The 2020 NFL Draft is in the books, and that means it’s time for us to fully turn our attention to the 2020 NFL season and fantasy football. While COVID-19 means we can’t guarantee an NFL season, our league mates want us to be on our heels, unprepared for the season. Never you fear, Football Absurdity is here to cover all of the 78 fantasy football eligible players drafted in the 2020 NFL Draft. Keep in mind, most of these guys won’t get selected in your draft, but you’ll want to know these 2020 NFL draftees when your fantasy football draft comes around. We started our look at the NFC North yesterday with the Chicago Bears. Today, we continue with the Detroit Lions and the three fantasy football eligible players they took in last month’s draft.
If there was a theme of the 2019 Detroit Lions, it was injuries derailing promising campaigns. Kerryon Johnson’s career might have been stunted before it really got rolling (more on that later), and a back injury kept Matthew Stafford from playing half the season. They added Halapuilvaati Vaitai from the Eagles to replace Graham Glasgow along the line, but most of their free agency money went to the defense. Before the draft, the only notable addition on offense was Geronimo Allison. Detroit added a couple of running backs and a wide receiver, but should we worry about them for our 2020 fantasy football leagues?
FULL DETROIT LIONS DRAFT RESULTS
| Rd | Pick | Player | Pos | School |
| 1 | 3 | Jeff Okudah | CB | Ohio State |
| 2 | 3 | D’Andre Swift | RB | Georgia |
| 3 | 3 | Julian Okwara | OLB | Notre Dame |
| 3 | 11 | Jonah Jackson | OG | Ohio St |
| 4 | 15 | Logan Stenberg | OG | Kentucky |
| 5 | 20 | Quintez Cephus | WR | Wisconsin |
| 5 | 26 | Jason Huntley | RB | New Mexico St |
| 6 | 18 | John Penisini | DT | Utah |
| 7 | 21 | Jashon Cornell | DE | Ohio St |
Round 2, Pick 3: D’Andre Swift, Georgia, Running Back (5’8”, 212 lbs)
| 40-yd Dash | Bench Press | Vertical Jump | Broad Jump | 3 Cone | 20-yd shuttle | 60-yd shuttle |
| 4.48s (u) | — | 35.5 in | 121.0 in | — | — | — |
Courtesy: NFL.com, (u) = unofficial.
Depth Chart:
RB1 Kerryon Johnson*
RB2 D’Andre Swift
RB3 Bo Scarbrough
RB4 Jason Huntley
RB5 Ty Johnson
*pending a week 2 hamstring strain that Kerryon Johnson nurses all year and misses weeks 3, 6, and 11. He leaves early in week 5.
TALENT
For some people, D’Andre Swift was the best running back in this draft class. At worst, he was top-three for nearly everyone. He was my second-ranked running back in this class going into the draft. Ultimately, the NFL agreed with the fantasy football cognoscenti, as Swift was the second back off the board to the Lions. He’s a decisive and instinctive runner. There’s little turning of the wheels, both mentally and physically. Swift’s change of direction is elite, and he snakes through the open field.
Swift’s feet are amazing, effortlessly setting up defenders to get knocked on their rear end in the open field. Lacks top top-end speed, but his elusiveness makes it so it doesn’t matter. He’s tenacious and relentless and blends speed, power, and elusiveness with exceptional contact balance. Swift’s always churning forward, you can rarely accuse him of leaving yards on the field. Gorgeous dead leg. Don’t try to arm tackle him. This doesn’t even get into his above-average pass-catching skills, which will give him an added dimension (and extra value in PPR leagues).
Injuries are a concern as he had a lowered role in the Sugar Bowl due to shoulder injury and had a lot of nagging soft tissue injuries.
2020 OPPORTUNITY
Well, all you have to do is check out the asterisk above. Kerryon Johnson likely gets the first crack at being the starting back, but he’s either getting hurt or backsliding sooner or later. Then, Swift will step in and probably set the league on fire. Think Nick Chubb and Carlos Hyde in 2018 (though I hold that Kerryon is a much better back than Hyde).
