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The Defense's Draft Report Card

--hidden-- | Drafted Round 16, Pick 154
D Grade
Draft Grade

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The Defense Drafts a Plan for Defeat, Earns a D and Projects to Finish 9th

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In the highly competitive WFC - Football league, The Defense took the field with the 7th pick in the draft. Unfortunately, their performance didn't quite live up to their team name. With a draft grade of D, it seems they may have left their defensive skills on the sidelines. Projected to finish 9th with a record of 3-11-0, it's safe to say that this team might need to reevaluate their strategy.

The Defense faced some tough challenges right from the start. Not only did they have the 1st toughest schedule out of all 10 teams, but they also have to deal with 3 players on bye week 10. However, it wasn't all bad news for this team. They did manage to make a solid pick with Trevor Lawrence at 87, who had an ADP of 59. Unfortunately, they also made a questionable decision with Skyy Moore at 94, who had an ADP of 125. To make matters worse, they drafted 3 players from the same team, Stefon Diggs, James Cook, and Dalton Kincaid. Maybe they're hoping for some kind of team synergy, but it's a risky move that could easily backfire.

ADP Analysis

Pick Number

Bars above zero indicate a pick was selected later than a player's ADP. Bars below zero show players that were taken earlier than their ADP.

Inside the Draft

Player Outlooks

WR - Round 1, Pick 7 - Bye 13

2023 Rank: 6 - 2022 Rank: 21

Diggs' couldn't have asked for a better career development than being traded to Buffalo back in 2020, as each of his three seasons with the Bills resulted in more receiving yards and more catches than any of his five years in Minnesota. Heading into his age-30 season, Diggs is coming off three straight Pro Bowls and a 2022 campaign that saw him set a new career-high TD mark with 11 scores, including three in Week 2 alone. As the clear No. 1 target for Josh Allen, Diggs has averaged 112.7 catches for 1,396.3 yards and 9.7 touchdowns per season in his time with the Bills, solidifying himself as one of the few true alpha wideouts in the league. First-round rookie TE Dalton Kincaid a crowded cast of complementary options, but none of Gabe Davis, Khalil Shakir or Dawson Knox are a true threat to Diggs' target share. As he approaches his age-30 season, remember that Diggs will some day begin to slow down. But he hasn't shown any signs of that yet. For now, the veteran is attached to an elite quarterback and established as the unquestioned No. 1 option amid his offense.

WR - Round 2, Pick 14 - Bye 10

2023 Rank: 9 - 2022 Rank: 22

After spending the first three seasons of his career stuck in a run-focused Titans offense that didn't always take advantage of Brown's imposing physicality, the 2019 second-round pick got traded to the Eagles and was unleashed on the NFL. He shattered his career highs in both receiving volume and efficiency nearly across the board, and his presence alongside DeVonta Smith on the outside helped quarterback Jalen Hurts blossom into an MVP candidate. After a run to the Super Bowl, Philadelphia was able to avoid significant turnover on the offensive side of the ball, so there's little reason to expect Brown's usage to decline in 2023. On the other hand, there's little reason to expect it to increase either. Hurts' elite running ability puts a cap on the team's passing volume, and Brown still has to split looks with Smith and tight end Dallas Goedert, although the team's other skill players didn't get used much as receivers last year. Brown will have to rely on big plays and red-zone targets to post elite numbers again, but he's more than capable of doing so.

RB - Round 3, Pick 27 - Bye 6

2023 Rank: 56 - 2022 Rank: 44

Despite dealing with some nagging injuries last year, Harris managed to play all 17 games and scored 10 touchdowns for the second time in two pro seasons, albeit within the confines of a sluggish Pittsburgh offense. The 2021 first-round pick fell shy of 4.0 yards per carry for a second straight year, with big plays few and far between while his receiving volume dipped from 93 targets in 2021 to 54 in 2022. Part of that was due to the Steelers throwing less and part due to backup Jaylen Warren getting a lot of playing time on passing downs. Warren is back this season and should have a sizable role off the bench again, but there's still room for Harris to have his best year yet if the Steelers take a step forward in QB Kenny Pickett's second pro year. As much as the young quarterback remains a huge question mark, the team's blocking should be better after Pittsburgh added former Eagles G Isaac Seumalo, rookie OT Broderick Jones (14th overall pick) and 264-pound rookie TE Darnell Washington (93rd pick). The Steelers could have above-average blocking for the first time in years. The lack of backfield depth behind the top two on the depth chart leaves room for Harris to push for 300 touches even if Warren also has a regular role in the offense.

