The NFL Draft is in the books, and dynasty drafts are underway. Who are the biggest IDP rookie winners from the 2023 class?
Landing spots dictate more than people care to admit. Sometimes the best IDP prospects in the NFL Draft take years to factor into fantasy football while middling prospects jump right into the pot of gold like Scrooge McDuck.
This year saw a healthy mix of winners that IDP fantasy football owners need to know about for their rookie drafts, especially with wonky ADP throwing names all over the place.
Click here to check out the rookie losers from the NFL Draft. Now let’s jump into the winners!
IDP Rookie Winners
Jack Campbell, LB, Detroit Lions
How does Day 1 sound to you? It seemed unlikely for ANY linebacker in this class to go in the first round, but Campbell has a home in Detroit.
He’s one of the best IDP rookie linebackers available on draft capital and talent and should supplant Malcolm Rodriguez with ease. Alex Anzalone’s paycheck says he will stick around, but expect Campbell to be an IDP beast within the next two years.
Dorian Williams, LB, Buffalo Bills
Williams has a mega opportunity coming his way. The Bills neglected to add a replacement for Tremaine Edmunds in free agency, which makes Williams as a third-round pick a prime option to start right away.
The Tulane product had a tremendous final season for the Green Wave, racking up 132 tackles en route to a first-team All-ACC nomination. He also was the Defensive MVP of the Cotton Bowl thanks to his 17 tackles against USC. He’ll compete with 2022 fourth-rounder Terrel Bernard, 2022 UDFA Tyrel Dodson and veteran A.J. Klein for time.
Jalen Carter, DT, Philadelphia Eagles
Carter needed to go to a place where he can dominate a scheme while also be held accountable from any off-field concerns. Philadelphia is the perfect place for both — bringing half of the state of Georgia together (Nolan Smith, Nakobe Dean, Kelee Ringo, etc.) — with the team in need of replacing Javon Hargrave.
Hargrave vacated 11 sacks and 10 TFLs in 17 starts. While Carter should not be expected to hit those lofty totals there’s no better place for him to reach his potential than the team that has produced top-end DTs for the last decade. There’s a new defensive coordinator in Sean Desai, but no one can deny that Carter — avoiding a slide while landing in Philly — is a huge winner for IDP.
B.J. Ojulari, Edge, Arizona Cardinals
This is a great situation for Ojulari to fall in, who is an even better prospect than his brother Azeez with the Giants. Hand-picked by new head coach Jonathan Gannon the Cardinals sorely need edge rushers.
Haasan Reddick, a former Cardinal himself, thrived with Gannon as a linebacker rushing the edge. Ojulari will be tasked with a similar responsibility and one that has a high fantasy ceiling.
Daiyan Henley, LB, Los Angeles Chargers
Eric Kendricks can hold down the fort for 2023, but beyond that it’s anyone’s game. The one thing we know for sure is that Kenneth Murray is NOT the long-term (or the short-term) answer.
Enter Henley, who walks into a prime IDP opportunity that supported a LB1 in Drue Tranquil. He’s a unique prospect, starting as a receiver, switching to defensive back and finally settling as a linebacker for the last two seasons. Even with the changes, Henley tallied 106 tackles, 12 TFLs and four sacks.
He spent six years in college, so who knows if Henley is the real deal. But the opportunity and third-round draft capital means he will have a real shot at fantasy relevance from the get-go.
Jordan Battle, DB, Cincinnati Bengals
Battle will be battling it out in Cincinnati, and it simply couldn’t have been a better fit. The Bengals let both Vonn Bell and Jessie Bates walk in free agency. While the team prepared for this with 2022 first-round pick Dax Hill it makes perfect sense to add Battle into the mix.
The Alabama safety is an excellent tackler who can play one or even two-high deep or jump into the box to help out. He’s a perfect mold of what Bell brought to Cincinnati in years past, and frees Hill up to roam space in the secondary. The fantasy potential may be somewhat capped, but it should provide weekly streaming potential as a Day 2 investment in the third round.
Veteran honorable mention:
Robert Spillane, LB, Las Vegas Raiders
That’s right, I’m throwing a veteran on here. I made the case in the newsletter a couple of weeks ago for Spillane’s breakout potential as a Raiders. Today he stands alone as Vegas only added sixth-round Amari Burney to its LB room. Spillane is currently a strong candidate to be an every-down linebacker for fantasy. That can be gold for IDP fantasy football.
Click here to read more about what Spillane can accomplish!
A shortened version of this article first came out in The IDPGuys Newsletter. It comes out every Wednesday morning straight to your inbox. Click here to sign up!
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