This was a very poor week overall by the 2013 1st round draft class. I noticed there were some questions about other players (Giovanni Bernard, for example, drafted in the 2nd round) so I just wanted to re-iterate this exercise is for the 1st round draft picks of 2013. Certainly there's a lot of later round picks deserving of recognition, though, no doubt. DeAndre Hopkins drops from the top spot in the rankings after a poor week and gives way to Shelden Richardson. Alec Ogletree of the Rams had the highest score of the 1st round draft picks for week 4. Here are the updated standings after four weeks:
1. Sheldon Richardson, DE/DT for the Jets, originally drafted 13th: This wasn't his best week but he did play the run well and finished with 3 tackles. Through four weeks he's been the best 1st round pick of the class and has looked every bit of a solid NFL starter with Pro Bowl potential.
2. Ziggy Ansah, DE/LB of Lions, originally drafted 5th: He's been applying consistent pressure every week, looking very good at getting after the passer again this week. He was penalized once, but otherwise had a good week. He had a tipped pass, a tackle and a couple knock downs. He's up two spots from fourth.
3. Star Lotulelei, DT of Panthers, originally drafted 14th: He remains third in the standings, the Panthers were on a bye this week.
4. Alec Ogletree, LB of Rams, originally drafted 30th: After being ranked 6th last week he's up two spots thanks to another fantastic showing that had him rated as the best 1st round pick in week 4. The tackling machine totalled 9 tackles this week and was outstanding against the run. Yes, the Rams gave up 219 yards rushing, but without Ogletree it might have have been 500. Don't blame him.
5. DeAndre Hopkins, WR of Texans, originally drafted 27th: Hopkins drops four spots this week after being at the top of the rankings through three weeks due to a miserable showing of just 2 catches for 27 yards and a penalty. He played a big part in the inexistant second half Texans' offense, which led to a horrific choke job Sunday.
6. Eric Reid, S of 49ers, originally drafted 18th: A very quiet 2 tackle game by Reid in this one. He drops one spot in the rankings but did a fine job this week.
7. Desmond Trufant, CB of Falcons, originally drafted 22nd: The Falcons' young corner cracks the top 10, up four spots from #11 on the heels of yet another impressive performance. He was good again in coverage, and had 6 tackles and a breakup.
8. Kenny Vaccaro, S of Saints, originally drafted 15th: This was likely his worst game so far this season, but it was by no means bad. He had a penalty due to his continued physical play and had 4 tackles. He stays at 8 this week.
9. Travis Frederick, C of Cowboys, originally drafted 31st: After moving up 15 spots in the rankings, thanks to being the top rated player last week, Frederick had another very solid showing to move himself into the top 10. He's up four more spots and he's been particularly good in the trenches getting push for the running game.
10. Tyler Eifert, TE of Bengals, originally drafted 21st: He sneaks into the top 10, up two spots, after a decent game (3 catches for 39 yards).
11. Jarvis Jones, LB of the Steelers, originally drafted 17th: He's down a spot after not doing much and finishing with just one tackle this week.
12. Kyle Long, G of Bears, originally drafted 20th: He's been a bit of an enigma so far this year. He had a bad first game, he was fantastic in weeks 2 and 3, and then reverted back to a poor showing in week 4. But an up and down season is expected of a rookie. He's down 5 spots this week after looking quite poor in run blocking, giving up a sack and getting flagged once.
13. Xavier Rhodes, CB of the Vikings, originally drafted 25th: A good week has him up four spots. He was solid in coverage and had four tackles.
14. Tavon Austin, WR of Rams, originally drafted 8th: He's down 5 spots after a catastrophic game that saw him get completely shut down by the 49ers. He was a non event in the return game and had just 2 catches for 6 yards, lowering his already very poor average of yards per catch.
15. Cordarelle Patterson, WR of Vikings, originally drafted 29th: He continues to not be much of an impact on offense at all (1 catch for 9 yards) but he did have a 42 yard kickoff return.
