Yesterday, we took a look at the NFC West NFL Draft Fantasy Football Wishlist. The glorified conference call will still take place on April 23 – April 25, meaning that we should probably start figuring out where we want fantasy football guys to go while the world descends into a depression following a global pandemic, wherein our leaders are calling up to 200,000 deaths a great victory! Anyway, here are the greatest needs for the fantasy football prospects of the NFC North.
2020 NFL Draft Fantasy Football Wishlist: Chicago Bears
Offensive linemen, wide receivers
Picks: #43 (round 2, from Oakland), #50 (round 2), #163 (round 5), #196 (round 6), #200 (round 6, from Philadelphia), #226 (round 7, from Oakland), #233 (round 7)
The Bears allowed the fourth-fastest time to pressure in 2019 according to Pro Football Focus, and that means that Mitch Trubisky was frequently running for his life. It could account for a lot of Trubisky’s troubles, and an upgrade along the offensive line could go far to recovering his value and David Montgomery’s value. Montgomery evaded the thirteenth-most tackles last season en route to just 889 rushing yards. A line upgrade would boost his rushing totals drastically. Oh, but they added human turnstile Germain Ifedi. Nevermind.
The wide receiver room behind Allen Robinson quickly falls apart. Anthony Miller, who flashed his rookie season, is now two-for-two in having injuries hamper his season. The latest reports are that he needs another offseason shoulder injury. Behind him is underwhelming sophomore Riley Ridley, and what appears to be a group of players created by Madden to fill out their roster. The Bears need a good second wide receiver and bump the unreliable Miller to the #3 role. They cut Taylor Gabriel, so they may look to add a speedster instead of a top guy, instead.
Oh and tight end? They have Jimmy Graham, hello? They’re fine.
2020 NFL Draft Fantasy Football Wishlist: Detroit Lions
Running Back Depth
Picks: #3 (round 1), #35 (round 2), #67 (round 3), #85 (round 3, from Philadelphia), #109 (round 4), #149 (round 5), #166 (round 5, from Philadelphia), #182 (round 6)
This one is pretty short and sweet. The Lions aren’t likely to make any splashy fantasy-football relevant moves. Their defense is such a mess and their offense is functional enough that they need to spend the picks on the defensive side of the ball. PFF ranked their line as the eleventh-best last season, and Kenny Golladay/Marvin Jones/Geronimo Allison/Danny Amendola makes for a very workable WR foursome. Of course, they have T.J. Hockenson’s sophomore campaign to look forward to, as well. Instead, they have to address the elephant in the room: running back depth.
Kerryon Johnson is extraordinarily talented, but his inability to stay healthy has him quickly trending towards bust status. He’s become a completely unreliable draft commodity as of late. Anyone who scrambled to start Bo Scarbrough on Thanksgiving can attest to that. Kerryon Johnson needs a good handcuff, as the flotsam and jetsam the Lions call a running back room is embarrassing. It wouldn’t be surprising to see them float a pick over to San Francisco for Tevin Coleman or one of their other myriad of backs.
2020 NFL Draft Fantasy Football Wishlist: Green Bay Packers
Wide Receiver
Picks: #30 (round 1), #62 (round 2), #94 (round 3), #136 (round 4), #175 (round 5), #192 (round 6, from Oakland), #208 (round 6, from Tennessee), #209 (round 6), #236 (round 7, from Buffalo, via Cleveland), #242 (round 7, from Baltimore)
The Packers have one of the best offensive lines in the league, Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Jones/Jamaal Williams, and a hot young tight end in Jace Sternberger. That leaves one major hole that fantasy football owners hope they fill with #30 in the draft: wide receiver. We’ve spent ages convincing ourselves that Allen Lazard, Geronimo Allison, Marques Valdez-Scantling, Equanimeous St. Brown, Jared Abbrederis, or Jeff Janis would rise from the muck to become a great #2 receiver for the packers. Some of them flashed occasionally, but none materialized.
The Packers stand in a perfect position to take a top-flight WR in the first round. I, personally, like Laviska Shenault for them in the first, or one of the big combine risers line Denzel Mims or Michael Pittman Jr. That’s it. That’s all they need for fantasy football purposes. They were the #2 seed in the NFC last year, and the 49ers waxed them because their defense couldn’t stop a runny nose, not because of any offensive deficiencies.
2020 NFL Draft Fantasy Football Wishlist: Minnesota Vikings
Wide Receiver, Offensive Linemen
Picks: #22 (round 1, from Buffalo), #25 (round 1), #58 (round 2), #89 (round 3), #105 (round 3, compensatory pick), #132 (round 4), #155 (round 5, from Cleveland via Buffalo), #201 (round 6, from Buffalo), #205 (round 6), #219 (round 7, from Miami), #249 (round 7, compensatory pick), #253 (round 7, compensatory pick)
This time last year, we argued about the order of Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, who both comfortably fit inside of fantasy football’s top-fifteen at the position. Now, Diggs is a Bill, and Thielen spent almost all season battling a hamstring injury. Suddenly, the Vikings are one soft tissue injury away from turning toward Olabisi Johnson as their top wideout for weeks at a time. The Vikings will likely use the #22 pick they received from the Bills in order to replace Diggs. Otherwise, things can get messy quickly there in Minnesota.
The Vikings could also use an offensive lineman, as according to PFF, Kirk Cousins faced pressure at the fourth-highest rate in the league. Their pass blocking was a mess, but their run blocking was top notch. Much of that had to to with Kevin Stefanski’s scheme. Adding an offensive lineman to this unit will likely not do much to stop the failure. It will be not like catching a falling knife, but like trying to replace the hilt on the falling knife in mid-air.
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