2024 NFL Draft Instant Reaction: Round 1 Winners and Losers For Fantasy Football

April 28, 2024

2024 NFL Draft article looking at winners and losers from the first round. What NFL players are in better and worse positions after the first round?

The first round of the 2024 NFL Draft is now in the books. It was a night full of surprises, with six quarterbacks going in the first 12 picks.

Thursday really shook things up across the league, so it's time to parse through what happened and make some sense of things.

Below are some of the fantasy football winners and losers from the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

NFL Draft First-Round Winners

Offensive Rookies

The first 14 picks in this year's draft were offensive players. The first team to take a defensive player was Indianapolis down at Pick 15, with the team taking Laiatu Latu there.

Records smashed: The first 14 picks last night were offensive players, surpassing the previous record of 7 set in 2021. And 23 offensive players were taken in the first round, breaking the previous record of 19.

— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) April 26, 2024

That number includes quarterbacks going first, second, and third, plus three wide receivers going in the top 10. Add in two more top-14 picks for QBs four offensive tackles and tight end Brock Bowers and you get a draft class that's very heavy on the offensive side of the football. In fact, when the Chiefs took Xavier Worthy at Pick 28, the record for offensive players taken in the first round officially belonged to the 2024 draft.

I'll talk more about some of these players individually, but just wanted to point out that it was a good night in general for young offensive players.

Marvin Harrison Jr.

Marvin Harrison Jr. has to feel good about how things turned out. Sure, he could have lasted one more pick and wound up with the Chargers, which would have been great for his development, but ending up with the Cardinals is still good, especially since it means he avoided landing in the quagmire that is the Patriots offense. With Kyler Murray throwing him the football, MHJ should have a smooth transition to the NFL.

Mike Williams

I really expected the Jets to take a skill position player in the first round, someone who could pair with Garrett Wilson and provide a weapon for quarterback Aaron Rodgers. But with Rodgers coming off an Achilles tear, the Jets chose instead to focus on keeping him upright, trading down to Pick 11 and drafting Penn State tackle Olu Fashanu.

Getting Olu Fashanu is likely a great pick. Giving up one sack in his career and being an elite pass-blocking tackle, who is so young and athletic is exciting.

But the Jets desperately need another playmaker - Garrett Wilson with 8 Mike Williams games, Allen Lazard, and Tyler…

— Eliot Crist 🏆 (@EliotCrist) April 26, 2024

That likely puts Mike Williams, who the team added this offseason, in line for an expanded role with the Jets if he can stay healthy. Williams is a big body who would have been a threat in the red zone even if the Jets added a receiver, but now he's a sneaky fantasy sleeper play since he'll be on the field a ton. Of course, the Jets could still add a wide receiver in the second round, so let's call Williams a tentative winner for now.

Xavier Worthy

At the NFL Combine, Xavier Worthy broke the record for fastest 40-yard dash. Now, he joins an NFL team that's quarterbacked by Patrick Mahomes. This is the perfect fit for Worthy because Mahomes has a monster arm and can fit a ball anywhere on the field. The pick comes after a season that saw Mahomes' aDOT drop big time because the Chiefs just didn't have the personnel to work the deep ball.

NFL Draft First Round Losers

Kirk Cousins

Coming into Thursday night, it seemed pretty clear that Kirk Cousins was the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. He has a huge contract that Atlanta can't easily get out of until after the 2026 season and the team made a huge investment by bringing Cousins in.

Then they took Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 overall pick. It was the shock of the draft. Many people didn't see Penix as a first-round pick, much less a top-10 pick, and especially not a top-10 pick for a franchise that didn't need a quarterback. Now, Cousins suddenly has some pressure behind him. Penix won't take over in 2024, but if the Falcons struggle this year, Cousins could see his starting role yanked in 2025.

Rome Odunze

Here's where the difference between real-life football and fantasy football becomes apparent. In real life, the Bears drafting Rome Odunze at No. 9 overall was a great move. He joins a lethal receiving corps with D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen and will make life easy for rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.

But as far as fantasy goes, this is a tough landing spot. Odunze has the potential to be an elite player in the NFL, but he'll start his career as the No. 3 receiver on a team with a rookie quarterback. A lot of people, including me, think a good comparison here is Jaxon Smith-Njigba last year with the Seahawks. I still believe in JSN, but he landed in a spot where he just didn't have immediate fantasy value. That's Odunze in 2024.

Rome Odunze may be this year's Jaxon Smith-Njigba in fantasy. Bears have an embarrassment of riches offensively. Caleb can be great and still not be able to support them all. Great for the Bears. Miserable for fantasy. Odunze is a lot better than JSN though. https://t.co/YNNAawQrAu

— Katz (@jasonkatz13) April 26, 2024

Darius Slayton

Every year, Darius Slayton seems to find a way to lead the New York Giants in receiving yards. It's happened in four of the past five seasons, including in the 2023 season when Slayton caught 50 passes for 770 yards and four touchdowns. It probably won't happen in 2024 though, as the Giants took Malik Nabers with the No. 6 pick. So, pour one out for the reign of Darius Slayton. (I say this, but just watch him find a way to lead the team in receiving again since that's just what he does.)

Justin Herbert

Adding Notre Dame tackle Joe Alt will help keep pressure away from Justin Herbert, but I'm sure the young Chargers passer was hoping for some kind of weapon here. Los Angeles moved on from its entire offense this offseason, with Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Austin Ekeler, and Gerald Everett all gone. It would have made sense if they'd gone Malik Nabers at No. 5 overall. I'm sure the Chargers will add someone on Friday, but Justin Herbert won't have an elite wide receiver to throw to in 2024.

Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer

The Raiders took Brock Bowers at No. 13 overall. In a vacuum, getting an elite tight end prospect at Pick 13 is great. In practice, it's a weird fit with the Raiders because the team just drafted Michael Mayer in the second round last year. This is probably a win for the Raiders as a team, but it's a loss for the fantasy value of both players since Vegas will have to figure out how to get them both involved.

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