RB - Round 4, Pick 34 - Bye 7

2023 Rank: 82 - 2022 Rank: 83

Pierce was a pleasant surprise for the Texans as a rookie, even if the 2022 fourth-round pick's heroics didn't translate to many wins. After averaging 5.5 YPC as part of a platoon in college at Florida, Pierce rushed for 939 yards and four TDs in 13 games for the Texans before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. Pierce's 4.3 YPC in Houston was nothing to write home about, but that production came in the context of few threats in the passing game to keep defenses from keying on the run. The Texans are hoping to have changed that by drafting QB C.J. Stroud second overall in 2023. While they also bolstered their backfield depth by signing former Bills RB Devin Singletary, Pierce should continue to handle the majority of the workload as long as he's healthy. To that end, Pierce has been practicing at full speed at OTAs, suggesting he has long since put the ankle injury behind him. There's also room for further growth as a pass catcher for Pierce, as Houston still has an underwhelming receiving corps. Pierce caught 30 of 39 passes for 165 yards and one touchdown as a rookie.

RB - Round 5, Pick 47 - Bye 13

2023 Rank: 45 - 2022 Rank: 195

Cook's role was limited as a rookie, but he showcased impressive efficiency (5.7 YPC) in those contained flashes. The departure of Devin Singletary should make it easy for Cook to build upon last season's 89 carries and 32 targets, though new arrival Damien Harris represents significant competition, especially for between-the-tackles and goal-line work. Cook's best path to production will be to translate his efficiency to the receiving game, though he didn't exactly impress in that respect as a rookie. Cook caught just 65.6 percent of his targets for 5.6 YPT last season, but as he was never more than a rotational back at Georgia, he could benefit even more than the usual RB from a second offseason to get up to speed at the NFL level. Veteran Latavius Murray is also capable of rotating in for carries. And Josh Allen's elite rushing abilities further reduce the opportunities up for grabs in Buffalo's backfield. A scenario where Cook truly emerges isn't impossible, but he'll need to distinguish himself from the crowd.

TE - Round 6, Pick 54 - Bye 9

2023 Rank: 62 - 2022 Rank: 66

Kittle's receptions and yardage for 2022 were well below the numbers he put up in prior seasons. But the big difference last season was his nose for the end zone. After scoring 20 touchdowns over the first five seasons of his career, he scored 11 TD's last year. As usual, he was very volatile. He had seven games with single digit PPR points. He also went over 20 points on four occasions. When drafting Kittle, fantasy managers simply can't take him out of their lineup. When he appears to be in a slump, the magic happens. For instance, after three straight games with less than 40 yards receiving, he erupted for two straight two-TD, 90+ yard contests in week 15 and 16 and seven touchdowns over four weeks. Kittle should be drafted as the fourth or fifth tight end off the board in most drafts, and he should provide a strong. though erratic, return on investment.

RB - Round 7, Pick 67 - Bye 13

2023 Rank: 87 - 2022 Rank: 113

Akers had a weird 2022 season. We'll never know if he was still recovering from the Achilles injury he suffered in 2021. In Weeks 1-10, he averaged 2.83 yards per carry and was benched for two games. Although he faced four of the top 10 defenses in those seven games, he looked as if he was struggling to get to the line of scrimmage before getting hit on most carries. After his banishment, he continued to struggle, as he played 21 snaps but ran for just 2.72 yards per carry. However, he was a completely different player during the last eight games of the season. He rushed for 4.8 yards per carry, though he did that against an easy schedule. He was specifically excellent in Weeks 15 through 18 when he faced defenses in the bottom 10 in three of the four games. He had at least 100 scrimmage yards in each of those games along with a three-touchdown performance. and during that stretch, he averaged 5.47 yards per carry while also catching nine passes. So the big question becomes whether his resurgence had to do with schedule or recovering from his injury. It's likely that the answer is somewhere in the middle. ranking him around RB20 seems safe, as he should get volume, though we're unsure as to what level he'll play at. If it was just a matter of Akers getting back to full health, he will be one of the biggest steals in fantasy drafts, but there is definitely a risk.

WR - Round 8, Pick 74 - Bye 6

2023 Rank: 76 - 2022 Rank: 108

Pickens, a 2022 second-round pick, had a sluggish and injury-ridden conclusion to his time at Georgia on account of an ACL tear suffered during spring practices in 2021. He recovered during his rookie season with the Steelers, fetching 52 receptions for 801 yards and four touchdowns. He made several remarkable catches and showed a knack for snagging contested ones, yet struggled with obtaining separation from cornerbacks. As a result, he drew only 84 targets in 17 games despite playing 882 snaps. At 6-foot-3, with 4.47 speed and strong hands, Pickens doesn't necessarily need to be a great route-runner to thrive. He does figure to make at least small steps forward in that regard, and he enters Year 2 locked in alongside Diontae Johnson and TE Pat Freiermuth as the main targets for QB Kenny Pickett. As bad as Pickett's overall numbers were last season, he showed progress throughout the year and figures to benefit from the Steelers' sizable offseason investment in blocking. There's also the matter of Johnson finishing with no TDs and fewer than 900 yards on nearly 150 targets last year, which would seem to point toward other players -- namely Pickens and Freiermuth -- taking on more of the team's receiving volume this season.

