Fantasy Football MOCK DRAFT | Expert Strategy, Picks & Round-By-Round Half-PPR League Advice (Ep. 2034)

Summary

FantasyPros: Fantasy Football Mock Draft – Expert Strategy, Picks & Round-By-Round Advice (Ep. 2034)

Release Date: May 28, 2026
Host: Ryan Wormley
Guests: Pat Fitzmaurice (FantasyPros), Jake Seeley (The Athletic), Joey Wright (Football Guys)

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Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth half-PPR (point-per-reception) fantasy football mock draft with a panel of respected fantasy analysts. The draft utilizes the FantasyPros Draft Wizard and simulates a typical one-QB, two RB, three WR, one TE, plus bench league setup. The experts discuss round-by-round strategy, player tiers, positional prioritization, risers/fallers, and tactics for building a winning roster in 2026 leagues.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Mock Draft Format and Approach

• League Setup:
  • Half-PPR scoring
  • 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, no K or DST, several bench spots
• Expert Panel Drafting Against Simulated Teams
• Early discussion emphasizes the importance of experimenting with builds (Hero RB, Double WR, etc.) during mock season to prepare for the real thing.

2. Round 1: Early Draft Strategy & Player Tiering

(05:08–07:12)

• Pat (1st pick): Targets a "Hero RB" strategy, slightly favoring Bijan Robinson for physical upside over Jahmyr Gibbs.
  • Quote: “I slightly prefer Bijan. He’s about 15 pounds heavier and I just like having a bigger bell cow back.” – Pat (05:45)
• Joey (Pick 10): Prefers Gibbs at the very top but gladly nabs Amon-Ra St. Brown at 10.
• Jake (Pick 5): Wants to experience picking from a slot where the top five is mostly clear: “It’s two RBs, three WRs, then on to tier two…” (06:21)
• Common Approach:
  • A consensus on which players comprise the top-five picks, emphasizing the risk of missing out if drafting past slot 5.

3. First-Round Recap

First 12 picks (in order): Jamar Chase, Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, Puka Nacua, JSN (Jackson Smith-Njigba), Christian McCaffrey, Justin Jefferson, James Cook, Jonathan Taylor, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Ashton Genti, CeeDee Lamb.

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4. Rounds 2-3: Doubling Up on WR vs. RB, QB Tiers

(07:12–11:48)

• Ryan: Goes WR-WR (Lamb & London), citing Atlanta’s offense under Stefanski as a point of optimism.
• Joey: Prioritizes upside in RB Marian Hampton, highlighting the importance of aiming for big breakout returns over safety with later picks.
• Jake: Willing to pounce on Devon Achane as RB value slides: “If you’re going to give him to me at 2.08, smash. Every. Single. Time.” (09:03)
• Pat: Emphasizes WR priority in 3-WR formats, targeting a “tier break” for WRs after pick 13.
• Quarterbacks: Josh Allen, Drake Maye, and Joe Burrow go off the board early third. Joey professes willingness to take Allen at value but mostly prefers to wait on QB.

5. Mid-Round Value: Tight Ends Start To Go

(14:32–17:53)

• Colston Loveland: Joey drafts him as TE3, confident in his weekly starting upside.
• Fitz: Later nabs Tyler Warren, citing expanded opportunity.
• General Approach: All panelists trend towards waiting on TE unless a player like Loveland drops to a juicy value spot.
• Discussion Example: “Loveland in the fourth… I’m all about elite tight end this year.” – Fitz (58:44)

6. Rounds 4-7: Wide Receivers, Running Back Depth & QB

(18:47–24:56)

• Jake: Banks on WR depth (Mike Evans, Garrett Wilson, Zay Flowers), reasoning that a strong WR3 and Flex width will provide reliability.
• RB Approaches:
  • Judkins, Gainwell, Swift, Pollard, and others are picked as value/shots at lead roles. Panelists emphasize swinging harder at RB in the middle rounds if going WR-heavy early due to dropoff risk.
  • Jake: “I went full Hero RB… gotta figure out RB2 now.” (28:10)
• Quarterbacks: Most experts reiterate an overall strategy of waiting unless a top-tier player slips.
• Notable QB selections: Justin Herbert (late 5th/early 6th; investing in Chargers offense), Matthew Stafford (10th), Patrick Mahomes (10th, as a backup/bench).

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7. Rookies, Risers, & Offenses to Target

(20:45–22:33, 40:32–43:03)

• Focus on targeting rising talents, especially in ambiguous backfields or promising offenses (Chargers, Bears, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Saints).
• Travis Hunter, Casey Concepcion, Antonio Williams: Discussed as upside WR flyers.
• Jonathan Brooks: Identified as “a value that could move up two rounds by mid-summer” (61:33).

8. Tight End Value and Trade Leverage

(37:51–38:45)

• Fitz grabs Laporta as a second TE late: “Trade leverage, man…when there’s that much value, you just have to do it.”

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9. Steals, Reaches, and Mock Tools

(47:18–51:49)

• Experts use FantasyPros mock analysis—grades, steals, reaches, and pick alternatives—to reflect on their builds.
  • Ryan: “All of my pick analysis says don’t take Justin Herbert… but sometimes you want to draft your guys.” (48:54)
  • Fitz: “I tend not to draft balanced rosters, but went more balanced this time — and got a strong grade.” (49:23)

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10. Favorite Builds and Early Trends

(52:10–57:03)

• General Consensus on Sweet Spots:
  • Top 5 picks most preferred (guaranteed top-tier RB or WR).
  • Drafters forced onto the turn (12/1) can still build great teams by pounding WR or targeting high-upside RBs.
• Team builds highlighted:
  • “If you’re going 0-RB, pairing Lamb/London or getting Drake London at the 12th is great.” (53:13)
  • Team 4 (computer): “Nacua, Olave, Barkley, Adams, Burden—a fun, high-upside start.” (51:49)

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Notable Quotes & Exchanges

On the importance of tiers and positional runs:

• “There’s maybe a little bit of a tier break for me after around the first 12, 13 receivers.” – Pat (10:14)

On waiting for quarterbacks:

• “If Josh Allen makes it past the 2/3 turn, I’ll take [him] wherever I’m picking in the third round...But nope, he just ran off the board real quick.” – Joey (12:53)

On offense targets:

• “I just want to invest in this Chargers offense as much as possible.” – Ryan (18:47)

On backup RBs and injury upside:

• “At this point, they're both high-end backups…one is behind a young player, the other is behind Saquon Barkley. That's how I made the coin-flip [for Tank Bigsby].” – Jake (45:52)

