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Opportunity Knocks: Round 1 IDP Landing Spots

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The 2020 NFL Draft was the most-watched in history! Now we have to break down what it all means for fantasy. This is part one of a series breaking down the landing spots for IDP purposes. 

The draft is over and now our fun begins! Dynasty Rookie Drafts give us fantasy general managers the chance to feel like the NFL GMs as we construct our team, acquire future assets, and make some deals. This year NFL GMs also got to experience that while their families were in the room so now they know how we feel when we’re on the clock and little Johnny needs a snack, or the wife doesn’t want to watch NFL network for the 16th hour of a day. I’m going to take a look at the IDP landing spots for the players drafted with high capital: Day 1 and 2 (Rounds 1-3).

Round 1 IDP Landing Spots

Round 1 Pick 2: Chase Young, DE, Washington Redskins

The Redskins take one of the top defensive talents in this draft class with the 2nd overall pick. Chase Young should be the top IDP off the board as well in your rookie drafts. Washington has the “problem” of having a ton of talent along the front four of their defense. Young joins last year’s 1st round pick Montez Sweat, Ryan Kerrigan, and Matt Ioannidis at defensive end and will also have top talent defensive tackles Da’Ron Payne and Jonathan Allen to play alongside. Young’s landing spot doesn’t impact much about his value as they will play him a lot and it’ll be Kerrigan and Ioannidis fighting for snaps.  

Round 1 Pick 3: Jeffrey Okudah, CB, Detroit Lions

The Lions could have probably traded back a few spots and still got their cornerstone on the outside. They couldn’t find a trade partner, but they got their guy. They traded Darius Slay earlier in the offseason and signed Desmond Trufant and Darryl Roberts. There’s no way you take a cornerback this early and don’t plan to play him every down. The position isn’t very prime in IDP leagues so I wouldn’t worry much about drafting Okudah unless you can get him really late.

Round 1 Pick 7: Derrick Brown, DT, Carolina Panthers

The Panthers spent every single draft pick on defense this year. Brown was the first and will be the anchor on their defensive line for a long time. Unfortunately for IDP, Brown will likely be more of a nose tackle and face double teams. That said, Brown can be so dominant that he can make tackles with one arm while being double-teamed. He also makes it a habit to throw around offensive lineman like they are slot receivers. He’s impressive, but I wish he filled the stat sheet more. Unless you’re desperate for a tackle I wouldn’t pay up for where he will probably be drafted. 

Round 1 Pick 8: Isaiah Simmons, LB, Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals took one of the most versatile defenders in recent memory. Simmons checks every box from blitzing to tackling to coverage. Where Simmons will play for the Cardinals will be the biggest question as they have Chandler Jones, Jordan Hicks, and added De’Vondre Campbell and Devon Kennard in free agency. They also seem pretty loaded in the secondary with Budda Baker, Patrick Peterson, Byron Murphy, Jalen Thompson, and Deionte Thompson all expected to see plenty of snaps. Similar to Washington’s talent “problem” this Cardinal defense does need some help and Vance Joseph should enjoy finding new ways to deploy Simmons on opposing offenses. Because of the uncertainty, if I have to make a rookie draft pick I might look at a couple of other linebackers to plug-in for IDP as their roles will be more concrete. Simmons shouldn’t ever leave the field, but what type of snaps will he be getting is a mystery.

Round 1 Pick 9: C.J. Henderson, CB, Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars shipped off Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye in 2019-2020. Henderson steps in as the Jaguars’ defense starts to rebuild for the future. Henderson will get plenty of opportunities to play alongside Rashaan Melvin and D.J. Hayden at cornerback. If you listen to @IDPNation you know I don’t like drafting cornerbacks, but he may be worth a pick if that’s your thing. I would consider taking him in the 7th round if corners are mandatory and he was still available. 

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Round 1 Pick 14: Javon Kinlaw, DT, San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers traded away DeForest Buckner to get the 13th overall pick, dropped back one spot and moved up about a hundred spots in a late-round pick swap. They drafted the replacement for Buckner in Kinlaw. Nobody is quite as large and dominant as Buckner, but Kinlaw will do his best to add push from the middle. He needs to work on his consistency, but Robert Saleh seems to maximize the talent he has to work with and has a very good defensive line to compete with. Similar to Derrick Brown, I’m not drafting a defensive tackle until later in the draft. Late 4th-6th round I would be happy getting Kinlaw. He could be the more productive of the two first-round defensive tackles, even though I view Brown as a better prospect. The 49ers have a loaded front and Kinlaw will play a good chunk of snaps this season. 

Round 1 Pick 16: A.J. Terrell, CB, Atlanta Falcons 

I’m not spending much time on corners here. That said the Falcons cut Desmond Trufant and the secondary has been lackluster over the past few seasons. Terrell will face plenty of targets his way with the three offenses in the division and the Falcons always seem to be in shoot-outs. Same as Henderson, draft late or not at all. 

Round 1 Pick 19: Damon Arnette, CB, Las Vegas Raiders

The second Ohio State cornerback selected within the first twenty picks. The Raiders had quite a selection of corners at their disposal but went with Arnette. Arnette should step right in across from Trayvon Mullen and become part of the rebuilding defense. Quietly the Raiders have rebuilt all parts of the defense over the past two seasons. Mayock will either look great or foolish with reaching for this pick. Don’t be like Mayock, don’t reach for a corner.

