To be selected in the NFL Draft, at any pick whatsoever, must be the thrill of a lifetime. These athletes have dedicated their entire young lives to preparing mind and body for the chance at professional football glory. To have your name called is the ultimate affirmation to that mission’s success.
There have been fantasy football kingmakers from all over the map. From top overall picks to virtually unknown free agent signings, NFL folklore does not filter by draft capital.
Day 3 of the 2023 NFL Draft is in the books, wrapping a bow on a chaotic and unpredictable week in Kansas City. My timeline is littered with smatterings of fans and analysts, with emotions ranging from overjoyed to incredulous and even listless. I love the cleanse from the player reaction videos. Dreams do come true. For some of these athletes, their road to glory is far from over. Rounds 4 through 7 have produced Hall of Famers like the early rounds have produced busts. For the sake of fantasy football, here are the winners and losers from Day 3.
- NFL Draft Grades for Every Team
- Thor’s Draft Grades (AFC | NFC)
- NFL Draft Day 1 Winners & Losers (Day 2)
- Fitz’s Round 1 NFL Draft Picks: Dynasty Rookie Draft Outlook (Day 2 | Day 3)
- Latest Dynasty Rookie Mock Draft
- Dynasty Rookie Primers: QB | RB | WR | TE
Day 3 Winners & Losers
Let’s take a look at the winners and losers from Day 3 of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Winners
Roschon Johnson and Tyler Scott – Chicago Bears
When a team is rebuilding like the Chicago Bears are, the players on which they spend their carefully accumulated picks should be noted. Where a winning team is stockpiling bonus players to keep their “championship window” ajar, the Bears are meticulously architecting their ascent.
Roschon Johnson is a really solid player, finally free from the total eclipse that is Bijan Robinson at Texas. He is tough and possesses a well-rounded game, something that truly fits the Chicago brand. His pathway to playing time is certainly not daunting, with only journeyman D’Onta Foreman and incumbent Khalil Herbert ahead of him on the depth chart.
Ryan Poles had a marvelous Draft this week, further solidified when he used his other fourth-round selection on speedy WR Tyler Scott from Cincinnati. Cut from the same cloth as fellow Bears WR Darnell Mooney, Scott plays with incredible game speed and is an underrated route runner from the flanker or slot positions. There was such a dearth of skill position talent for Justin Fields last season that it seems it wouldn’t take a quantum leap for Scott to seize meaningful playing time early on in his career.
Eric Gray – New York Giants
Even if Saquon Barkley‘s contract holdout is short-lived, I can’t get over the pristine landing spot for one of my favorite Day 3 sleepers at RB. Eric Gray was awesome at Oklahoma in 2022. He is elusive and runs with great patience and anticipation. Gray is one of the more polished receiving backs in this deep RB class too. His competition to see meaningful work behind Barkley appears straightforward, in Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell.
Xavier Hutchinson – Houston Texans
The Houston Texans needed to reload in this year’s draft. They seemingly had glaring needs at every position. After their riveting trade-up to snatch picks 2 & 3 overall for CJ Stroud and Will Anderson Jr. many wondered who their young Buckeye signal caller would be targeting in 2023. Just rattling off names like Robert Woods and Nico Collins, or John Metchie and Noah Brown, doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.
After spending their third-round pick on shifty and productive, but undersized Nathaniel “Tank” Dell from Houston, I knew they weren’t done at WR. Xavier Hutchinson slipped all the way to the 6th round, which surprised many scouts and analysts who saw him play at Iowa State. Houston has their franchise QB. They also have a bunch of guys at WR to sift through. Since they’ve made guys like Keke Coutee and Chris Moore fantasy relevant over the years, I’m willing to bet Xavier Hutchinson will have a real shot at showcasing his talents on Sundays.
Kayshon Boutte – New England Patriots
The freefall was stunning. Like Icarus plummeting from the sky when his wings of wax melted, Kayshon Boutte‘s stock as a WR prospect was a blinding and tragic supernova. Only a pillowy landing spot could save him from the annals of draft bust lore.
Bill Belichick, like the Fairy Godmother herself, has sprinkled magic upon many a downtrodden prospect throughout his career. Bippity-Boppity-Boop and Cinderella goes from rags to glass slippers. Boutte has run the gamut, from blue-chip can’t-miss freshman phenom to underprepared and indifferent fizzle-out with a laundry list of injuries. He now has the best coach of all time putting the faith of investment into him, along with a jaw-droppingly bad WR depth chart to compete with for playing time.
