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The 2022 NFL Draft’s first round has wrapped and there was plenty of craziness to get the fantasy football juices flowing. Two big wide receiver trades will be the biggest moves to talk about for fantasy, but there were also some receivers that should get work out of the gate.
Day 1 Winners
WR Rashod Bateman, TE Mark Andrews, Ravens
The Ravens traded away their No. 1 receiver Marquise Brown to the Cardinals and used the pick they got in return on an offensive lineman. That means, for the time being, Bateman and Andrews are in store for a huge percentage of targets and hopefully fantasy production.
Zach Wilson, QB, Jets
No matter what you think of Wilson as a player, he was a winner on Thursday, as the Jets took wide receiver Garrett Wilson, who was the odds on favorite to be the first WR taken. Add him with Elijah Moore and there is plenty of talent for Wilson to throw to this season.
Drake London, WR, Falcons
The Falcons are devoid of competent wide receivers and Drake could quickly become a go-to guy for Marcus Mariota. It’s not going to be pretty, but he is the de facto WR1 on a team that will need to throw the ball.
Day 1 Losers
Aaron Rodgers, QB, Packers
Wide receivers were flying off the board Thursday night, but the Packers weren’t one of the teams to grab one. This of course comes after they traded away Davante Adams, leaving their wide receiver group in shambles. Maybe with an earlier pick they would have grabbed a receiver, but the top guys were gone, so they’ll likely look to take one on Friday. But, missing out on a top receiver will hurt Rodgers if they can’t get lucky in the second round or with a trade.
A.J. Brown, WR, Eagles
Brown is a beast and he is going to be good wherever he goes, but the Eagles were a run-first team last season with Jalen Hurts at the helm and they were very successful doing so. They will throw more with the addition of Brown and Smith playing in his second season, but Philadelphia isn’t the place to get 150 targets.
Marquise Brown, WR, Cardinals
Brown moves to a more pass happy offense in Arizona, but he will no longer see the big percentage of targets, as the Cardinals have a target hog in Deandre Hopkins taking up the majority. It may be a wash, but this isn’t an upgrade.
DeVonta Smith, WR, Eagles
The addition of A.J. Brown is great for the Eagles, but Smith goes from being the no-doubt No. 1 receiving option to the no-doubt No. 2 option on a run-first team.