2020 NFL Draft: Fantasy analysis, rankings for every player from Round 1 to Round 7

The Fantasy Football Today team breaks down every relevant move from the first three rounds of the NFL Draft for 2020 and beyond.

The first round of the NFL Draft saw plenty of potential difference makers for Fantasy go off the board, but it was the second night when things really started getting wild. The first round featured big names, but many of them didn't quite land in spots with a ton of immediate Fantasy intrigue; that was definitely not the case on day two of the draft.

Jonathan Taylor, D'Andre Swift, Cam Akers, Zack Moss, and Ke'Shawn Vaughn all landed in places where they could end up as the stater — or at least prove spoiler to an incumbent's Fantasy appeal. At wide receiver, the second round saw the Bengals, Raiders, Colts, Steelers, Jaguars, and Jets add significant talent, all of whom could wind up starting as rookies, and there were plenty of other intriguing receivers to go off the board.

It's a lot to keep track of, we know. But you'll want to get familiar with every significant rookie and how their selection might change the Fantasy landscape around them, and we've got you covered. We've been live blogging the first three rounds of the draft, and you can scroll down and read thoughts from the whole Fantasy Football Today team from the last two days, plus our thoughts for the final four rounds of the draft Saturday. 

Get a head start on the competition with our coverage of the NFL draft, starting with day two's biggest winners and losers, and then our breakdowns of every player you need to know in one place. And that's just a small part of the CBS Sports coverage of the draft. The third day round begins at noon ET Saturday with live coverage of the draft streaming on CBS Sports HQ, which can also be found at the top of this story. You can also watch it by downloading the CBS Sports app for free on any mobile or connected TV device.

[Apr 23, 2020 at 8:46 pm ET · Dave Richard]

Some rookie-only draft thoughts ...

Burrow: Back-half of Round 1
Chase Young: late Round 2 at the absolute earliest Jeff Okudah: Not feeling it. Don't think he'll get a ton of stats. Would only take as top-40 pick if you had to draft a CB, not a DB.

[Apr 23, 2020 at 8:43 pm ET · Chris Towers]

As someone who used to be a Dolphins fan (and still carries it around like a phantom limb), I'm hoping it's Tua.

[Apr 23, 2020 at 8:40 pm ET · Ben Gretch]

With the Lions staying put and addressing their defense as well, and the Giants expected to go tackle, the Dolphins look poised to have their choice of Tua and Herbert at 5.

[Apr 23, 2020 at 8:38 pm ET · Chris Towers]

Chalky first three picks so far. No surprises.

[Apr 23, 2020 at 8:36 pm ET · Adam Aizer]

I won't fill this feed with thoughts about defense, but the Redskins remind me a little bit of the 49ers. They have invested a lot of early picks in their defensive line in recent seasons and now have hopefully the equivalent of Nick Bosa to take their defense to another level. The big difference between the two teams is the secondary, but I'd keep an eye on the Redskins to be a tougher matchup than we anticipate.

[Apr 23, 2020 at 8:37 pm ET · Heath Cummings]

Adam Schefter just tweeted the Lions are expected to keep their pick. Minshew is still alive! (for now)

[Apr 23, 2020 at 8:37 pm ET · Chris Towers]

And Heath's projections for the Bengals have been updated for Joe Burrow right here. Some key pulls:

• Joe Mixon: 1199 rushing yards, 7 TD, 308 receiving yards
• AJ Green: 70 REC, 1023 YD, 7 TD
• Tyler Boyd: 77 REC, 927 YD, 6 TD

[Apr 23, 2020 at 8:37 pm ET · Ben Gretch]

I'll go the opposite way, Adam. Heath's projections look good to me, but how good Burrow was in that stretch from the SEC Championship through the College Football Playoff — averaging 435 passing yards and throwing 16 touchdowns with zero interceptions against three of the best teams in the country — will make it hard not to envision some upside to rewrite the rookie record book.

[Apr 23, 2020 at 8:37 pm ET · Adam Aizer]

I've looked at the rookie seasons of the last 8 QBs who were selected #1 overall and how their WRs have done. We had some big years like Steve Smith with Cam Newton and Reggie Wayne with Andrew Luck, but only two WRs have finished higher than WR18 in PPR. Yards don't seem to be a problem, but TDs do. None of the leading receivers on these teams had more than 7 TD catches. And really I'm concerned about Tyler Boyd because #2 WRs have a bad history with rookie QBs.

[Apr 23, 2020 at 8:37 pm ET · Chris Towers]

Alright, we've got Dave Richard's reaction to the Joe Burrow pick right here.

Key quote: 

"And now, think about the situation Burrow has fallen into: He's the starting quarterback of a Bengals offense with three capable receivers (A.J. Green, Tyler Boyd and John Ross), a quality pass-catching running back (Joe Mixon), and an improved offensive line that includes last year's first-round pick, left tackle Jonah Williams. And their defense is getting older and hasn't played well for some time.

Burrow could be on the brink of a busy, stat-busting year.

I'm gonna need an extra second here to let this all sink in."

[Apr 23, 2020 at 8:26 pm ET · Heath Cummings]

My projections for Joe Burrow: 4,158 passing yards, 25 TD, 17 INT, 174 rush yards, 2 TD.

What do you think? Too high? Too low?

[Apr 23, 2020 at 8:22 pm ET · Ben Gretch]

As always seems to be the case, even with how little secrecy there is around who the first pick will be, the Bengals are letting the clock drain.

The real fun will start soon, though, most likely when we get to the Lions at Pick 3 and find out whether a deal will be struck.

[Apr 23, 2020 at 8:17 pm ET · Chris Towers]

Okay, but are there any props about when this will end? Cuz you've gotta hammer that over.

Bengals now on the clock. Let's not drag this out too long.

[Apr 23, 2020 at 8:13 pm ET · Chris Towers]

Silly me, I thought we might have a pick by now.

[Apr 23, 2020 at 8:10 pm ET · Chris Towers]

It seems all but assured we'll have three quarterbacks off the board in the first 10 picks, so this seems like a good time to drop a link to my ranking of the top landing spots for quarterbacks in this draft.

Obviously, it doesn't matter much whether the Bengals are a good landing spot, because that's where Burrow is heading anyways. But, it turns out, it's a pretty great landing spot, with two established plus wide receivers in Tyler Boyd and A.J. Green, a deep threat who finally showed his upside last season in John Ross, and a pretty good pass-catching back in Joe Mixon. I'd hope for a bit more creativity from the playcalling and design side with Burrow around, so here's hoping that's what we'll see. 

The Chargers are the other spot we're hoping to see a QB land, because the right player could step on the field as a Fantasy starter from Day One with the weapons they've got. Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Hunter Henry, Austin Ekeler ... woo boy, it's hard to imagine a better landing spot if the Chargers are willing to give a rookie the reigns over Tyrod Taylor.