Fantasy Sports

After adding Ja’Lynn Polk with the 34th pick, the Patriots continue to rework their wideout room with the pick of Baker. The 6-foot-1, 202-pound wideout has the prototypical size for an outside receiver, and he lined up wide on 80.7 percent of his career snaps per PFF while going for a career-best 52-1139-7 in his senior season. A former four-star recruit who initially committed to Alabama, Baker joined UCF ahead of the 2022 season and made an immediate impact. The 56.4 percent contested catch rate he posted for his career ranks amongst the best of any receiver in this year’s class and in 2023 he caught the third-most deep targets (15) of any FBS receiver. There’s plenty of reason to believe Baker can compete for playing time in 2024.

Johnson (6'6/259) didn’t see much run during his first two years in Happy Valley and posted a minor breakout campaign in his third season on campus with a 20/328/4 receiving line. He followed that up with a 34/341/7 line in his final collegiate season. Johnson never took on a full-time role at Penn State, failing to reach a 60 percent route run in a single season. When he was on the field, he wasn’t a priority of the passing attack and logged a dismal .14 targets per route. Johnson drastically boosted his draft stock at the combine with a 4.57 40-yard dash and a 4.19-second three-cone drill. He also crushed the jumps en route to a 9.92 RAS. He showed glimpses of that athleticism in contested catch situations, bringing down 67 percent of his career contested targets, but he contributed little after the catch and was inconsistent as a blocker. Johnson has the size and athleticism to big a difference-maker at the next level, but he needs to drastically refine his technique as a run-blocker and as a route-runner. With rumors swirling that Darren Waller is retiring, Johnson may be thrust into a starting role as a rookie, even if his game isn’t NFL-ready just yet. He could provide TE2 numbers based on volume alone if Waller is out of the picture.

Franklin fell out of the first two rounds after a less-than-spectacular showing at the NFL Combine. In Denver, he’ll be reunited with former Oregon QB Bo Nix, who targeted Frankling relentlessly in 2023. After an elite final season at Eugene, Franklin (6’2/176) entered the draft process as a standout prospect worthy of being one of the first five receivers off the board. The narrative shifted at the NFL Combine when he weighed 176 pounds. Standing at 6’2, that’s incredibly light. His 40-time for 4.41 seconds would have been great for most players. Given his size and his speed on tape, it was slightly underwhelming. Still, all of this came off the heels of an 81/1,383/14 season in 2023. His good but not great combine can also be taken with a grain of salt as he was reportedly sick in Indianapolis. Franklin added seven pounds by his Pro Day. Franklin is an outside burner who finds his home runs on deep balls and YAC plays. He ranked top-10 in the country in deep catches and top-20 in yards after the catch. Without much receiver depth in Denver, Franklin could quickly establish himself as an every-down wideout and the team’s No. 2 receiver behind Courtland Sutton.

Having played both tight end and defensive end at an elite level in high school, Sanders (6'4/245) was a five-star, positionless recruit for Texas. He was deemed a tight end ahead of his freshman season but spent the bulk of his time on special teams. Sanders was promoted to a starting role in 2022 and returned the favor with 54 grabs for 614 yards and five scores. With Adonai Mitchell transferring to Texas for an immediate breakout season, Sanders’ cut of the passing game took a hit in his final season. He caught nine fewer passes and saw his touchdown total drop by three. However, the diverted attention from defenses allowed his efficiency to take a leap. His YPC jumped from 11.4 to 15.2. He also made gains in yards per route run and yards after the catch. Sanders shows good long speed on tape and leverages his frame to win contested targets at a high clip. His 4.69 40-yard dash was a strong start at the combine, but eight reps on the bench press and a 30-inch vertical tanked his RAS down to a 5.65. Though he may lack the athleticism to ascend to true stardom in the NFL, Sanders should contribute as a pass-catcher in Carolina in his rookie season. He will rank as the TE3 of the class in dynasty leagues.

