Drake London, Jameson Williams, Rookie WRs’ Fantasy Outlook from NFL Draft 1st Round

It was a busy night for the wideout position during the first round of the NFL draft on Thursday night. In total, six players came off the board:

• No. 8: Drake London, Atlanta Falcons
• No. 10: Garrett Wilson, New York Jets
• No. 11: Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints
• No. 12: Jameson Williams, Detroit Lions
• No. 16: Jahan Dotson, Washington Commanders
• No. 18: Treylon Burks, Tennessee Titans

And outside of Williams, who likely will miss a good chunk of the 2022 season as he recovers from an ACL tear, all offer an interesting case for fantasy football players next season. 

We start with London, who will immediately be Atlanta’s best wideout and should be the focal point of the offense alongside of last year’s first-round pick, tight end Kyle Pitts. So targets shouldn’t be an issue. 

The question, as it will be for a number of these players, is the quarterback throwing him the ball. Unless the Falcons pursue a quarterback via a trade or the draft, Marcus Mariota is going to be the starter in 2022. Mariota is a tested veteran, but he’s also spent the majority of the past three seasons as a backup.  

A good comp for London, then, might be DeVonta Smith, who was immediately Philly’s top wideout last season but had a quarterback in Jalen Hurts who had his struggles in the passing game. Smith still put up solid numbers (64 receptions for 916 yards and five touchdowns). 

Those might be a tad optimistic for London, but the Falcons made him a top-10 pick for a reason. He has flex upside. 

Wilson, meanwhile, is going to serve as a litmus test for just how much potential second-year quarterback Zach Wilson has. Rookie Elijah Moore had 43 catches for 538 yards and five touchdowns, and Wilson is the better wideout. But Zach Wilson struggled mightily as a rookie, so unless he takes a giant leap, Garrett Wilson is going to be a risky option for fantasy owners. 

Slot him into the WR4 range, though he could tap into the WR3 conversation. His ceiling is probably as follows:

Olave should be the No. 3 option in New Orleans’ passing game almost immediately behind Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara. That’s a concern, considering starting quarterback Jameis Winston averaged just 167.1 passing yards per game last season. 

The Saints clearly want to improve upon that mark, trading up twice to get in place for Olave. He’ll give Winston a more vertical option and a deep playmaker. Perhaps the Saints will open up the playbook a bit and let Winston take more shots. But he’s been mercurial throughout his career. Olave has flex upside, but the safer bet is keeping him in the WR4 range. 

We’ll skip Jameson Williams for now, seeing as he might not play at all next season. 

Dotson is an interesting case. He’ll be the No. 2 wideout behind Terry McLaurin, giving Carson Wentz the best pair of wideouts he’s arguably ever had. But Wentz has been a roller coaster of a player in the past few years, mixing in moments of general brilliance with long lapses of questionable decision-making. 

If the Commanders commit to getting Dotson the ball in space and are unique in how they do so, he has the playmaking ability to put up solid numbers. It’s hard to imagine him putting up Jaylen Waddle production, given McLaurin’s spot atop the depth chart, but he is the sleeper of this group. 

Consider him a WR4-5 with the ceiling to surprise.

Finally, we get to Treylon Burks, who lands in a perfect situation for him from a fantasy situation. He has the most reliable quarterback of the bunch (Ryan Tannehill) and will be the No. 2 option behind Robert Woods after A.J. Brown was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles. 

On Tannehill’s watch, players like Brown and Corey Davis proved to be viable fantasy starters. Don’t be shocked if Burks is the most productive rookie wideout of the bunch. He has real flex upside. 

Just don’t expect any of these players to touch the sort of production Ja’Marr Chase offered last year. None have his talent, and none have a quarterback as good as Joe Burrow.