On draft flexibility and trading:

• “We like to trade in fantasy football, so I’ll try to use my tight end leverage at some point…even in this mock draft that I’m never going to be able to use that tight end leverage.” – Pat (37:51)

On tight ends:

• “Loveland in the fourth, I’m kind of all about elite tight end this year, and I think Loveland in the fourth might be the best value of any of the top eight guys.” – Pat (58:44)
• “Normally I've been the guy that’s been like 'everybody says tight end bounces back every year but it never does.' But I think they’re kind of more like QBs this year—if you don’t get one of the big four/slash seven, just wait and take a flyer.” – Jake (59:22)

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Key Timestamps

• 05:08 — Bijan Robinson vs. Gibbs for 1.01
• 11:08 — AJ Brown’s ranking amid trade rumors
• 14:32 — Tight end tier break, value of Loveland
• 18:47 — Justin Herbert, WR-heavy builds, Chargers as an offense “to invest in”
• 27:04 — Halftime draft reflections: confidence in waiting on QBs
• 28:10 — Jake’s pivot to Hero-RB after missing preferred RBs
• 31:27–32:47 — Tony Pollard/Singelton rookie RB discussion
• 34:05–34:38 — Jacksonville WR trio consensus and value (Brian Thomas Jr., Parker Washington, Jacoby Myers)
• 37:51 — Laporta “steal”, trading for value at TE
• 45:52 — Jake’s late-round RB strategy (Tank Bigsby)
• 61:33 — Anticipated ADP riser: Jonathan Brooks
• 58:44–60:40 — Final panelist takeaways

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Takeaways and Strategy Tips

• Target top 5 picks if possible for clearest early advantage in 2026 drafts.
• In three-WR leagues, WR remains premium—don’t be afraid to double (or triple) up early.
• “Hero RB” and “Zero-RB” both viable: Just know the risks and how to attack each later round for value.
• Quarterback and tight end depth is robust: Wait unless chasing a true positional difference-maker.
• Offense matters: Prioritize players in strong, up-tempo, high-scoring teams (Chargers, Atlanta, Bears, Saints, Jags).
• Rookies and ambiguous situations: Shots at unknowns can pay big, especially RB and WR flyers; watch rising camp news.
• Mock and review: Use tools like FantasyPros draft analysis for spot weaknesses, steals, and alternate approaches.

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Panel's Final Quick Takeaways

• Fitz: Elite TE can still be a sharp edge; Colston Loveland is his top value tight end in the mid-rounds. (58:44)
• Jake: This is a year to chase TE tiers or completely wait; avoid the “dead zone” in the mid rounds after the top 7-8 go. (59:22)
• Ryan: Lean into building around offenses you believe in—let belief in team situations help guide your tiebreakers. (60:40)
• Joey: Drafting early on late-rising players (like Jonathan Brooks) is smart; QB is super deep—don’t panic if you have to wait. (61:33)

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Memorable/Fun Moments

• Off-topic home alone house chat pre-draft (“…I maybe live 12 miles away from the Home Alone house, but I didn’t have three and a half million lying around.” – Pat, 03:46)
• Jake’s pride in his buffalo chicken dip at Memorial Day, comparing party wins to fantasy wins (03:26).
• Joey’s breezy confession: “I’m not nervous that I didn’t take a quarterback. I’m normally waiting till double-digit rounds.” (27:04)

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Summary for Listeners:
This episode is a practical, lively resource for anyone prepping for half-PPR drafts in 2026. The experts walk through thought process and real-time decision-making at every turn, providing insight into roster construction, tiers, positional trends, and “drafting your guys.” Tons of actionable tips, clear contrasts in strategy, and plenty of fun moments—all helping listeners be ready to crush their league.

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For full draft results, rankings, and additional writeups, visit fantasypros.com.

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Transcript

[A]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[B]

It's smart to always have a few financial goals and a really smart one. You can set earning cash back on what you buy every day. And with Discover, you can get this. Discover automatically matches all the cash back

[A]

you've earned at the end of your first year.

[B]

Seriously, all of it. And we trust you to make smart decisions. I mean, after all, you listen to this show, see [e-mail] credit card.

[A]

Hello, everybody. Welcome into Fantasy Pros. I'm Ryan, warmly joined by Pat Fitzmaurice and Jake Seeley from the Athletic and a special guest, Joey Wright from Football Guys, we've got all four of us here talking drafting. We're here in late May getting ready, you know, still a few months away from the season, but gets closer every single week. And we want to do another mock draft for everybody. So we've got the four of us going up against the computer here in the mock draft lobby. Quick reminder for everybody before we jump in. All of our 2026 consensus rankings and tiers can be found at fantasyprose.com rankings. Also, today's live half PPR mock draft is done using our mock draft lobby [e-mail] DraftWizard. Just like you'll see today, our multi user drafts allow you to practice quick and fun mock drafts against both real and computer opponents using the same easy to use interface as our draft simulator. Public mock drafts are not yet available, but you can try our draft simulator for a lightning fast realistic mock draft experience based on your league settings. Sync your league for free and try the draft simulator [e-mail] simulator or on the Fantasy Pros app before we dive in. Joey, how are you doing? It's been a few years since you've been on the show with us. How is your Memorial Day? How's everything going on over at football guys?

[C]

Everything at football guys is going great. Wonderful things going on there. My Memorial Day was wonderful. I started building a 4,000 piece Lego set because, you know, I'm cool, I guess. But now we get the home alone house and look, that's gonna be like our Christmas decoration, our house. And I told my wife I need to do this now because once the season starts, I will have no time to get this done before Christmas.

[A]

This is definitely the right time of year for that. Where are you, by the way? Just in your kind of pre, you know, a couple months before the draft process in terms of mock drafting and really diving. Like obviously you're thinking about Fantasy Year round, but like really diving into the 2026, you know, preparation process.

[C]

So I've pulled out of Dynasty mode. Like I was in dynasty mode there for a while. A lot of Dynasty drafts going on. Almost hit myself in the chin with my microphone there. Professional. So now I'm just kind of going team by team and evaluating stuff. I'm doing a team preview or sorry position preview every Monday for the next four weeks with my buddy Dave Kluge over on the fantasy football show or football guy. So just kind of going position by position right now.

[A]

Jake, how was your Memorial Day?

[B]

It was good. Real quick. Did you know Joey that the friends Monica and Chandler moved into the Home Alone house? That it was confirmed by the director? Did you know that?

[C]

I did not because I don't watch television. So the television knowledge is gone for me.

