Which 2016 NFL 1st Round Picks will contribute early?

Which of the 2016 NFL 1st round picks will contribute early?

This isn’t to say that the picks that aren’t listed won’t contribute to their teams in 2016, but this is a list of players who should contributing the most to the teams that they drafted them as rookies.

Ezekiel Elliot, RB Dallas Cowboys: Elliot will be the day 1 starter at running back for the Boys unless these domestic violence allegations have any legs(they probably don’t). He’s probably going to be a fantasy football contributor as a rookie and it would be hard for him not to hit 1200 yards if he plays 16 games in 2016.

Ronnie Stanley, OL Baltimore Ravens: Like Elliott, he’s a day 1 starter at his position. They pushed Gene Monroe out the door so that they wouldn’t make the same mistake that the Rams made with Greg Robinson: playing a left tackle prospect as a guard because you have a vet at left tackle already. No matter my reservations over drafting Stanley this early or throwing him into the fire as a rookie, Stanley will contribute to the Ravens. Whether he gives them good or bad play is a fair question.

Jalen Ramsey, DB Jacksonville Jaguars: when he returns from injury, he’s going to be the centerpiece of the Jags’ secondary either at corner, slot corner or free safety. His minor knee injury shouldn’t be of much concern, there was no apparent ligament damage and he should be back out on the field shortly.

Ryan Kelly, OL Indianapolis Colts: Kelly is probably the centerpiece of the Colts’ “save Andrew Luck’s body” campaign. He almost certainly will start week 1 and is as polished a prospect coming out of school as there has been in awhile.

Jack Conklin, OL Tennessee Titans: Conklin, flaws and strengths, is being thrown to the wolves at right tackle for the Titans. He’s going to have to do this without much help since the Titans have to roll the help to help out their left tackle Lewan.

Jared Goff, QB Los Angeles Rams: At first glance, Goff should look like the biggest potential contributor as a rookie in the NFL this season. I’m not so sure that he’s going to make all 16 starts. He has a slim(mer) frame and an uncertain offensive line. I’m also not sure that Fisher will force him to make all 16 starts if he doesn’t look 100% ready for it. If Fisher’s job is on the line, then Goff will be thrown out there regardless of how wise a decision it is for Fisher to make.

Laquon Treadwell, WR Minnesota Vikings: Unless he’s not ready to do so, Treadwell will be the Vikings’ starting Flanker in 2016. How much he’ll contribute will be more about how many runs that Norv Turner calls. The early reports are that Treadwell looks NFL ready in this role. We shall see. The shame is that most people will look at his stat line for 2016 and think he disappointed but if he can get 5-8 TDs and 50+ catches, it will be a big success for him and the Vikings.

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Artie Burns, DB Pittsburgh Steelers: The Steelers always have been averse to playing rookies in their defenses. Their systems are based on players not making mistakes and rookies tend to make the most mistakes because they’re just getting up to speed on the NFL. Burns might be an exception to this because the Steelers’ need for corners is pretty dire. Especially now that Golson will miss the next 2 months due to injury.

Josh Garnett, OL San Francisco 49ers: Garnett didn’t get signed until late but the 49ers’ need at gurd is so dire that they dealt up for him when they probably could have waited until the 2nd round to snag him. He should be the starter week 1 and hopefully for a long time.

DeForest Buckner, DL San Francisco 49ers: Speaking of the 49ers, Buckner will be starting next to his former college teammate Arik Armstead. And the 49ers need him to play well with Aaron Lynch’s suspension and an offense that is uncertain at best. That said, the appeal of taking a Deforest Buckner as high as the 49ers did is because he’s ready to play at 5 or 3 tech for a 3 front defense.

Keanu Neal, DB Atlanta Falcons: The Falcons reached for Neal not because they think he has some great potential but because they thought he was a great fit for that Seattle-style defense that Quinn wants to run. Whether he can be the next Kam Chancellor is yet to be seen, but the Falcons will want to know if so very quickly.

Vernon Hargreaves III, DB Tampa Bay Buccaneers: If the Bucs are going to make the fans forget about Lovie Smith it will thanks to their defense. They need to come out and have a defense which makes the fans(and players) think that Lovie’s soft zones were holding them back. In this, they need Hargreaves to come out early and play well. They’re going to throw him out there and see what he can do. I’m a big fan of Hargeaves so I think that this is a good idea. He’s probably better than Verner(who was a free agency disaster for the Bucs).

Sheldon Rankins, DL New Orleans Saints: The Saints aren’t doing some long range plan: they’re going for one last run in the Brees era, which might be just 2016. Rankins was taken to provide immediate play at the 1 tech spot in their defense, so he’s going to get every chance to show he was worthy of the pick.

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