Marshawn Lynch immediately becomes the best fantasy option out of this year's draft. He doesn't have the ability of Adrian Peterson and character questions are abound, but Buffalo didn't select Lynch in the first round to sit behind Anthony Thomas. He's a top-20 RB for fantasy purposes.
The Vikings have serious QB questions with Tarvaris Jackson at the helm, but Adrian Peterson was too good to pass up. Chester Taylor posted decent numbers last year purely because of the excess in opportunity – he's not a very good NFL running back. Brad Childress compared the situation to Brian Westbrook and Correll Buckhalter when he was in Philly, but if Peterson can remain healthy – admittedly a big if – expect him to receive the lion's share of the touches by mid-season. In a keeper-league, he's probably worthy of an early second round pick, if not higher.
The way I see it, both teams came away winners in the Cleveland/Dallas trade. The Cowboys easily benefit, moving down 13 spots for a likely top-5 pick in next year's draft. While it also makes sense for the Browns, who were almost certainly going to use that early pick next year on a QB, but now have one in Brady Quinn, who will already have a year under his belt opposed to next year's rookie selection. Getting a left tackle and QB, the two most important positions on the football field, is quite a coup for this Cleveland franchise.
Calvin Johnson is a beast and should immediately put up big numbers in Mike Martz' system. Just because Charles Rogers and Mike Williams failed, doesn't mean the Lions shouldn't have taken a receiver. He and Roy Williams are not going to be easy to defend.
The 49ers have to be happy coming away from this draft. Not only is Patrick Willis an immediate impact, but Joe Staley qualifies as a steal as well. It may have been a steep price to pay, but no amount of draft picks are too much to pay to get Kwame Harris out of the starting lineup. Jason Hill was another excellent pick – you got to love guys who had their stock fall because they were nagged by injuries senior year. This kid was legit during his sophomore and junior campaigns. Also, how does Darrell Jackson only cost a fourth rounder? If any receiver this side of Calvin Johnson taken during this draft has a career like Jackson's, that team would be ecstatic. Plus, he's a lot cheaper than one taken during the first round. San Francisco has a chance to win the NFC West this year.
As much as I wanted Carolina to draft him, the Giants got great value with the Steve Smith pick. Amani "it's not a" Toomer is done, and Sinorice Moss is more of a No. 3 guy. It's just too bad New York didn't address their glaring weakness – the QB position.
Ted Ginn has to be one of the most obvious NFL busts in recent memory. His game simply is not going to translate well into the NFL. I mean, punt returners have their value and all, but they aren't worthy of a top-15 draft pick. The fact Ginn is coming off a serious foot injury that is still affecting him four months later makes the decision even more perplexing. But hey, at least they replaced Wes Welker!
Michael Bush is the early consensus pick for steal of the draft, and his health status is the only holdup from the prognostications becoming true. Before the ugly leg injury, Bush showed an impressive power/speed combo. With all due respect to LaMont Jordan and Dominic Rhodes apologists, Bush enters a situation with pretty weak competition for carries in Oakland's backfield. If a fantasy draft were held today, I'd much rather own Bush over any other Raiders' ballcarrier.
Speaking of sleepers, Green Bay's Brandon Jackson is looking like one of the best for the upcoming season. If you listen to the coaches talk, everyone in Green Bay wants this kid to be the primary ballcarrier next year. For all of the Packers' faults, they still produce very good ground game stats, and with Vernand Morency the main competition, Jackson belongs firmly on everyone's fantasy radar.