[B]

Yeah, when, when they, when they bought the house he actually confirmed it because they matched people. Eagle eyed people kind of caught across the street. That was the same house across the street from Home Alone. And then they confirmed that it was technically the home, technically it was the home Alone house that they moved into. But anyway, Memorial Day was great. Had some cookout, rave reviews of my buffalo chicken dip which is all that matters. Like when you, is there nothing better? Like when you make something for a party and people are like dude, you got to give me that recipe. Like you just kind of feel like I won the party.

[A]

I, I did that at Friendsgiving last year. I made chocolate chip cookies and so many people didn't believe that I had made them. They were like I'm going to capable of something like this. They're begging me for it. It was very, very, it's a great feeling. I could not agree with you more, Jake. Fitz fits. What about you? Holiday weekend. How are you feeling?

[D]

Yeah, it was good. And I just want to add that I maybe live about 10 to 1212 miles away from the Home Alone house which was up for sale not that long ago. But I didn't have three and a half million lying around so I wasn't able to buy it.

[B]

Would you ever live in one of the horror houses used from one of the movies?

[D]

Oh, from a movie or an actual

[B]

one where like the actually film or like the houses but either the one there's the house that the movie on and it is the house or the house that they filmed the movie in. Would you do the house?

[D]

They filmed it and I'm good with that. I don't want to move into the, you know, Amityville house or anything.

[B]

That's What? That's the one I was thinking of.

[D]

Yeah, I'm not doing the haunted house.

[B]

Scream House. Well, Scream House isn't really.

[A]

I can't even watch horror movies, let alone living there. I can't even imagine. That's does not sound fun to me. All right, well, this will not be a horror movie. It'll be a fun episode of punishment podcasting. Doing a mock draft. So we'll get going here in a second. Very straightforward, you know, half ppr, one quarterback, two running backs, three receivers, one tight end, a few bench spots. We're not doing kickers and defenses today. I always make sure I'm picking on the ends of these just because it's easier for hosting. Last one of these we did. I was picking first, so today I am picking last. We've got the other guys kind of spread throughout the board here. I'll go ahead and unpause the draft and we'll get going in just a second. Fitz, I believe you have our first pick. What's your mindset here as we get going?

[D]

Yeah, I'm going to take one of the first two running backs and it looks like Team 1 has selected Jamar Chase. I was hoping this decision would be made for me. Sort of torn between Bijan and Gibbs. I. I don't have a strong stance on this, and if I'm lucky enough to get the number one pick three times this summer, I'll probably split the difference. But I, I do slightly prefer Bijan and, you know, this is no great analysis, but he's slightly bigger, about 15 pounds heavier. And I kind of like having a bigger bell cow back, a guy who's, you know, well over 200 pounds as opposed to being right around 200 pounds.

[A]

Do you fit. If you had the first pick, would you lean any towards Chase just because it's a three receiver league as opposed to a two receiver league? I know you talk about that a lot in previous drafts.

[D]

No, I want to get one of the top two guys here and then just kind of go with the Hero RB build from there if I'm picking one or two.

[A]

Joey, you're picking down at 10. If you were picking towards the top, do you have a preferred player here in those first three?

[C]

The first three? If I can get Gibbs, I want Gibbs, I think he's gonna have a dynamic season. I like the schedule for the lines a lot better this year now that we've seen it. So I would pick Gibbs number one overall if I had that pick.

[A]

Jake, what are you thinking here at pick Number five.

[B]

I purposely took five. You had already. I got the second choice. You had already taken the back end of the turn. And I just want to. I want this spot because I want to try it because I. We've talked about on previous shows with you, with. With Fitz and said that like five makes the decision for you because there is that clear five. It's two running backs, three wide receivers and then now we're into tier twos of both positions. So I kind of want to see how the draft goes. Having made the decision for me and it's Jackson, Smith and Jigba. No problem with that. I have no problem with any of the five. And this is really just like I said, I just. I haven't done this yet and I want to see how the five plays out of having that first decision made for me.

[A]

Yeah. And of course, in order just to kind of recap for everybody, I'm not going to recap every single pick the whole draft. But Jamar Chase, Bijan Robinson, Jameer Gives, Puka Nukua, then JSN at 5, Christian McCaffrey at 6, Justin Jefferson 7, James Cook at 8, Jonathan Taylor at 9. Which brings us to Joey at 10.

[C]

Yeah, I'm going to take a modern St. Brown. I. If he falls to me at 10, that's who I love taking there at that spot. If not, I'm tending to double up on running back at that 10, 11, 12 turn. There's about 15 running backs that I really like this year and many, many more that I don't like. So yeah, that's if I can get through those guys. I'm happy.

[A]

I was hoping to get a running back that I quite like. Ashton Genti at 12. He goes one pick after St. Brown, so I'm on the clock without Genti available. I'm going to take CD Lamb as one of these two picks here on the turn. Three receiver league. Very good receiver, very good offense. Very happy to have him at the end of the first. The second pick, I mean, there's a few names. There's obviously like this is kind of an area where there's a lot of names that are still pretty intriguing here. So could go in a bunch of different directions. As talented as he is, I don't want to take a chan just because I just don't want to bet on that offense this year. It could surprise me. I know Fitz is a fan of Malik Willis, but I don't want to be really heavily investing in that offense. I think I will double up at receiver and Take Drake London just because it's a player I love and I'm pretty excited about what Stefanski can do just with the offense in general in Atlanta. So I. That is an offense I want to be investing in, unlike Miami. So I'm going to double up Lamb and London here at the turn. Team 11, which is a computer team, doubles up at running back here they have Genti and Walker. So it brings us back to Joey here.

[C]

Yeah, I'm going to. I'm going to reach a little bit. I'm going to go with Marion Hampton. Very confident with Mike McDaniel coming in there and we did see flashes last year from Hampton. I don't think we saw the whole show. So with a modern St. Brown, I feel like that's a really safe pick. I know what I'm going to get. I'll take a little bit of upside with Hampton over some of the other running backs that people probably would pick over Hampton, but I'm kind of in on Hampton this year.

[A]

I just said, Joey, that the Falcons are an offense I wouldn't invest in. I don't think there's any offense I want to invest in more than the Chargers. So I, I very. I. If they're. You're going to reach out on a team, I think the Chargers are a good team to reach on. Jake, you had kind of a surprise reaction, it sounded like to that pick.

[B]

I was just not overly surprised at the Hampton pick because I know a lot of people are high on him and want to put him in this tier. So I haven't probably my O was actually that hell, you were thinking about it at the turn with Hn or Achan Ichien, whatever the hell his name is. And he's still, he's still there at 208 like smash done. Thank you very much. Like, I have concerns of the offense. I don't have any concerns. If you're going to give him it towards the end of the second round, I'll immediately click on that every single time. So so far, fifth pick, super happy about.

