2019 Post Draft Thoughts - Day 3
This is a continuation of my draft notes. These notes provide context for the 2019 NFL draft picks - who was a reach, who was a value, and the scenarios that various teams had when they were making these picks. Hopefully it will provide a handy reference point in future years. Here are the notes for some of the Day 3 picks. For these rounds, I focused on players who were highly regarded entering the draft and fell, or players who may have an opportunity to become fantasy contributors:
Round 4, Pick 1 (103 overall). Arizona Cardinals - Hakeem Butler, WR, Iowa State. Butler is 6’5 with 4.48 wheels and was a touchdown machine in college. Everyone seems excited about Kliff Kingsbury’s Air Raid offense in Arizona, but who is going to score the touchdowns? Christian Kirk and Andy Isabella are both under six feet tall. Arizona still has Larry Fitzgerald, but he plays primarily in the slot at this point in his career. Your best bet for outside touchdowns in that offense is Butler.
Round 4, Pick 10 (112 overall). Washington Redskins - Bryce Love, RB, Stanford. Love was seen as a potentially first round pick after the 2017 season, but opted to return to school. His final collegiate season was subpar before he suffered a knee injury. Love likely won’t offer any value in 2019, but is a name to remember for 2020.
Round 4, Pick 11 (113 overall). Baltimore Ravens - Justice Hill, RB, Oklahoma State. Hill may not have the size to hold up as a feature back in the NFL, but he is a nice speed complement in an offense that loves to run the football. While Lamar Jackson and the aging Mark Ingram are expected to shoulder the bulk of the load, Hill should have an opportunity as the home-run hitter.
Round 4, Pick 20 (122 overall). Pittsburgh Steelers - Benny Snell, RB, Kentucky. Snell is the type of powerful bruiser that has typified the Steelers rushing game for the past 25 years. He essentially carried UK’s offense in 2018, and should be capable of serving as a bell cow back in the event of an injury to James Conner.
Round 5, Pick 16 (154 overall). Carolina Panthers - Jordan Scarlett, RB, Florida. Scarlett is relevant because of landing spot. Christian McCaffrey likely can’t hold up under the workload he received in 2018, so Scarlett should get some opportunities to spell McCaffrey and has a decent shot of serving as the goal-line back.
Round 6, Pick 21 (194 overall). Green Bay Packers - Dexter Williams, RB, Notre Dame. Williams proved to be a very powerful and reliable runner for the Fighting Irish in 2018, and enters a backfield in Green Bay where his competition on the roster consists of Jamaal Williams and Aaron Jones, who were also Day 3 draft picks. Working in Williams’ favor is that those backs were drafted by a prior regime. The conventional wisdom has Jones at the top of the depth chart, but it wouldn’t be a shock if Williams challenges him for carries as soon as 2020.