The 2013 draft class played fairly well this week. While there were no breakout performances with the possible exception of E. J. Manuel (the top graded 1st round pick this week), most contributed in a positive way. There were a few disastrous performances too (Fluker, Fisher and Mingo). Five 1st round picks weren't able to go this week as health continues to be pretty good for the most part. You have to be impressed that the majority of this class has been able to withstand the beating that is an NFL season in their first year. Here are the updated rankings:
1. Sheldon Richardson, DE for the Jets, originally drafted 13th: His team may have completely imploded in this one but don't blame Richardson. He was all over the field and made a meaningful impact in the game with 9 tackles, including one for a loss. He was a huge reason why the Bills only managed 1.8 yards per carry.
2. Eric Reid, S of 49ers, originally drafted 18th: No change in the standings for Reid either who played despite suffering his second concussion of the season last week. He had 6 tackles and a defended pass and did a great job helping the 49ers slow down Drew Brees' offense. Unfortunately they couldn't come up with the stop on the final drive and lost the game.
3. Star Lotulelei, DT of Panthers, originally drafted 14th: He shoots up two spots in the rankings as his defense gave the Patriots all they could handle. He had 5 tackles, a sack, and was a menace the entire game to the Patriots' interior.
4. Alec Ogletree, LB of Rams, originally drafted 30th: He drops a spot during his bye week due to Lotulelei having a big game.
5. Desmond Trufant, CB of Falcons, originally drafted 22nd: He drops a spot after one of his weaker games of the season. Anytime you get torched by Mike Glennon it's not a good sign. He had 4 tackles and a penalty.
6. DeAndre Hopkins, WR of Texans, originally drafted 27th: He somehow moves up a spot in the overall rankings despite a miserable game. He was invisible against the Raiders with just 1 catch for 7 yards in a horrible loss.
7. Kenny Vaccaro, S of Saints, originally drafted 15th: He was held out due to a concussion against the 49ers. That drops him a spot in the rankings but the Saints' defense did play extremely well even without him.
8. Travis Frederick, C of Cowboys, originally drafted 31st: He sticks at #8 during his bye week.
9. Cordarrelle Patterson, WR of Vikings, originally drafted 29th: He also stays put at #9. His 3 catches for 28 yards is a bigger offensive production than usual, but he was also targeted 9 times so the chemistry with Ponder isn't there. He did have another nice kick return of 35 yards, though, which seems to happen every week.
10. Tyler Eifert, TE of Bengals, originally drafted 21st: He's up two spots to round out the top 10. While his 1 catch for 15 yards might not be that noteworthy in a blowout win over the Browns, I was encouraged by his run blocking which had previously been really poor to date. If he can continue to improve that he becomes a complete tight end.
11. Barkevious Mingo, LB of Browns, originally drafted 6th: He's down a spot after a very poor game overall. He had 3 tackles but was roughed up all game long. His slight frame and high snap count means he'll have games where he just gets pushed around. Until he gets thicker in the pads he's going to struggle at times in traffic. Not only was he neutralized in pass rushing, he was bowled over in the run game.
12. Matt Elam, S of Ravens, originally drafted 32nd: He's up two spots after a good game against the Bears in an overtime loss. He played the back end very well and had 5 tackles, showing equal skill against the run and pass. I think the Ravens feel good about landing him with the last pick in the 1st round based on his play.
13. Tavon Austin, WR of Rams, originally drafted 8th: He remains at 13 on his bye week.
14. Kyle Long, G of Bears, originally drafted 20th: He's up a spot and he played very solid against the Ravens. This was a much improved game for Long based on what we've been seeing lately.
15. Ziggy Ansah, DE/LB of the Lions, originally drafted 5th: He's down 4 spots as he continues to be out dealing with his ankle problem. He did practice on a limited basis last week, though, so maybe he's close to a return.
16. Lane Johnson, T of the Eagles, originally drafted 4th: He's up 3 spots and continues to climb up the rankings with Nick Foles in the mix. He did give up a sack this week but was once again terrific otherwise, particularly run blocking where at times he was dominant.
17. Jarvis Jones, LB of the Steelers, originally drafted 17th: He's up a spot for having a 2 tackle and 2 defended passes game. He didn't make a major impact.
18. D. J. Fluker, T of Chargers, originally drafted 11th: He drops 2 spots for the second consecutive week as the Chargers' offense is starting to stall. They just couldn't get anything going and Fluker was a disaster blocking from top to bottom this week. He got no push whatsoever.
19. Xavier Rhodes, CB of the Vikings, originally drafted 25th: He's down two spots as he really struggled both against the run and the pass this week. Not a good game for the cover man.
20. Sharrif Floyd, DT of Vikings, originally drafted 23rd: Another quiet game for Floyd who's not making much of an impact one way or another this season. He had 2 tackles.
21. Dion Jordan, DE of Dolphins, originally drafted 3rd: He had 1 tackle and held his blocks well against the run but he continues to struggle rushing the passer. Hard to justify the 3rd overall pick at this point.
22. Justin Pugh, G/T of the Giants, originally drafted 19th: He maintains his ranking, but as the Giants are surging his play is starting to improve. Another steady game for Pugh keeping Eli Manning clean.
23. Chance Warmack, G of the Titans, originally drafted 10th: He did give up a sack but otherwise played extremely well against the Colts. He was particularly good helping the run game which Chris Johnson took advantage of. He moves up a spot.
24. Datone Jones, DE of Packers, originally drafted 26th: He's down a spot as he barely played this week, doing ok rushing the passer in limited snaps.
25. D. J. Hayden, CB of the Raiders, originally drafted 12th: Inactive again due to a groin injury, the Raiders' defense seems to be playing better without him.
26. E. J. Manuel, QB of Bills, originally drafted 16th: Manuel had the best game of his young career against the Jets, playing a close to flawless game. He earns the top spot in this week's rankings and it moves him up two spots overall. Hopefully he can build off this game. He was 20-28 for 245 yards, 2 touchdowns and most importantly no turnovers in a blowout win. His touch on the deep ball was impressive.
27. Dee Milliner, CB of Jets, CB of Jets, originally drafted 8th: He had 8 tackles, including one for a loss and a defended pass. You might think that means he played well but a lot of it was due to tons of action coming his way. The Bills picked on him relentlessly.
28. Eric Fisher, T of Chiefs, originally drafted 1st: He's down two spots after having yet another disaster of a game. He gave up two sacks and was owned by the Broncos' defense. It was only a matter of time before his horrific play all season caught up to the Chiefs.
29. Sylvester Williams, DT of Broncos, originally drafted: He's finally back playing but did next to nothing when he was in. He had 1 tackle and did not impress.
30. Bjoern Werner, DE/LB of Colts, originally drafted 24th: He barely played and had zero impact on the game.
31. Luke Joeckel, T of the Jaguars, originally drafted 2nd: Out for the year with an injury.
32. Jonathan Cooper, T of Cardinals, originally drafted 7th: Due to a season long injury, he will occupy this spot all season.