[A]

Yeah, it feels like it's working out well for you here. By the way, Fitz, you're on the clock now. Just quickly, what did you think about doubling up on receiver at the end of the first round? It doesn't. Regardless whether or not it's Lamb in London. But just as a general strategy, would you rather make sure you get a running back or a UK doubling up at the position there?

[D]

No, I'm okay doubling up and I think there should be an emphasis on wide receivers early on in three receiver leagues.

[A]

Yeah, I feel like a lot of times when we do these mocks I end up waiting on receiver even though I don't want to. It just kind of pans out that I tend to like a running back or even tight ends earlier better. So it's kind of fun to actually do on the Fitz where he's not going to yell at me for not having good enough receivers at the end of this. Fitz, you kind of double up at receiver here with your second and third picks.

[D]

Yeah, just kind of capitalizing before I think, I don't know, there's maybe a little bit of a tear break for me after around the first 12, 13 receivers. So I want to get two of those guys. A.J. brown, who I think we all anticipate is going to be a New England Patriot before long. But four straight thousand yard seasons and now he's going to be paired with maybe a better pure passer in Drake May than he's been playing with in Jalen Hurts. So I'm kind of excited about that and what he might be able to do in new settings, a new setting. And then Tedro McMillan who I think is still elevator still going up for him. Good satisfying season for him last year and I think there's more meat on that bone.

[A]

Joey, where are you ranking AJ Brown? Obviously under the assumption already that he's going to be a Patriot.

[C]

I have got him. He's like a top 12 wide receiver, I want to say, right at as my rankings low. Terrible, Terrible. Joey. I actually have him at 14 so just outside my top 12. And whether he stays in Philadelphia, which he's not going to, or he goes to New England, there's been rumblings about the Chiefs. I don't think that's happening. I think that's just fun talk as we're waiting for him to land in New England. I have him as my wide receiver. 14.

[D]

Do you have Malik neighbors ahead of him? Joey?

[C]

I do. Oh, fair one spot.

[A]

Well, Jake, while Joey makes his pick, I want to ask about your pick. Zay Flower is a player that I feel like you and I have talked about more than almost anybody else on shows in the last year and a half. Walk us through that. Yeah.

[B]

The funny thing is is as you well know, I actually had somebody in my way too early rankings for this year and they're like, what's with Zay Flowers inside your top 15? I thought you hated them. Like no, my point about Zay Flowers has never changed is the fact that even When Lamar threw 41 touchdowns, still barely caught anything in the touchdown department and it's the fact of where he was. And then last year, whether or not Lamar got hurt, the offense also changed. The offense changed. Mark Andrews has fallen off a cliff. Isaiah likely is now gone. They have a collection of maybe can somebody step as the number two and all. You have Doyle coming in too. Who's going to do more play action. We did a whole show about how good Lamar Jackson is with play action. Actually the best in the league over the past two years. So I'm looking at the fact that now Zay Flowers goes from somebody I never wanted to. I will take him inside a top 15 wide receiver. I actually have him at 14. I thought long about love on that pick but I just, I do like the running back depth a little bit more after like there was a drop up at wide receiver I thought was a little more stark.

[A]

A few quarterbacks go between Jake's pick and yours. Joey, did you consider going with an early quarterback or were you eyeing a running back all the way?

[C]

I love waiting on quarterback but I have said if Josh Allen makes it past the 3, 2, 3 turn, I'll take Allen wherever I'm picking in the third round. And so when we hit Jake's pick and he didn't take Allen, I was like all right, I guess I'm going to take Josh Allen. But nope, he just ran off the board real quick.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And then Drake May went Joe Burrow. There's another quarterback I like. I don't know if I'll take one though because I'm waiting on you. I took Javante Williams. I mentioned that. There's like a few running backs I like. There's 15 that I really like and he's the last one that I really like is an rb. One that I think has a lot of upside. I think Dallas is invested in him. They brought nobody else in that I think is going to compete with him for work. So I like Javante.

[A]

In the third round I'm staring at Lamar Jackson. As a Ravens fan I, I really wanted to not take an early quarterback in this. So I think I will be disciplined and not take take him. But it's very tempting here in the fourth and I just like so many other quarterbacks that I have, I'm just values I really like. I'm gonna actually do something I never do because it's a mock and we're experiment. I'm gonna take a fourth straight receiver to start. I thought it was the best player on the board if I wasn't going with Lamar. And now I can very comfortably just hammer all the other positions the rest of the way. And mocks are times for experimenting. So I'm happy to just see how I feel about this team. But we get to the end of the video. Lamar does go next, so it does not get back to Joey if that's the quarterback, you or I.

[C]

And I was actually int Higgins, so you really. It was Smith and Higgins where it was like that. My whole queue went. It was Smith, Higgins, Jackson, just like bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop. Which, you know, that's fun for everybody to see me just like that.

[A]

So what's going through your head here with your Q? God.

[C]

Well, there's a few wide receivers that I really like. I, you know, I'm pretty good at running back. Let me see. Is Colston Levin still around?

[D]

He is.

[C]

You know what? We're going to take him. I like him almost as much as I like Trey McBride at this point, especially based on value. But if I can get Loveland in the fourth, I'm happy with that pick. But there were some wide receivers I like, but it's kind of a glob, so I'm hoping one of them makes it back to me.

[A]

Yeah, once I decided not to take Lamar, I was between Higgins and Loveland, so I think that's a totally good pick. While Jake makes his next pick fits, what do you think about the last few picks to go off the board?

[D]

Yeah. So Kyron I thought was a really good value.

[B]

That's why I went.

[A]

Aww.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

I was wondering if there was any chance he was going to fall to me, but alas, no. And hn. Yeah. Josh Jacobs probably, if any draft were held today and it wasn't a robot picking at 404, it wasn't going to be Josh Jacobs in light of the recent news. So, yeah, it does seem like this is kind of the point at which we're like clearing out the last of those heavy duty running backs.

[A]

Yeah, that's one where the news is pretty recent, so the rankings haven't adjusted to reflect it. Our, you know, mock draft lobbies will reflect new rankings as they kind of get updated. But we're obviously taping this just shortly after that news broke earlier this week. Jake Kyron did not get to you. Another guy that I was somewhat considering at the turn there. So you go Garrett Wilson instead.