QB - Round 9, Pick 87 - Bye 9

2023 Rank: 72 - 2022 Rank: 7

Lawrence made a second-year leap under new coach Doug Pederson, posting a 25:8 TD:INT after mustering a 12:17 mark during his forgettable rookie season. The first overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft enters his third season as an established top-10 fantasy QB, but Lawrence's ceiling is higher than that, as he still has a few obvious areas for further improvement. Lawrence's 7.0 YPA in 2022 ranked a pedestrian 18th, and the underrated runner mustered only 291 yards on the ground after rushing for 334 as a rookie, though Lawrence increased his rushing TD total from two to five. He'll also be working with an improved supporting cast in 2023, as the Jaguars added WR Calvin Ridley - who had 1,374 receiving yards for the Falcons in 2020 but sat out 2022 entirely due to a gambling suspension - while retaining their top four skill position players from last season (WRs Christian Kirk and Zay Jones, TE Evan Engram and RB Travis Etienne). Playing in the underwhelming AFC South could be both a blessing and a curse for Lawrence. While the Jaguars are favored to repeat as division champs, they will likely spend the majority of their six games against the Titans, Colts and Texans playing from a lead, thus potentially limiting Lawrence's volume after he attempted 670 passes last year - sixth-most in the NFL.

WR - Round 10, Pick 94 - Bye 10

2023 Rank: 124 - 2022 Rank: 322

As much as it's fair to find Moore's 2022 rookie season disappointing, it would be harsh to describe it as a failure. The Chiefs run a sophisticated offense and went into 2022 with plenty of veteran wide receiver depth, so there was never much realistic room for Moore to draw usage as a rookie. Moore was a slot specialist out of the MAC, not to mention an underclassman, so it's to be expected that he couldn't reliably earn slot snaps over the likes of JuJu Smith-Schuster, Mecole Hardman and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Smith-Schuster and Hardman are no longer on the team, moreover, so there's less slot competition for Moore going into 2023. Valdes-Scantling can only draw so many targets and Kadarius Toney has seen persistent injury issues in the NFL, so there's a good chance that the Chiefs lean on Moore for a meaningful workload behind Travis Kelce. Moore just needs to polish his game enough to hold off free-agent pickup Richie James, a lesser talent than Moore but one good enough to steal slot snaps if Moore struggles.

WR - Round 11, Pick 107 - Bye 9

2023 Rank: 112 - 2022 Rank: -

Mims could very well prove a steal of a late-second-round pick, considering he was a remarkably productive player at Oklahoma, boasting absurd efficiency stats even as the team's most-targeted receiver. Mims just turned 21 in March, yet in his Oklahoma career he caught 123 passes for 2,398 yards and 20 touchdowns on just 183 targets (67.2 percent catch rate, 13.1 yards per target). It's highly unusual for a receiver to produce efficiency stats like that as a team's lead target over a three-year span, especially all before turning 21. With sub-4.4 wheels and a rare ability to track downfield passes, Mims could be the next T.Y. Hilton or something similar. Even if he is, though, it might take a year for Mims to get the space to prove it, as he's unlikely to be more than the No. 3 receiver in an offense that already has Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton.

DEF - Round 12, Pick 114 - Bye 10

2023 Rank: 139 - 2022 Rank: 86

While the Eagles' offense rightfully got plenty of credit for the team's run to the Super Bowl, the team's defense also posted elite numbers in 2022. Philadelphia's 70 sacks not only led the league, it was 15 ahead of second-place Kansas City, while the Eagles were tied for fourth in turnovers and ranked in the top 10 in points per game allowed.Fletcher Cox isn't getting younger, and the offseason saw some big changes in the linebacking corps, but the team re-signed Haason Reddick to a three-year $45 million deal in March to lead the pass rush once again, and Darius Slay and James Bradberry remain one the NFL's best duos at cornerback. Odds are the unit will take at least a small step backwards, as it's hard for things to go that right two seasons in a row, but even with natural regression, this could still be a top-five defense.

