We saw some skill position players come off the board in round one, which made for some entertaining conversation on the livestream, but it was a bit sparse.
That was not the case for the start of day two and it felt exactly like I was watching a fantasy football draft. Some of my favorite players in this class went off the board in day two, but now it’s time to zoom back out and take a look at what teams greatly improved their rosters or which ones made some questionable decisions.
Winners
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are now setting themselves up to take over the league for the next 5+ seasons. The Ravens have absolutely crushed this draft so far with incredibly talented players. Patrick Queen in the first round plugged a major hole, JK Dobbins in the 2nd allows for the best rushing attack in the league between him and Mark Ingram, Justin Madabuike was a first round projection for me and will be a terror in this defense, Devin Duvernay was one of my favorite players in the entire class, Malik Harrison is a great player on first and second down, and Tyre Phillips helps alleviate the void left by Yanda. What a freaking draft class so far…
GM Eric DeCosta checking in with a final update from Day 2… plus a little life advice. pic.twitter.com/Gf1AU3neAH
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) April 25, 2020
Carolina Panthers
The Panthers have to feel good about their offense and have now turned to their defense in an attempt to shore up some positions of need. The Panthers have started their draft with Derrick Brown, Yetur Gross-Matos, and Jeremy Chinn. Gross-Matos fills a major need on the EDGE and has an incredibly high ceiling, while Jeremy Chinn was one of my favorite players in the entire class and is a phenomenal football player. You can’t start a draft better for a rebuilding team…
𝘖𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘥 😤 pic.twitter.com/RovhYNQ0Uq
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) April 25, 2020
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys have neglected some other key positions on their roster, but they are soaking up value so far in this draft. We’ve talked about CeeDee Lamb at length, but their day two picks have been amazing. Trevon Diggs is a perfect replacement for Byron Jones and should step in and start right away. Additionally, while I wasn’t as high on Neville Gallimore as other people in the draft media, he has an incredibly high ceiling. For the Cowboys to address a major need with a player like Gallimore in the 3rd round is a huge win.
Dallas gets some help on its pass defense 🙌
The Cowboys draft Alabama CB Trevon Diggs with the No. 51 pick in the #NFLDraft
(➡️ @Bose 🎧) pic.twitter.com/FEM5u9OrnF
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 25, 2020
Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings may be having one of the best drafts out of any team in the league so far. They’re capitalizing on value, while addressing some major needs, and still have a ton of picks for day three. Ezra Cleveland can be the long-term answer at OT and Cameron Dantzler brings some size to the CB position. While these two picks themselves don’t jump off the page, you have to take the entire draft into context and acknowledge that they’re coming out of it as winners.
GM Rick Spielman discusses day 2 of the #VikingsDraft.
📺: @nflnetwork | @espn | @ABC https://t.co/rDVvgEAD30
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) April 25, 2020
New York Giants
The Giants have not had a pick yet that I have disliked. Xavier McKinney is a perfect piece for that defense and he’ll be asked to move all over the formation, which he does so well. And Matt Peart was OT5 in this class for me. He has a lot to work on, but I loved his tape and think that he can be a long-term solution opposite of Andrew Thomas. If not, he can kick inside to guard and be a solid option on the interior.
OMG. pic.twitter.com/dJB3bcoQfS
— New York Giants (@Giants) April 24, 2020
Tennessee Titans
The Titans have pounced on positions of need with great players. Kristian Fulton falling to the end of the second round is criminal, but he fits this defense so well. Additionally, the Titans needed to do something at RB behind Derrick Henry and Darrynton Evans was a great pick at the end of the third round. He’ll be a perfect change-of-pace back in this offense and is a perfect compliment to Henry’s game.
GM Jon Robinson makes the draft call to RB Darrynton Evans (@ItzLiveee) #TitansDraft pic.twitter.com/fMHef11M2g
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) April 25, 2020
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers are quietly walking away with a very good draft so far. Antoine Winfield Jr. in the second round is an absolute steal and he’s going to be a great leader in that secondary. With the pressure they have up front, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Winfield leading the league in interceptions in two years. Ke’Shawn Vaughn was one of my favorite RBs in this class and there were very few people who were on that island with me. This is an absolute dream landing spot for him and he should be able to easily beat out Ronald Jones. Bruce Arians values pass catching ability out of the backfield, as does Tom Brady, and he values pass protection. Those are two of Vaughn’s best qualities.
From our record books to yours … @Buccaneers get ready for @SneakVaughn.#NFLDraft | #AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/mtZ8ifEBad
— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) April 25, 2020
Losers
Green Bay Packers
What in the world are the Green Bay Packers doing?! This is the exact opposite of how you build a good team in the NFL! Jordan Love won’t see the field for two seasons minimum, so trading up for him made little sense. AJ Dillon was being talked about as a fullback less than three months ago and taking him in the second round to be your third-string RB is asinine. Josiah Deguara is a bit of a redundant pick with Jace Sternberger on the roster, especially when you have other needs that you need to fill…like wide receiver. The Packers are absolutely blowing this draft and everyone knows it, except for Matt LaFleur and Brian Gutekunst.
"Really excited to add a couple versatile offensive pieces."#Packers GM Brian Gutekunst recaps the selections of RB A.J. Dillon & TE Josiah Deguara on Day 2 of the draft.#PackersDraft | #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/o8AakI2qzp
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) April 25, 2020
Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles made the most puzzling and head-scratching decision of the night when they selected Jalen Hurts in the second round of the NFL Draft. This has less to do with the prospect itself, but looking at the available players still on the board and the remaining needs of the team. The Eagles desperately need an outside corner and Kristian Fulton was still available, which is where they absolutely should have gone. Instead, they choose a backup that will be their third-string QB and may never see the field. They neglected major needs on their roster and chose to throw value out the window and take a QB in the second round. The much smarter play would have been to draft Kristian Fulton at that spot and then take Anthony Gordon or Jake Fromm in the third round, but they chose to go this direction and they’ve sacrificed other spots on their roster because of it. One of the most puzzling draft selections of the night.
All @JalenHurts does is put in work.#EaglesDraft | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/9QVQRCYAjr
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) April 25, 2020
Los Angeles Rams
The Rams have not exactly been the prime example of proper team-building. They have decided to completely ignore other needs on their roster and have decided to draft two positions that were somewhat taken care of with the current player on the roster. They drafted Darrell Henderson in the third round last year and Cam Akers seems to be a bit of a redundant pick. It’s actually very puzzling to try to picture how they intend on utilizing both players. Van Jefferson is a good football player, but I did not think he would go that early in this draft. Akers and Jefferson are both good football players, so this is not so much about the prospects, but it’s about the overall philosophy. They still have desperate needs at iOL, OT, CB, LB, etc. Terrell Lewis is a good pick at EDGE at this point of the draft, but he’s not a sure thing from a health standpoint. It’s very hard to try to get the birds-eye view of what the Rams are doing from a team-building perspective and this draft hasn’t helped clear it up much.
.@thereal_cam3 can run for Akers! 😱#RamsDraft pic.twitter.com/pukLiHgenI
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) 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.