[B]

Yeah, I'm not as I was excited for the fifth pick in the first two rounds and there's been some tough decisions. All of a sudden I'm like, I'm like struggling over here but like I was leaning actually two jets crazy enough to think about it whether to go Breeze hall or Garrett Wilson again to get Garrett Wilson as my third wide receiver versus Breece hall and what is still remaining at running back. Not that I don't think Breeze hall was potentially the best of what's left, just the drop off being a little bit more to secure like you said. 3 wide receiver half PPR it's kind of nitpicky, but I just leaned into the receiver for as bad as things have been for Garrett Wilson, I actually don't think Geno is the worst thing in the world for him. Like everybody complained about Geno last year, but a lot of it was the making of that offense and the reason why they moved on from the entire coaching staff. So I think there's better for well maybe we finally get the Wilson we've been waiting for.

[A]

Fitz, you take two receivers with your next two picks here. Mecha Ibuca and Terry McLaurin. Luther Burden goes a couple picks later. I'm surprised you didn't. Oh, maybe you did consider him. I'm surprised you didn't take him just knowing how high you are in him in general. Now a lot of those conversations where you talked about being high in him are on the dynasty side. This is of course a redraft mock, so I'm guessing that's kind of what played into the difference there. But why did you not go with Burden and instead went with a Buca and McLaurin at receiver?

[D]

I just have a book and McLaren ranked a little bit higher. I mean we saw a Buka get off to that fast start last year where he was wide receiver three through what, like five games or whatever. And now with no Mike Evans, I think I don't know if Chris Godwin is going to ever get back to where he was maybe like four or five years ago when he was a premium guy. He didn't look quite the same to me last year. So I think a book is going to be the wide receiver one for Baker Mayfield. And I think we saw what the ceiling could look like early last year before he got banged up. And then McLaurin. I mean let's not forget that two years ago Terry McLaren was wide receiver seven in PPR fantasy scoring career high 13 touchdowns. He and Jayden Daniels clicked, but both of them, Daniels and McLaurin missed a lot of time last year so I think they're going to pick up where they left off in 2024 and he

[B]

was already out there today. Real involuntary OTAs. So there you go.

[D]

Nice.

[A]

This has been a real round of receivers. McLaren, Jameson Williams, Luther Burton, Mike Evans, Christian Watson, D.J. moore, Carnell Tate, D.K. metcalf and Roma Dunes, they have all gone off the board, which is good for me because I've already taken four receivers. It wasn't going to go that direction anyway. I am a huge. I already said I really want to be buying in on the Chargers. I'm a huge fan of Justin Herbert. I'm gonna take Justin Herbert here just because you know when you're picking on the turn, you know, fifth round in a 1 QB league May feels a little early if you're not taking like one of the true superstars like established guys. But you kind of have to reach it some points when you're picking on the end. So I'll take Herbert again. I just want to invest in this Chargers offense as much as possible. I've said it repeatedly here. Well, I think about my next pick. Jake, you went with Mike Evans, so you also have four receivers in your first five picks here and basically comes

[B]

down to kind of my roster construction again. I was thinking running back already after having three wide receivers, but I mean let's be honest about it. Save Flowers as my number two is a great number two. But the Ravens offense could be inconsistent. It could be yards again without a lot of touchdowns. Garrett Wilson could be yours without touchdowns. Mike Evans could be Touchdown Reliant again. I actually love the fit with the 49ers, but I'm getting like I'm looking at the fact that Evans, for all intents and purposes in my flex between Flowers, Wilson and Mike Evans, I'll probably have one bad score every single week. But I'll also likely have one of those guys putting up 20 where it just balances. That's why I really like how I have my wide receivers at this point.

[A]

Joey, you also go with a receiver here, DK Metcalf and then another one, a rookie, Jordan Tyson with your pick in the sixth round. Walk me through both of those picks.

[C]

Yeah, DK Metcalf we've seen Aaron Rodgers doesn't usually lean on a guy in year one. He usually takes a little bit of time for him to build rapport with someone. This looks like it might be the last ride for Rogers. He's saying it will be. Do we trust Aaron Rodgers? I don't know, but I think DK Metcalf. This is the year that him and Rogers get on the same page, some people predicting Michael Pittman. I don't know if I feel how I feel about that. But Jordan Tyson, though, between him and Carnell Tate, I'm going to take Tyson each time because I just like the fit for Tyson on the Saints. The Saints is an offense I'm really in on this year. With Tyler Shuck and Crystal Lobby, I don't think Tyson's going to be asked to do as much because they've got a lobby on the field. So I think that's going to open them up a little bit more. I think Carnel Tate's going to kind of not stumble into the league, but I think he's having a harder climb to the league. Eventually though, I think Tate and Tyson will be pretty much even.

[A]

I took Quintean Judkins with the first pick in the sixth round. He's my first running back off the board. If I'm going with like a later running back approach, then I like to take big swings at the position. What do you guys think about Judkins? I mean, obviously there's been some optimism with some of those early videos of him at, you know, minicamp and OTAs, things like that. In terms of coming back from that really gruesome injury. He had a successful rookie season prior to that injury. Joey, I'll actually keep it with you. What do you think about Judkins and where's the right range for him?

[C]

I mean, I think he's got the workload there in Cleveland. You know, you hear Watson's going to come back, but I don't think he's the scrimmage that he used to be. So I like the workload for Judkins and if you're taking him in the sixth round, I love the value.

[A]

Jake, what do you think about Judkins? I want to ask everyone's opinion on him.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And I'll tie it into my pick of what just I know you're not asking, but the reason I'm doing this because we had Zach Jackson covers the Browns for the Athletic and we were talking to him recently and he was saying two things you noticed about the Browns is a healthy Juggies will lead the backfield but he still actually has concerns that it's going to be a committee, not full blown where it's going to be only 40% for Judgins, but that Sampson and others are going to be involved. But the other thing you said, which is why I went my pick and I was like, yeah, when he got there is he said I would expect to him again things could change but he said I would expect Fannin to lead this team at targets no matter who the quarterback is. So to have Fannin coming off last year and the big concern about him right now is just what's the quarterback play. But we just saw last year and what he's able to do potentially leading this team in target. So I was excited about that. But also he does back up your point about judging that he can do everything. He's just a little concerned that Monkin and the staff might not give him like a 60 65% of the share of the workload.

[A]

I'm glad you did loop in your player. As soon as I finished asking the question to you I was like oh he just took a break. Oh one pick before one of the best. No the Tootin's guy you were hoping to get back.

[B]

I wanted to run it back here and that all right, go ahead Fitz,

[A]

you go with a running back DeAndre Swift, your second running back and then you take a tight end in Tyler Warren.