TE - Round 13, Pick 127 - Bye 13

2023 Rank: 107 - 2022 Rank: -

Kincaid was selected as the No. 1 tight end off the board in the 2023 NFL Draft, No. 25 overall, by virtue of his pass-catching chops. Dawson Knox is already established as a red zone threat and capable blocker, and he's spent years building chemistry with Josh Allen, meaning it could be difficult for Kincaid to get a foothold out of the gate. Of course, the draft capital invested in Kincaid solidifies him as Buffalo's future, and though rookies at his position usually get off to a slow start, Kincaid is a rare talent. He could be capable of taking the field at the same times as Knox on occasion, by virtue of operating out of the slot, as long as he's able to get up to speed at the NFL level early. Buffalo's offense is high-octane enough to feed multiple mouths, but in the end, it's more likely that Kincaid emerges down the stretch than in the early weeks of the season.

WR - Round 14, Pick 134 - Bye 7

2023 Rank: 168 - 2022 Rank: -

After his impressive showing at the combine this spring, Mingo was the fifth wide receiver taken in the 2023 NFL Draft, going to Carolina with the 39th overall pick. He displayed his potential by running a 4.46 40, bench-pressing 22 reps, broad-jumping 129 inches and posting a 39.5-inch vertical at 6-foot-2, 220. Although his college career at Ole Miss initially lacked luster, Mingo broke out with a 15-290-3 line in his first three games of his junior season (2021) before fracturing his foot during practice. He made a comeback last year but was far from dominant, finishing second on the team in catches, yards, and touchdowns, behind Malik Heath (who ran a 4.64 40 and went undrafted). Despite the largely underwhelming college career, Mingo has a chance to quickly earn a significant amount of playing time in Carolina, where he may even reprise his college role as an oversized slot receiver. His main competition for snaps figures to come from Adam Thielen, DJ Chark, and Terrace Marshall in an offense led by coach Frank Reich and quarterback Bryce Young.

WR - Round 15, Pick 147 - Bye 13

2023 Rank: 239 - 2022 Rank: -

The most encouraging sign for Hyatt as a rookie might be the fact that the Giants traded up to select him in the third round this spring. The Tennessee product showed explosiveness in college and has the speed and length to be a deep threat in the NFL, but he joins a crowded and unsettled depth chart in New York. Hyatt mainly played the slot for the Volunteers, but the Giants already have free-agent signing Parris Campbell and 2022 second-round pick Wan'Dale Robinson competing for that role, and Sterling Shepard can't be ruled out of the mix either if he comes back healthy from his latest injury. Hyatt might have the highest upside of that group and is the player the team sees as part of its future at wide receiver, but he'll need to earn his snaps in 2023.

K - Round 16, Pick 154 - Bye 11

2023 Rank: 296 - 2022 Rank: 126

Gay signed a record-setting four-year, $22.5 million contract with the Colts in the offseason. Even if the pressure of signing the biggest free agent deal for a kicker in NFL history doesn't get to Gay, his volume figures to be depressed on a run-first offense led by a rookie QB in Anthony Richardson, especially since the Colts averaged just 17.0 PPG with veteran Matt Ryan under center in 2022. Gay made 74 of 80 field-goal attempts with the Rams over the previous three seasons, including 12 of 15 from 50-plus yards, so he figures to remain reliable when given opportunities.

Team Forecast

Bye Week Points Lost

Points

Each bar represents the total projected season points for each player that's on bye that week. This chart shows any potential bye week issues.

Schedule by Opponent Points

Week

Week-by-week schedule with each opponent's projected season points. This chart shows any difficult or easy stretches in the schedule.

The Defense
1. (7) Stefon Diggs (Buf - WR)
2. (14) A.J. Brown (Phi - WR)
3. (27) Najee Harris (Pit - RB)
4. (34) Dameon Pierce (Hou - RB)
5. (47) James Cook (Buf - RB)
6. (54) George Kittle (SF - TE)
7. (67) Cam Akers (Min - RB)
8. (74) George Pickens (Pit - WR)
9. (87) Trevor Lawrence (Jax - QB)
10. (94) Skyy Moore (KC - WR)
11. (107) Marvin Mims Jr. (Den - WR)
12. (114) Philadelphia (Phi - DEF)
13. (127) Dalton Kincaid (Buf - TE)
14. (134) Jonathan Mingo (Car - WR)
15. (147) Jalin Hyatt (NYG - WR)
16. (154) Matt Gay (Ind - K)

Best Draft

Best Draft is awarded to the team with the most projected season points based on weekly optimal starting lineups.

League Draft Grades

Draft Day Projected Standings

Draft Day Power Rankings

Power Rankings are based on projected points for the remainder of the season.