Round 1 Pick 20: K’Lavon Chaisson, DE, Jacksonville Jaguars

Chaisson should be the replacement for Yannick Ngakoue whenever that soap opera is wrapped up with a trade. The Jaguars have yet to be able to complete a trade and may have thought they would make a deal over the draft weekend. That never happened, so Chaisson assuming Ngakoue will not play for the Jaguars will line up across from last year’s top pick Josh Allen and see a majority of snaps. Most likely Chaisson could come off the board somewhere in the mid-to-late 2nd round of your rookie drafts and is worth the pick as there are not many defensive ends worth drafting in this class. 

Round 1 Pick 23: Kenneth Murray, LB, Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers defense is a very talented group. The problem they have is when is everybody going to get on the field. We’ll focus on the secondary another time, but one thing can be assumed that the Chargers wouldn’t have taken a linebacker in the first round if they didn’t intend to use him. Murray should take his role as the middle linebacker and start immediately. The only thing that could get in the way of that is knowing defensive adjustments and calling plays with the limited offseason team activities and a veteran Denzel Perryman. I’m not concerned about Perryman, but they also signed Nick Vigil and have spent a number of draft picks on Kyzir White, Drue Tranquill, and Uchenna Nwosu. Murray will probably see the most playing time out of this group, but I figure different groups could be used in different situations. As usual, they can’t run anything simple in the Chargers defense, can they? Murray is my third linebacker off the board, but if this situation doesn’t shake out in Murray’s favor there could be other options better than him for IDP this season. Long-term Murray should be fine as Perryman is a free agent in 2021 and they’ll see what they have with everybody else in the system for another year. Murray should go right after Patrick Queen and Isaiah Simmons in drafts in the mid-to-late 2nd round of your draft. 

Round 1 Pick 27: Jordyn Brooks, LB, Seattle Seahawks

One of the most puzzling draft picks of day 1 of the draft, the Seahawks selected Jordyn Brooks BEFORE Patrick Queen. The Seahawks have a lot of talent at the position, but K.J. Wright is all but gone from the team in 2021 if not before. He only has a $3.5 million dollar post-June 1st cap hit. I’m not implying that anything is imminent, but Brooks will probably be the weakside linebacker and eventual heir to Bobby Wagner. It was mainly shocking due to the Seahawks affinity for Cody Barton, they drafted Ben Burr-Kirven, and also have Shaquem Griffin. Shaquem is mainly a backup and special teams player, but Barton and Burr-Kirven were expected to stick around. I don’t see Brooks getting many meaningful snaps this season unless Wright is cut. He could play on the strong side and start, but will come off the field in nickel and dime situations. He’s a 4th-6th round pick for me though people will probably overdraft him due to his 1st round status. He could develop into a top tier linebacker but don’t expect it immediately. 

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Round 1 Pick 28: Patrick Queen, LB, Baltimore Ravens

Queen edges out Simmons as my top IDP linebacker. This was THE landing spot for a linebacker and he will be a starter day one snap one. Queen may have taken a slight hit when the Ravens selected Malik Harrison on Friday night, but Queen will be the three-down linebacker. If you want to project what Queen can do just look at C.J. Mosley when he was with the Ravens. Mosley averaged 115.8 combined tackles per season with the Ravens. That kind of production would vault Queen into the LB1-LB2 conversation. The Queen hype is real though. You’re going to have to spend a late 1st-early 2nd to get Queen, so there may be better options to get value in the later rounds. 

Round 1 Pick 30: Noah Igbinoghene, CB, Miami Dolphins

What the Dolphins have done this offseason is transforming a roster that looked terrible to “Ok, these guys could make some noise.” Noah IG is another piece to the secondary that has the two highest-paid cornerbacks in the league in Xavien Howard and Byron Jones. A lot of people thought they should have used this pick on a safety. They did later in the draft, but Noah will get to play probably the nickel cornerback role. That’s unless there’s a roster shakeup with Howard. Again with corners, wait. You can get a corner that will be pressed into action in the 7th round or on waivers. 

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Round 1 Pick 31: Jeff Gladney, CB, Minnesota Vikings

The final defensive selection of the draft is Gladney. Many people expected Trevon Diggs or Kristian Fulton to go in the first round, but the Vikings preferred Gladney. The Vikings need help in the secondary as Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes have moved on. The Vikings will roll out Mike Hughes and Gladney on the outside and let the young duo learn on the fly. This would be a great corner selection if you really insist on taking a corner. He has a clear path to snaps immediately. If you haven’t taken my advice by now, you probably aren’t going to but again 7th or later.

Look for the next part where we will take a look at Round 2. You can find Rookie ADP data (starting May 1st) at IDPGuys.org. Not a member with us yet? Join today to gain access to rankings, ADP data, Slack channel, Offense/IDP Trade Calculator (free until kickoff), and more! Pre-Order the IDP Guys Rookie Draft Magazine today for a more in-depth breakdown of the 2020 draft prospects.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article. You can find me on Twitter @seahawksdan8, Instagram @idpnationpod, and our IDP Nation Facebook Page. I’m a co-host on @IDPNation, and the DIG Podcast (Devy IDP Grind). Subscribe to the Reiter Digest Network on YouTube or find us wherever you download podcasts. 

 

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