[D]

Yeah Swift was the last player in a tier for me. I didn't want to quite get to that Jadarian Price Tutin role where you know Tutin's the backfield is kind of ambiguous in Jacksonville reason to like Tutin for sure that maybe Jake can elaborate on soon.

[B]

Oh just at that value just there just in the chance that he leads the way to get him and the you know almost seventh round. That's that's why so go ahead.

[D]

Yeah re reasonable spot for him for sure. And you know I like Jadarian Press. I just worry that Zach Charbonnet is coming back at the time when the games are going to be most important on the fantasy football calendar late in the season. So maybe Price doesn't have as big a role later on once Charbonnet is back. So Swift. I mean I love what Ben Johnson did with the Bears running game last year. The that offensive line is good even though they lost Chris Dallman a retirement Nazi Tripillo to pretty significant knee injury. But you know I Swift was solid. I know he's going to share some time with Manang guy but like he's still a solid RB2 to me and then Tyler Warren. I mean I just things really open up with Michael Pittman not there anymore. I know Warren's production sort of nosedive late in the year partly tied into the Daniel Jones injury and we don't know what how healthy Jones is going to be to start the season, but I still feel pretty good about Warren and his role in that offense. I think he's going to have a pretty beefy target share for the Colts.

[A]

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[A]

you've earned at the end of your first year.

[B]

Seriously, all of it. And we trust you to make smart decisions. I mean after all, you listen to this show see termsiscover.com credit card we

[A]

are halfway through the draft here guys. Let's just take a moment while it's paused. Anyway, since we're moving pretty quickly, just kind of recap how we're feeling about our teams so far. Joey, you just made your most recent pick is Chris Godwin. How are you feeling about your roster as a whole halfway through the draft?

[C]

I like it. I think there's a lot of balance to it. I'm not nervous that I didn't take a quarterback. I'm normally waiting till the double digit rounds to take a quarterback. Especially this year that position so deep. But if there's value I'll take it. You know if Lamar Jackson I think if you would have made it to me I would have really considered it there. But no, I really like my team. It looks like a very Joey team so yeah we'll see where it goes from here though.

[A]

Jake, how you feeling? Seven picks in.

[B]

I was feeling great five picks in and now I I did like the fan and value but unfortunately two running backs right before that Montgomery and Scatter Boo Guys I was considering is why I was excited to still have Fannin at that point and then coming back as mentioned with the Tootin Jadarian Price went or just so now I went with Jackson Dart which arguments to be made 19.9 almost 20 points per game when his healthy. Like I don't know why all the sites include those first two games but he would have been QB5 in fantasy points per game. Not having Malik neighbors last year, like who cares if he has them this year. He didn't have him last year. He had him for one game. That all being said, I still don't have a second running back so I essentially went the hero RB full on board, full hero RB because I got to figure out my second running back right now.

[A]

Yeah I don't have a second running back either. I kind of went hero RB but without a hero at RP so we know what that means. Fitz picking from the 102 slot. How are you feeling? Seven picks in.

[D]

Yeah, just to beat the hero RB theme to death here. I really wanted to try a mock with one of the first two picks to see how that hero build worked and pretty content so far. I don't have a super duper star at wide receiver but I feel like I have four wide receiver twos so that worked out pretty well. And then I felt like I lucked into a pretty good second running back and a good tight end that I feel like. I feel like I got two rounds of value maybe at least around on Tyler Warren. I would expect him to go earlier than I got him.

[A]

Speaking of tight end, I'm going to take a tight end here once the draft gets resumed here in just a couple seconds which means we will all have kind of picked a tight end in this like mid round range. Like outside of that. Those top two I should say. I mean Colson Loveland, third tight end off the board. Joey. But like outside of that, very clear kind of top two guys. Do you guys have a preferred approach at tight end this season in terms of like you want to get one of the early guys, you want to wait really late. I mean we've all kind of done this more middle round approach. Joey, what's your kind of like overall approach at the position?

[C]

Yeah, if, if I don't get Loveland in the fourth or third. I mean I would have thought about him at the 34 turn there if I was closer to like maybe the 11th or 12th pick. I'm waiting there. There's guys that I like late.

[A]

I'll.

[C]

I'll stack two of those guys. Fannin is somebody that I like and I like the value. Jake got him in the sixth round. If I could switch it out, I would take Bannon in the sixth, just knowing the value there. So I like Jake's pick a lot. But, yeah, I'm pretty much waiting if I possibly can.

[A]

Jake, I heard you say which one. I'm actually kind of torn here. I think I'm gonna go with Pitts. It's Pitts and Laporta are the two that I'm staring at. I will go with Pitts. Obviously tied into last year again. I said it when I took Drake London. I. I am very interested in Kevin Stefanski getting to run an offense that's not in Cleveland and obviously Pitts, you know, very talented player. So I found myself more kind of torn than I expected to be. When I'm actually on the clock, you're looking at those two. What direction would you have gone, Jake?

[B]

I. I for the up would have slightly lean Laporta just because Pets Inc. Coming in. And that's the concerns for Jameson Williams. And does he feature laporta more and laporta being healthy also? I don't know. This is just me. I will say I'm one for one calling the Juwan Jennings siding. I just have this weird feeling that, like, Diggs is going to end up in the dirty south and Atlanta as their number two. Like, just because I'm looking at teams of like, who still needs a 2? And you could argue Washington maybe if they're not sold and Williams being the number two. But there's a lot of talk of whether they make the IUK trade. And I'm like, where's Diggs gonna go? And I don't know. He just feels like Falcons Diggs at this point of his career, for some reason, to me.

[A]

Fitz, what do you think about that conversation, Pitts versus La Porta?

[D]

Yeah, well, Jake is kind of scaring me because I give Pitts the slight nod there. But obviously if Dig signed with Atlanta, that would swing the pendulum toward La Porta.

[A]

Yeah, I think that's definitely fair. We're moving here in round eight. Joey, you go with Tony Pollard. I was between Pollard and Manung guy. I took what I felt was like an upside swing on Manungai, but I think Pollard obviously very good pick there. I was considering him. Was he your preferred choice there? Were you hoping because three running backs went in a row. Were you eyeing Rico Dowdle or Manungai or did you want Pollard all along?

[C]

I wanted Pollard. Pollard is someone that I've really enjoyed taking and pairing him with somebody later on because I think Pollard's going to have a really good start to the season. I think Nicholas Singleton is going to be brought in a little slower. Once Singleton's brought in, I think the split might be a little closer to 50 50. But to start the season, we've seen Pollard have two really good seasons in a row. I like taking Pollard a lot, especially in the eighth round as my third running back.

