Ty's First Round Takeaways - NFL Draft

As the festivities halt until Friday, our first round of rookie drafts have begun to take form. Here are my quick-snap takeaways and how they’ll affect rookie drafts.

- Josh Jacobs landed in Oakland, going 24th to the Raiders. This will provide significant draft capital and immediately vaults him to the top of rookie draft boards and, depending on your team building philosophy, will be in the discussion for the 1.01.

- N'keal Harry landing with the Patriots, a plus situation in the first round cements his top five rookie draft value. The Patriots, as usual, get the last word

- Kyler Murray fulfilled the narrative from draft season and will now be inserted into a spread offense. Murray's familiarity with the offense, along with his elite rushing ability, makes him a back end first round pick in rookie drafts for 1-QB leagues and, in SuperFlex and 2- QB leagues, Kyler should be the 1.01.

- The Denver Broncos and Noah Fant seems like love at first sight. Fant finds himself competing only with Jeff Heuerman and Jake Butt at tight end. Fant can play in the slot and will be moved all over the formation in efforts to create mis-matches. His early career value could be contingent on how fast he picks up the playbook and improves his blocking. Fant's ceiling is as high as a Travis Kelce and he should be a target in your rookie drafts.

- T.J. Hockenson and Marquise "Hollywood" Brown, while also being selected in the first round Thursday, find themselves in ambiguous situations. Hockenson was the first non-QB offensive player off the board. Unfortunately, T.J. will have to endure unfair Gronkowski comps, a quarterback who has always been reluctant to consistently involve his Tight end, oh and the city of Detroit who still has nightmares of Eric Ebron and Brandon Pettigrew. When the fantasy community anticipates a breakout from both Golladay and Kerryon Johnson it's easy to see T.J. Hockenson fighting with Marvin Jones for both targets and designed red zone plays. Going 8th to the Lions should mirror his capital in rookie drafts, sadly rendering T.J. Hockenson overvalued.

- Baltimore manipulated the draft, trading back and making a splash with Marquise "Hollywood" Brown. After striking out in free agency (with NO due respect to Seth Roberts) it was a forgone conclusion - the Ravens were taking a wide out Thursday night. I was surprised they went for the high upside player over N'keal Harry or A.J. Brown considering that in 2018, Lamar Jackson had a stud deep threat who was a top 24 WR with Joe Flacco in John "Smokey" Brown. Brown and Jackson had absolutely no chemistry. While both receivers are named Brown, they are much different players. It's Lamar Jackson’s deep accuracy, combined with a Lisfranc surgery that often requires additional surgeries for wide receivers, that will cause me to fade Hollywood in rookie drafts. Fade the 170 lbs “Hollywood” at your own peril, as we may be passing on the next Tyreek Hill or Brandin Cooks.

- To the surprise of nobody, the Texans and Vikings added offensive lineman. Houston reached for small school Sr. Tytus Howard. The 18th pick saw the Vikings add the Rimington Trophy winner for best center in the nation: Garrett Bradbury (who N.C. State coach David Shaw calls the Grim Reacher due to his reach in the run game).

- The Bengals, Falcons, and Eagles also bolstered their offensive lines, and all were interesting picks. Jonah Williams from Alabama was the first offensive lineman selected, taken with the 11th pick by the Bengals and likely plays guard, leaving Cordy Glenn to play left tackle. He is a high floor low ceiling prospect.

- The falcons executed the first double dip of the draft, doing so on the offensive line. Staying true to their owner’s comments, saying they wanted to get younger up front, they drafted Chris Lindstrom at 14th overall. Fairly high for a guard, it is possible Miami sniped Christian Wilkins in front of them. Kaleb McGary was their second offensive lineman - trading back into the first round after Seattle passed on the Washington Husky their own need at Guard. These two moves could be a major factor in the Falcons’ offensive success this season.

- Draft boards and Mock season saw Andre Dillard (the only true LT in the draft to me) among the top linemen in the class. So, when Howie Roseman saw a Jason Peters replacement, he traded ahead of the Texans (who surely would have taken him) to take Andre Dillard. With the luxury of giving him a year to learn behind a veteran line, along with the Eagles ability to mold offensive lineman this should be a great marriage. Dillard should go a long way in maintaining continuity on the line, this pick is a major step towards Carson Wentz realizing his full potential.

Tyrell MacLachlan (@TnfFTyrell) - 2019