The NFC’s Biggest Winners & Losers After the 2022 NFL Draft (Fantasy Football)

After breaking down the fantasy winners and losers in the AFC post-draft earlier this week, Andy, Mike, and Jason now discuss the NFC Winners and Losers. For more details on these players and landing spots, check out the UDK + and the Dynasty Pass, which has the full dynasty rankings, production profiles, our Rookie Mock Draft, and our Risers/Fallers list.

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Winners and Losers

NFC North

The Detroit Lions‘ biggest splash in the draft offensive weapon-wise was Jameson Williams, who they traded up with Minnesota to draft. They also picked up TE James Mitchell from Virginia Tech and signed an undrafted WR in Kalil Pimpleton. Fantasy winners here include Jared Goff, who gains pass catchers. DJ Chark and possibly Amon-Ra St. Brown might be losers for the same reason. The Chicago Bears spent most of their picks strengthening their line but drafted WR Velus Jones Jr. and RB Trestan Ebner and signed WR Cyrus Holder. Darnell Mooney and Cole Kmet are fantasy winners here in that the Bears did not draft any additional prolific pass catcher for them to battle with. QB Justin Fields is in the losers’ camp here – the team chose not to further equip their young QB. The Minnesota Vikings are up next. They had draft picks in every round, including RB Ty Chandler, WR Jalen Nailor, and TE Nick Muse. There are no big fantasy losers here, and Irv Smith Jr. might be a winner – no TE competition in Minnesota, so it might be big Irv time. The Green Bay Packers traded up to finally get Aaron Rodgers a pass catcher in WR Christian Watson, WR Romeo Doubs, and WR Samori Toure. It is a Lazard/Lizard winner/loser situation – Lazard is a winner, with only Watson being the potential superstar in this group. The Lizard King is a potential loser as he may just fall down the depth chart.

NFC South

The Carolina Panthers spent most of their picks strengthening their line, using their only offensive skill position pick on their heir apparent QB of the future (question mark?) Matt “OK” Corral. Clearly, this makes Sam Darnold a fantasy loser, a man that will clearly have to fight to keep his job this season. No big winners in Carolina. Kyle’s Atlanta Falcons had a successful draft, getting WR Drake London with pick eight. They also drafted QB Desmond Ridder, RB Tyler Allgeier, and TE John FitzPatrick. Also of note, RB Mike Davis was released from the team. Marcus Mariota is a loser here with a new QB heading to Atlanta, and the Olamide Zaccheaus WR1 experiment had a good run. On to the New Orleans Saints. The Saints traded up to draft WR Chris Olave in a big trade with the Washington Commanders. The addition of this strong pass-catcher helps make Jameis Winston a fantasy winner and Tre’Quan Smith a potential loser. Closing out the South is the Tampa Bay Bucs. They picked up Sun Devil RB Rachaad White, TE Cade Otton, and TE Ko Kieft. They also signed two undrafted WRs, Jerreth Sterns and Deven Thompkins. The only big loser here is Ke’Shawn Vaughn. That experiment might be coming to a close.

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NFC East

The New York Football Giants opened the draft with Thibodeaux and Neal and then drafted underweight WR Wan’Dale Robinson and TE Daniel Bellinger. They also signed undrafted RB Jeremiah Hall. Daniel Jones might be a fantasy winner here, walking away with no QB taken even without the team picking up his fifth-year option. Kadarius Toney is a potential loser as Robinson kind of looks like Toney 2.0. The Washington Commanders selected WR Jahan Dotson, RB Brian Robinson Jr., QB Sam Howell, and TE Cole Turner. Mike’s champion Antonio Gibson is a loser here, with the Commanders adding a bruising new RB that Ron Rivera could use to create a one-two RB punch. Conversely, Carson Wentz could be a winner here, even with the addition of another QB in Howell. He gains pass catchers to complement Terry McLaurin in his contract year. After trading for WR AJ Brown, the Philadelphia Eagles added one more skill player in TE Grant Calcaterra. Jalen Hurts is a big winner here, as well as Miles Sanders, who is in the last year of his contract. AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith – albeit great for football for the Eagles – might not be as good for fantasy and could be losers. Finally, the Dallas Cowboys drafted WR Jalen Tolbert and TE Jake Ferguson. There are no big fantasy winners here, and James Washington might be the only loser falling in the depth chart.

NFC West

Closing out the NFC with the West. As Andy puts it, the only things for sure in life are death, taxes, and the Seattle Seahawks drafting an early-round RB. Kenneth Walker is heading to Seattle, as well as WRs Bo Melton and Dareke Young. Both Rashaad Penny and Chris Carson end up being losers here – Carson might not even end up playing another down of football anywhere. Walker does need to learn how to catch the ball. The San Francisco 49ers picked up RB Tyrion Davis-Price in the third round (obviously), WR Danny Gray, and QB Brock Purdy. The RB room becomes even murkier in San Francisco, and Elijah Mitchell and Trey Sermon are losers. No one knows who is going to get the ball up there. After trading for Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, the Arizona Cardinals drafted TE Trey McBride and RB Keontay Ingram. With the DeAndre Hopkins suspension, McBride might have a bit more football value now, and it is full steam ahead with James Connor in Arizona. Zach Ertz and Rondale Moore are potential fantasy losers here. Closing out the NFC is the Super Bowl Champion LA Rams, who prefer to steer clear of draft picks. Their only skill player is RB Kyren Williams, so there are no real fantasy winners and losers. We will see if they can run it back in 2022.