Championships aren’t won with a first-round pick, but they do matter. And in the era of the keeper, it’s no guarantee you’re walking out of the first with a stud. So, how did everyone do? Overall, the numbers coming out the first round are good. Chubb is the only first rounder to get knocked out of the season, while Jefferson and Barkley have missed or are missing games. In this round, we have the league’s top QB, the top WR and the top tight end. Meanwhile, only Chubb (out for year), Mixon and Stevenson have failed to be among the top-20 at their position through seven weeks.
GRIFF – JUSTIN JEFFERSON
For the first time in league history, a wide receiver was taken with the first overall pick and after one month, Jefferson was everything one could ask of from a first overall pick. He had 34 receptions, 550-ish yards and three scores. He scored at least 288 fantasy points per game, as he battled for the top spot with Tyreek Hill. Then he had to hurt that hamstring. He’s projected to miss four weeks, so Coomer, as long as he can avoid a collapse, will have his star receiver back as the regular season begins its end.
JEFF – TYREEK HILL
Proving we are living in a new world of fantasy football, we had two receivers taken one-two in the draft and both proved to be home runs. Thanks to Jefferson’s hamstring, Hill is the clear-cut top wide receiver in the league. Seven games in and he already has 902 yards receiving a seven scores and he’s averaging 321 per contest. In the history of this league, no wide receiver has ever averaged over 300 per contest. Hill is a massive reason why Jeff is chasing an in-season triple crown in 2023.
DON – BIJAN ROBINSON
Don skipped out on some big name backs and decided to snag a rookie in Atlanta. The reality is, Robinson has been pretty damn good. When you watch the Falcons, he easily passes the eye test. He has two 100-yard rushing games and has caught 26 balls this season. Prior to this last game, he was on pace for nearly 1,700 yards. The problem is, he doesn’t get the goal line carries. Seven games into his career and has zero rushing touchdowns (he does have two receiving scores). This kills his fantasy numbers. Currently, he’s the 12th best back in fantasy, but he was top-10 prior to this last game where he left the contest after one carry.
BOB – NICK CHUBB
For a brief moment it looked like the fantasy gods were looking out for Castrone when they let Nick Chubb slide to Bob at number four. The dude has been a RB1 for all four years he’s been in the league and with Hunt gone, the backfield belong to him. He looked great in week one with 127 yards (254 fantasy points) and was dominating Pittsburgh in week two. But then he went ahead and tore every fabric in his knee and just like that, was out for the year. With Bob failing to land his handcuff, he had nothing to fill this hole, now relying on a backup Bears back to get him through the middle of the season.
ROB M – DERRICK HENRY
The Titans back, who seems like he’s been around longer than his 29 years of age suggests, has been good this season. He’s a top-10 back, who has scored over 230 in four of his six games. The only reason why he’s not mentioned in the All-Robio discussion is the occasional bad game. In week three and five, he combined for just 63 yards. Rumor has it he could be traded. Perhaps he’ll go to a contender with a quarterback and we’ll be looking at another 2022 McCaffrey (who led Colby to a title last year).
RICH C – SAQUON BARKLEY (KEEPER)
The Giants offense has been a shit-show, but when healthy, Barkley hasn’t been too bad. He had two sub-200 games, a 266 this week and 304 back in week two. Using just average, his 239 per contest is the 10th best. The big question is, can he stay on the field? His missed three games and now has a bum shoulder. Worse yet, his handcuff is a joke, so no Barkley = no points.
MICHAEL – PATRICK MAHOMES
At this point, I still have to call this a bad pick, or at least if you make this pick, don’t keep Justin Herbert in round two. Mahomes had a great week seven, which put him back atop the rankings in QB points. However, this hasn’t been his finest year. Three times this season he has failed to top-300, which is not the norm for him and not acceptable for a first-round arm. Having said that, he’s averaging 345 per contest and is on pace to finish the season as the league’s first-team All-Robio QB.
ROBIO – TRAVIS KELCE
For too long, this felt like a bad pick and may still prove to be on. By drafting Kelce, I failed to land a star receiver, stuck relying on Moore and Flowers. Be that as it may, after missing week one, Kelce has slowly started to perform like has in the past. He scored 194 in weeks five, 248 in week six and a stunning 418 last week. He’s now the league’s top tight end again and is outpacing the second best guy by 46 points per game.
ERIC – JOE MIXON
The Bengals offense, led by Joe Burrow’s fucked up calf, has been a dumpster fire in 2023. Thus, despite being in the prime of his career, Mixon hasn’t done much. Now, he’s never been a great back, but he’s good, but right now, he’s not. CBS has him ranked as the 21st best back in fantasy. He’s rushing for over 70 yards just once this season, he’s not catching much (16 catches) and he has only one touchdown on the season. This is how a preseason favorite ends up 3-4.
RICH B – JOSH ALLEN
With Josh Jacobs as a keeper, it makes sense that Burrier would reach for arguable the best fantasy QB and Allen, despite his many, many, many turnovers, is still producing stats, averaging 329 per contest, which is the second most on the season. The real question is, what could Rich have done different? The next back taken was Stevenson (bust) and then Gibbs (who Rich took in round two). However, AJ Brown was taken four picks later and would have made a big difference on this bad team.
MATT – RHAMONDRE STEVENSON
Coming off a season where he delivered 1,400 yards, taking the 25-year-old Stevenson made a ton of sense, especially if Matt thought he could wait for Brown in round two. Unfortunately, he’s proven to be bad. If we exclude the season-ending injury of Chubb, Stevenson is the lowest ranked first-round pick, sitting as the 22nd best back. However, I will say this…the Pats back has actually scored 370 points in his last two, as New England’s offense has looked a bit competent.
COLBY – CHRISTIAN McCAFFREY (KEEPER)
McCaffrey, like Barkley, was a keeper and after he was traded to the 49ers, he led Colby to his first ever title. With the way the back is playing, he’s looks well on his way to doing it again. McCaffrey is averaging 321 points per game, which is the best among backs and 53 points ahead of the next guy on the running back list. Oddly enough, his 312 average would be the lowest by a back since Todd Hurley averaged 300 in 2017.