16. Barkevious Mingo, LB of Browns, originally drafted 6th: He continues his upward trend for the fourth straight week as he moves up 4 more spots. It's undeniable he has the explosiveness and rare skills to make plays, but he also gets pushed around and over pursues a good bit, so his positives come with negatives. He had 4 tackles, two for a loss, and yet another sack.
17. Dion Jordan, DE of Dolphins, originally drafted 3rd: The Dolphins could've used his pass rushing skills with Cameron Wake out. Unfortunately he did nothing to slow down Drew Brees. He's down two spots and was a non factor this week with 1 tackle.
18. Matt Elam, S of Ravens, originally drafted 32nd: He was very active this week with 6 tackles, but took poor angles in run support and his coverage was up and down.
19. D. J. Fluker, T of Chargers, originally drafted 11th: He's up 5 spots after a good performance. He did give up a sack but was otherwise very solid this week. Like Kyle Long he's alternated good with disaster thus far.
20. E. J. Manuel, QB of Bills, originally drafted 16th: I'm not entirely sure how he's winning games with the way he's playing. I guess his defense picking off Joe Flacco five times helped. He was 10 for 22 for 167 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. He also fumbled twice and lost one. The turnovers deep in his own territory are inexcusable. Very poor game from Manuel.
21. Sharrif Floyd, DT of Vikings, originally drafted 23rd: He's up two spots for getting a sack! Yeah, party!
22. Luke Joeckel, T of the Jaguars, originally drafted 2nd: Down four more spots following another blowout loss. This offense is going nowhere and it's hard to know who to blame it's just so bad from top to bottom.
23. Chance Warmack, G of the Titans, originally drafted 10th: He's also down a couple spots after a so-so game. He left Jake Locker and then Ryan Fitzpatrick running for their life all too often.
24. Eric Fisher, T of Chiefs, originally drafted 1st: 24th in the rankings may seem bad for the top overall pick in the draft, but he's actually up a whooping 6 spots! He was flagged once but this was a much much better performance. Maybe he's starting to right the ship.
25. D. J. Hayden, CB of the Raiders, originally drafted 12th: He didn't play much at all this week and when he was in he did nothing to slow down the Redskins' passing attack.
26. Justin Pugh, G/T of Giants, originally drafted 19th: Last week was so bad there was nowhere to go but up for Pugh, but he's still really struggling in pass protection. This offense is in shambles and he's not helping.
27. Lane Johnson, RT of Eagles, originally drafted 4th: I had such high hopes for this guy after week 1 and he just continues to shoot down the rankings. He's down another 5 spots after another miserable showing. He gave up 5 hurries, a sack and a penalty. It doesn't help that his quarterback doesn't seem to want to get rid of the ball.
28. Bjoern Werner, DE/LB of Colts, originally drafted 24th: It's not a good sign when your team wins a game by 30 points and you're barely seeing any snaps as their top pick.
29. Dee Milliner, CB of Jets, CB of Jets, originally drafted 8th: Did not play this week due to injury.
30. Sylvester Williams, DT of Broncos, originally drafted 28th: He's not in the mix at all with the rotation at the moment.
31. Datone Jones, DE of Packers, originally drafted 26th: The Packers were on a bye week.
32. Jonathan Cooper, T of Cardinals, originally drafted 7th: Due to a season long injury, he will occupy this spot all season.
Who's Hot:
Eric Fisher up 6 spots
D. J. Fluker up 5 spots
Desmond Trufant up 4 spots
Travis Frederick up 4 spots
Xavier Rhodes up 4 spots
Barkevious Mingo up 4 spots
Who's Not:
Kyle Long down 5 spots
Lane Johnson down 5 spots
Tavon Austin down 5 spots
DeAndre Hopkins down 4 spots
E. J. Manuel down 4 spots
Luke Joeckel down 4 spots
