrilled with this showing and now have the potential fallout with Rodgers to worry about.
Breaking down the 2020 #PackersDraft class ⤵️#GoPackGo https://t.co/m7AXRc6qx4
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) April 26, 2020
New England Patriots
The Patriots are always a confusing team to try and grade from a draft perspective…they simply stick to their plan and unique draft board and choose players that fit their scheme. Historically, this hasn’t worked out well for them, but they’ve been able to mask it with Super Bowls. The Patriots came into this draft with needs at QB and WR and did not address them at all, which is a huge miss for them, in my opinion. They addressed other critical needs on their roster, but they are now going into the season with a lackluster receiving corps and uncertainty at the QB position. We’ll see if Bill Belichick can hold this team together and squeak out a few wins against all odds.
Bill Belichick Live Draft Day 3 Press Conference: https://t.co/fTjJQeYraw
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 25, 2020
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Kyle Yates is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Kyle, check out his archive and follow him @KyleYNFL.