Determined to win in the trenches, Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh has now shored up the team’s offense line with first-round selection Joe Alt and securing Slater, 25, for at least the next two seasons. Alt and Slater should provide solid protection for Justin Herbert in what will be a decidedly conservative, run-heavy LA offense. Pro Football Focus graded Slater as last season’s fourth best pass-blocking offensive lineman. The Chargers allowed the tenth lowest pressure rate in 2023.

The son of Ed and younger brother to Christian, Luke McCaffrey (6’2/198) is a former quarterback who turned wide receiver ahead of the 2022 season. In just two years as a receiver at Rice, McCaffrey totaled 129 receptions for 1715 yards and 19 touchdowns and averaged 13.3 YPR. McCaffrey played primarily in the slot (75.8 percent slot rate) while at Rice, and displayed impressive hands. A 4.46 40-time and overall RAS of 9.44 makes McCaffrey a legitimate threat as far as athleticism is concerned. He’s a raw prospect as far as his experience as a receiver goes, but McCaffrey could stick around on a roster and eventually earn a role if he continues to show development.

“We’re happy with our wide receiver group,” Lynch continued. “Actually, more than happy. We’re thrilled with it. And thrilled to add Ricky (Pearsall) to it to make it stronger.” Ok, now that’s really laying it on thick. One of the league’s worst-kept secrets is that the Niners know they can’t pay both Deebo Samuel and contract-year wideout Brandon Aiyuk, but the right trade offers just never materialized. It would now appear both will remain on the roster for 2024, but perhaps the Niners will move on to “entertaining” 2025 selections.

McMillan (6’1/197) is one of the bigger slot receivers in this year’s draft and brings two solid years of production to the table. After breaking out for 79-1098-9 in 2022, He underwhelmed with a line of 45-553-5 in 2023 and hit a four-week stretch where he drew just three targets while dealing with injury. For his career, McMillan caught just five of 25 contested targets and dropped more than eight percent of his targets over his final two years. The offensive scheme run at Washington made life easy for McMillan at times. He’ll need to prove that he can compete at the next level, where he’ll face much tighter coverage and less room to get open.

And just like that, the Packers have re-crowded their remade, Josh Jacobs-led backfield. Spending all but one of his college seasons at South Carolina, Lloyd (5’9/220) redshirted his freshman season due to a torn ACL and transferred to USC for an efficient 2023. He rushed for 820 yards and nine touchdowns on 116 carries, adding 13 receptions for 232 yards. Lloyd was the lead back for Lincoln Riley, complementing Caleb Williams’ quarterback play with chunk gains and pass-catching utility. He ran a 4.46 40-yard dash at the combine, showcasing above-average speed for a back of his size. Lloyd’s athleticism and ability to make tacklers miss in the open field should make him a contributor as both a rusher and a pass-catcher, though, with fewer than 300 carries to his name in college, he may be viewed as a committee back at the NFL level. Third downs will undoubtedly be where he begins his NFL career.

A native of the Island of Oahu, Liufau (6'2/234) is the latest in a long line of Hawaiian-born players who went onto the NFL. He redshirted as a freshman in 2019 but managed to draw three starts in 10 games during the pandemic shortened season. He was set for a full-time starting role in 2021 when he sustained an ankle injury that cost him the entire campaign. Fortunately Liufau returned better than ever in 2022, racking up 95 tackles with 4 PBU with just 102 receiving yards allowed in coverage over the last two seasons. An 85.4 PFF cover grade ranked sixth overall among all Power Five linebackers while his 25 pressures ranked 15th among his P5 contemporaries. While he ran a solid 4.64s 40-yard dash (81st%) and 4.18s shuttle run (92nd%), his jumping and bench portions of Combine testing were sub-25th percentile marks for a 5.64 RAS. Liufau plays with a frenetic pace and is hungry to make plays, but is often left out of position in his run fits as a result. He profiles as a core special-teamer who rotates in defensively on passing downs.