As dynasty managers know, landing spot and draft capital are crucial to any rookie’s success. Last year, I wrote both the best situations and the worst situations articles, and I really enjoyed putting them together. However, in 2021, we knew a lot more about landing spots before the NFL Draft. Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson were mortal locks at first and second overall, the 49ers were taking a quarterback at third overall, and the Falcons and Bengals had constant links to Kyle Pitts and Ja'Marr Chase, respectively.
But this year, the NFL Draft was far more wide-open, as there were no top-tier prospects at any fantasy-relevant position. Therefore, it was far more challenging to predict landing spots, although draft capital fell similarly to what I expected. Interestingly, it felt like there were far more good landing spots than bad ones, so I’ve decided to split up the best situations article into two parts with five players each. So let’s jump into part one!
Chris Olave, WR NO
Olave found himself in a good situation for two primary reasons. First, the Saints traded up to 11th overall to select him, even though I thought he’d be available in the middle of the first round. Therefore, he received higher than expected draft capital, and the Saints wanted him specifically.
Beyond the trade and draft capital, I also love Olave’s fit in the Saints’ offense. We know that current starter Jameis Winston is a fantasy goldmine, especially when he has legitimate weapons. Yes, he turned into a safe, boring quarterback in 2021, but that season seems like an extreme outlier in his career.
Chart courtesy of Pro Football Reference.
As you can see, Winston plummeted to 167.1 passing yards per game in 2021, a career-low. However, he had no usable receiving weapons over his seven games outside of Alvin Kamara. Marquez Callaway served as his WR1 as Michael Thomas missed the entire season.
Moving into 2022, Thomas still faces some concerns about his injury rehab, which could force Olave into a crucial role. In addition, the Saints failed to invest in a serious early-down complement to Kamara, so I don’t believe they plan to run the ball more than they did in 2021. In fact, they spent critical draft capital to trade up for Olave, signaling a pass-heavy approach.
I still easily prefer Garrett Wilson, Drake London, Treylon Burks, and Jameson Williams over Olave in rookie drafts. Still, he forms a tier of one for me behind them and ahead of everyone else.
Skyy Moore, WR KC
With the Titans having a league high 67% of targets to replace not including WR Burks is a mistake. Burks was DLF #1 ranked WR until the Combine dropping after perceived slow 4.55 second 40 yard dash (even tho his speed score was good for his size) Burks has first round draft capital at 18th pick overall (6th WR though) and was considered a similar player to AJ Brown who is no longer on the team. Expecting that type of production is crazy talk but Burks landing spot to me was ideal and should have been included here.
In terms of dynasty, I like Burks more so than Watson. Rodgers’ future in GB is murky at best. You can say the same with Titans future but they did just draft Malik, so theoretically, the future is already in place.
Staying in Titan Land, Wondering about your take on Haskins? Do you see him as the handcuff to the King…or maybe the heir apparent? Thanks