Losers
Derius Davis – Los Angeles Chargers
With more than a handful of speedy, diminutive playmakers still languishing on the draft board in the 4th round, the LA Chargers went go-go-gadget-REACH for a very limited niche player from TCU in Derius Davis. They already spent a first-round pick to give Justin Herbert another receiving weapon in Quentin Johnston (also from TCU).
Johnston, a clone of Mike Williams, didn’t fill an actual gap on the depth chart. Josh Palmer and Jalen Guyton were already on notice when it became apparent that there would be some real WR talent available at the 22nd overall pick.
The Davis pick just seemed like a waste…initially. I will say, it actually does fill the void left by DeAndre Carter in the gadget slot role. Unfortunately, there were at least a half dozen options still available who are widely considered better prospects than Davis. New offensive coordinator Kellen Moore has been criticized mercilessly throughout his career about his puzzling usage of WRs. Let’s hope Herbert can continue to raise the level of the players around him, enough to make such an important pick worthwhile.
Sean Clifford and Dontayvion Wicks – Green Bay Packers
I loved Green Bay’s first-round selection of Lukas “Hercules” Van Ness. I liked their Jayden Reed pick in the second round. Their double-down on TEs in Rounds 2 & 3 was annoying. Brian Gutekunst went completely off the rails on Day 3, beginning with a QB pick that sent shockwaves through the football community.
Sean Clifford is older than fourth-year player, first-time starting QB Jordan Love. He also was so uninspiring at Penn State that even a Rose Bowl win didn’t vault him onto anyone’s QB big board of draftable players. To be fair, none of the available QBs at pick 149 in the 5th round were looking at more than practice squad duty to begin their professional careers. The Packers, along with a few other teams, got caught up in a Brock Purdy-inspired QB run on Day 3. Sure, it is possible that a rash of injuries thrust Clifford into the buzz saw that is the NFL gridiron. Purdy was hurled into that ocean with a fully-stocked, climate-controlled life boat. Without another case of incredible luck, it was a baffling use of a pick.
I don’t hate the Dontayvion Wicks pick as much. He was selected 10 spots after Clifford, but the second WR after Reed. The team also added Grant Dubose in the 7th round, fully confirming their buckshot approach at the position in a flailing effort to support Love like they never did for Aaron Rodgers. Wicks has good size and is a capable route runner, but tested poorly and didn’t inspire much confidence in his hands or consistency at Virginia. DuBose is a similar player, even grading higher than Wicks in a few categories in scouting.
The good news is all three of these WR picks will have a real chance to earn field time. After Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, the depth chart is a veritable wasteland.
Kenny McIntosh – Seattle Seahawks
To add insult to injury, the Seattle Seahawks weren’t done “bolstering” Ken Walker‘s backfield in the 2023 NFL Draft after snagging Zach Charbonnet in Round 2. Seattle loves to run the rock, opting to replace Rashaad Penny with the highly-touted back from UCLA. They also have DeeJay Dallas, so why use a seventh-rounder on Georgia plodder Kenny McIntosh?
I get it, RB depth is important. The nature of the position is to expect extreme attrition without warning. McIntosh is a well-rounded player who was a solid contributor to a two-time national championship program. I guess I expected Seattle to use a RB pick on a speedier, shiftier player with more juice at that point.
Justin Shorter – Buffalo Bills
Talk about a crowded room… The underwhelming season Gabe Davis put forth in 2022 left a lot of fantasy minds clamoring for Buffalo to use a high pick on an exciting flanker. Unfortunately, all four of the WRs who fit that bill were gobbled up in succession before the 25th pick. The Bills did well to land top receiving TE Dalton Kincaid. Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis were marked safe by the selection, with Khalil Shakir and Deonte Harty taking a hit to their rotational reps in the slot.
The Justin Shorter pick was a surprise at No. 150 in the fifth round. His play style is tough and rugged, with good form on intermediate and deep routes. The 6-foot-4, 229-pound WR is nearly as big as Kincaid, but figures to sit behind Davis and Shakir at flanker. Shorter’s physicality reminds me of a young, unpolished Terrell Owens. Unfortunately, it will be very tough for him to carve out anything meaningful in Orchard Park on an exciting offense for fantasy.
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