[A]

Yeah, Jake, you take your second running back on your team here. Ramandre Stevenson in round eight.

[B]

Yeah, out produced Henderson down the stretch and even if I do believe Henderson's a superior talent, when they were both out there last year, it wasn't happening yet. I mean there's still big plays were happening, but there was more everything yards per touch, receiving like you can go down the list even see was better. And again, I'm not saying that to say I have full confidence that Steven's going to continue to outplay him. I just at this point I still think it's going to be pretty much a 5050 share like we've seen from the Seahawks for the past couple of years. Where Stevenson do I want him as my number two? No. But as Pat said before, I have a similar team to him. I have three number twos at wide receiver behind JSN. I'm okay with Stevenson being my RB2 in that case, especially with Etchen. But also just a side note, I did say damn you Pat in the chat because Parker Washington with the 811 I thought I'd be able to sneak them here with a 9 5.

[A]

I was just going to hit on this stretch. So four straight picks fits are Jacksonville Jaguars we have Brian Thomas Jr. Trevor Lawrence, Parker Washington, Jacoby Myers go off the board back to back to back to back. You are the one who comes with Parker Washington. We've talked about this a lot with Jake and how he feels about it. Can you help just kind of make sense of these three Jags receivers going off the board in the span of four picks?

[D]

Yeah, I mean I think in just about everyone's rankings and in the fantasy pros expert consensus rankings they are pretty close to getting and it is kind of hard to discern. I mean we got that great rookie season From Brian Thomas Jr. We saw Parker Washington catch fire late last season and reportedly just have a really good session of OTAs with the Jaguars. And you know Jacoby Myers is Mr. Steady who seemed to click with Trevor Lawrence right away. I'm cursing the bot picking one one overall because I really wanted to stack Parker Washington With Trevor Lawrence, that wasn't. That wasn't happening. So I had to settle for Dak Prescott on the comeback. Wanted to get one of the top 12 quarterbacks. Didn't want to wait another 24 picks to. To see if that happened.

[A]

Anybody who's watched the shows knows how Jake feels about the Jags receiving room. So I want to ask you, Joey, how do you kind of rank these guys who are all ranked very similarly in consensus?

[C]

Give me the one that goes last. Now that says very terrible answer to the question. I would prefer Jacoby Myers because at this point when I'm in a draft, I might be looking for safety. Now if I feel really content with my team and I do feel like it's safe, if I can get Brian Thomas Jr. I would prefer that. I think there's a ton of upside there. He had a really bad season last year. We saw his best production in his rookie year with Mac Jones. So hopefully him and Trevor can get on the same page. But I would take Jacoby Myers if I had the choice of between them all. If I had to put my chips on something to hit it like. So let's say I'm playing roulette in Vegas. It's. It'll be on Myers.

[A]

Well, I'm on the clock here again. Sam Laporta got all the way back to me, so it makes me regret taking pits on the last one because I could have just, wow, get him down there. That is a regret that I have. I went with Jonathan Brooks is my first pick here. We've talked a lot about him. Fitz just a guy like kind of the upside swing, like, you know, starting to see some optimism injury wise. They didn't really do anything to address the position in a way that would scare you off. If he is healthy and obviously, you know, he was a player that we liked, you know, all that long ago when he came into the league. So not to make it, I think with his.

[B]

About me. But if I didn't take my guy, if he wasn't there, I would have taken Brooks. Brooks was my next step. Just for the upside of Brooks in case he is finally healthy and.

[A]

And while I make my next pick. You took Kenneth Gainwell. What was the thought process there?

[B]

The Bucky Irving news, which they still keep saying that he should be out there and he'll be fine and ready for week one and potentially even ready for training camp. But even if so there's, you know, I know I'm actually curious about Pat to see if he's changed his opinion because I was with Pat a few weeks ago. Like it was about a month ago when we talked about Bucky Irving and like, why does everybody hate Bucky Irving but that the news continues similar to like the Malik neighbor situation. I am pulling back a little bit. I was lockstep and that's why I say I'm curious if Pat has pulled back a little bit just because the concerns and that if he isn't even 100% but he's ready for week one. Do they split touches the entire season and give Kenneth Gable the passing game work like we just saw with Pittsburgh and then that's the big concern to lose that from Bucky Irving's share. So not to use your job, but I'm curious. I want to get Pat's opinion. I'm very curious.

[D]

I was just writing something about this for one of our featured pros articles. I'd be more concerned if, you know, Bucky had to play tackle football next week. But with three and a half months to go till week one, I'm still feeling okay about it. And I just, I mean, I think the Kenneth Gainwell threat to Bucky's workload is being grossly overstated. I mean, even as a passing game thing, like, Bucky has a career average of 1.56 yards per route run. Kenneth Gainwell 1.19. Bucky's the better pass catcher too. I, I just don't see gain what Gainwell's the replacement for Rashad White. That's it.

[A]

Looking at the last few picks, by the way, Sam Laporta still has not gone here and we're double dating around 10. I know. I was like, if he gets back to me, I might have to just on pure value or any of you guys really good in this, in this next round.

[B]

I've looked at him like three times and I'm like. But I have fan in. So what I'm going to do.

[A]

I know. Joey, you do finally take your quarterback here in round 10. The elder statesman coming off the MVP, Matthew Stafford.

[C]

Yeah, I mean I, I knew that I would be able to get stafford in the 10th round because everybody had their quarterbacks. So I went Dobbs before him. I still think he's going to be somebody that just gets, you know, 60 receptions next season and he. It gives you wide receiver three value. We've seen him do it before. But Stafford like finished the QB4 last year. Like, I understand that he's like 48 years old, but as long as he's out there and he's got Devonte Adams at Puka Nukua. He's gonna be a top 12 quarterback for me, so I'm very happy to get him there. 10 and I do have him as my QB 11, so I didn't get him at too much value, but he's kind of the last of the QB one, so I definitely wanted to get one of them.

[A]

If it's Yuga, you do take Laporta here. Just value too good to pass up.

[D]

Yeah, trade leverage, man, when there's that much value like relative to what was available at the other positions, I just had to do it. You know, we, we like to trade in fantasy football. So I'll, I'll try to use my tight end leverage at some point in this mock draft that I'm never going to be able to use that tight end leverage. But yeah, so I, I just couldn't pass that up. And then with the other pick, Zach Charbonnet, I don't know, I just, there's some upside there. It's a play for the back half of the season and maybe he comes back a little earlier than expected. Seems like with younger players, like the ACL is not a full year recovery like it used to be. It's more of like an eight month recovery. So I don't know. I know he didn't have the surgery till February. I'm definitely not expecting to see Zach Charbonnet in September. Maybe not October either. But down the back stretch he could be a useful piece.