2020 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Draft-and-stash Swift and he will reward your patience. He will likely start slow as Matt Patricia’s wheels churning to figure out how to keep Swift and Kerryon on the field. Then, he’ll realize that he should roll with Swift. If you can scoop up D’Andre Swift on the cheap, he has a lot of potential to be a league winner in the second half.
TALENT: 
OPPORTUNITY: 
2020 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK: 
Round 5, Pick 21: Quintez Cephus, Wide Receiver, Wisconsin (6’1” 202 lbs)
| 40-yd Dash | Bench Press | Vertical Jump | Broad Jump | 3 Cone | 20-yd shuttle | 60-yd shuttle |
| 4.73 (s) | 23 reps | 38.5 in | 124.0 in | 7.2s | 4.33s | — |
Courtesy: NFL.com, (u) = unofficial.
Depth Chart:
WR1 Kenny Golladay
WR2 Marvin Jones, Jr.
WR3 Danny Amendola
WR4 Geronimo Allison
WR5 Quintez Cephus
WR6 Victor Bolden Jr
WR7 Marvin Hall
TALENT
Cephus missed all of 2018 with now-dismissed sexual assault allegations and returned to produce decently enough for Wisconsin. He’s a good hand fighter and a blocker, and has the look and build of an NFL player. He has decent enough deep speed but has just one gear, which limits his upside at the NFL level. His 40-yard dash is borderline disastrous, given he doesn’t have the size to offset it. Cephus likely has WR4 upside a the NFL level, and I’m not interested in that in his rookie year for fantasy football.
2020 OPPORTUNITY
While the Lions pass the football enough to support multiple receivers, they don’t throw that much. Most of their passing game production ends up rolled up into two guys (Golladay and MJJ). There might be table scraps left over for Danny Amendola or Geronimo Allison, but not for the fifth-round wide receiver.
2020 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
For Quintez Cephus to get enough targets to matter, we are looking at an extinction-level event in the Detroit weaponry corps. A complete decimation, down past Geronimo Allison and tight end Jesse James. I don’t care.
TALENT:
OPPORTUNITY: 
2020 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
Round 5, Pick 27: Jason Huntley, Running Back, New Mexico State (5’9” 193 lbs)
| 40-yd Dash | Bench Press | Vertical Jump | Broad Jump | 3 Cone | 20-yd shuttle | 60-yd shuttle |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Depth Chart:
RB1 Kerryon Johnson
RB2 D’Andre Swift
RB3 Bo Scarbrough
RB4 Jason Huntley
RB5 Ty Johnson
TALENT
If you just watch Huntley’s highlights, you’d think the Lions got the next big thing in the fifth round. In reality, they likely got a Theo Riddick/Antone Smith hybrid. Huntley was an amazing home run hitter in college and likely fills an air back/change-of-pace back in the NFL. He’ll be very exciting to watch, but I don’t know if he has the staying power in the Matt Patricia offense to get enough touches to matter for fantasy football purposes.
He’s a slight, upright runner who is fast and likely would have moved up draft boards if there had been pro days. He tries too hard to get it to the perimeter on nearly every play, and can’t really break tackles. If you watch his cutups, yes, he slips tackles from linebackers and CBs, but he’s frequently caught up by defensive lineman. Great burst, but he will be limited in the NFL.
2020 OPPORTUNITY
Huntley likely enters the season as the #4 running back in the pecking order due to the end-of-season preview from Bo Scarbrough. I doubt that lasts very long, as Scarbrough is great if you need three yards, but if you need a home run, you turn towards Huntley. That likely gets Huntley in on more snaps and moves him up the depth chart. That having been said, if you’re looking up at Bo Scarbrough, things probably don’t look great for your opportunity prospects. More than likely, he boots Ty Johnson off the roster as the designated air back and kick returne.
2020 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Throw in some DFS lineups, and if the Lions depth chart melts around him, go ahead and pick him up. Don’t draft him, and don’t worry about him unless there’s an RBpocalypse in Detroit (or if they give him the Theo Riddick role and you’re in a PPR league).
TALENT: 
OPPORTUNITY: 
2020 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK:
For more 2020 NFL Draft coverage, check out these:
Fantasy Football Fallout: 2020 NFL Draft Round One
Football Absurdity Podcast: First Round Recap
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