[A]

Yeah, I, I, I'm pretty low on Charbonnet in redraft leagues because, because it was a late February surgery, I'm like, so we're talking like best case scenario Halloween, then working your way back like. And the reason that I, I point that out is because I like Chris Rodriguez a lot as a late round running back target and he went two picks later. So I was kind of thinking if I had gone running back in your spot, maybe that would have been the direction I go. But, but I understand the upside of like, hey, in the fantasy playoff times, you know, you get to that time of year when it's going to matter most if Charbonnet is back and you know, in a healthy spot, then that's going to be really beneficial for you. Jake, you took Khalil Shakir with your pick here, your first receiver in several rounds.

[B]

Yeah, because we're talking bench at this point and I do want at least one and I'm probably going to get another, if not two. But you know how much I'm a Proponent for DJ Moore being the number one for the Bills. But just in case DJ Moore isn't what he was just a few years ago with the Bears and able to be a top 10 wide receiver and maybe he's at the point where he can't handle number one coverage and he just completely gets shut down by the Bills and he struggles. But that opens things up for Cleo Shakir who now is not forced to be a one that he's not in the Keon Coleman situation. Obviously he's talking about how terrible his own career has been, but maybe this opens things up for Shakir and he turns into a volume play for the Bills. So at this point, just a flyer on the Bills offense.

[A]

And then Joey, you double down on quarterback Stafford first and then now Mahomes.

[C]

It was very yucky when I went and looked at what else was out there. And listen, Last year Patrick McCombs is the QB2 on a points per game basis. There's talk he's going to struggle to get out to a start this season. That's fine. I've got Matthew Stafford to start my season off. So the hardest part of my season with this team will be picking the right matchup to play. I feel most weeks, but I'm pretty confident, you know, between those two guys. All right, I'm on the clock again.

[A]

Yeah. At the turn I took Dylan Sampson, pairing him with Quinton Judkins, that Cleveland backfield and then Travis Hunter, you know, round 12. It's an upside, not.

[D]

Not an IDP league. You know that one.

[A]

You know that the best thing I

[B]

saw yesterday was somebody showed the Lawrence to Hunter pass and it's like his first drop back and he throws an interception like I thought that was great.

[A]

That's pretty good. There's not a ton of names here that I'm super excited about. Also I have four very good receivers. So taking an upside swing as a bench piece, I. I historically am not the Travis Hunter guy. I bought it him a lot of leagues last year. I was, you know, kind of selling him in dynasty leagues a year ago in rookie drafts too. But this late when I have a good core of receivers elsewhere and I didn't really love a lot of the other names around, I figured, you know, what the heck it's again, it's a mock. I probably won't be taking much Travis Hunter in in real drafts that will be playing out, but it's fun to do it here. So like I said, Dylan Sampson, Travis. By the way, I took Casey Concepcion a couple Rounds ago. Didn't say that. When I loud I just like investing in rookie receivers who went in the first round. That's always appealing to me. Joey, you go with Malik Washington, a player who I do actually like investing.

[C]

Yeah. In the 12th round I got what we think is going to be the wide receiver one for the Dolphins. It's not a pretty pick, but volume wise it's a pretty good bench player. So I'm excited for that. I'm hoping Malik Willis and him can get on the same page pretty quick. So in the 12th round I like.

[B]

Thank you Fitz. I wanted to get him the hell off the board. I already had Garrett Wilson and I get tired of staring at Omar Cooper's name by the way, for everybody out there.

[A]

Yeah, I, I was actually between Cooper and Travis Hunter on my pick and I wanted to kind of take the fun swing on Hunter, but I was staring at Cooper too. Again, I just talked about with Casey Concepcion first round, you know, rookie receiver, always a pretty good investment here. Fitz, are you feeling good about that pick?

[D]

Yeah, I mean I'm feeling okay. Probably a pretty limited ceiling with this jets offense this year, but there, there should be a lot of past friendly game scripts for the jets and I just, I believe in the player after watching a lot of Indiana football last year. Like Cooper is just so tough, so good after the catch showed at the combine. He's very athletic. So I think it's a decent, a decent shot at this late point.

[A]

Jake, your last two picks are both receivers. The rookie Antonio Williams and then maybe a potential future teammate and Brandon Ayuk. See how things pan out. Currently listed as San Francisco. Obviously we, we don't. We're not going to see him play there again. But you know, in a different way, similar to kind of an upside swing like Travis Hunter. You know, round 12 just like maybe you really hit it big with a

[B]

guy like Ayuk and that's really what it was. It's like worst case scenario. Well, I guess worst case scenario I use a nothing burger and I threw away my 12th pick. But worst case I said for these two picks you presented how I wasn't expecting it to happen but IUK goes to the commanders and he ends up being a wide receiver 3 but ruins my Antonio Williams pick. Best case scenario, Ayuk ends up somewhere else as a wide receiver three and Williams is the number two for the Commanders. So I think both of them, 12th, 13th round upside pick here situation of just hopefully I. Who the hell knows what's even going on with Auk's brain at this point if he wants to play football. But we are assuming he's out there next year or this year. But yeah, that's, that's really what it was. It wasn't a planned situation, but like, yeah, it does actually kind of work its way into what we think is potentially the commander's number two.

[A]

By the way, Fitz, I skipped past your running back pick. You took around 13, Emmett Johnson, a guy that you've been targeting in rookie drafts. I know a lot.

[D]

Yeah, I, I do think that Kenneth Walker is going to need a tag team partner. Like he was a workhorse down the stretch for the Seahawks last year. I don't know if he can be that all season long for the Chiefs. I don't know if he can handle 300 plus touches. And I just think Emmett Johnson, as a guy who handled a lot of work for the Nebraska Cornhuskers last fall, I think he's just a better bet than Smith or any of the other guys in that Kansas City backfield.

[A]

My final two picks. Katron Allen, just a guy who, I think this offense could bounce back really well this season, obviously assuming Jaden Daniels is healthy and it's not totally certain what that running back, you know, room is going to look like in terms of the opportunity. I could see Allen being a guy who gets some scoring opportunities in a high powered offense, so I'll take him late and then Andrews is just a value pick. I really like Andrews in redraft leagues this year, like likely left and then they drafted a couple of day three guys. I think this offense could bounce back really nicely. There's not a ton of, you know, competition for target volume and obviously we know the connection with Andrews and Lamar in the red zone. So I like Andrews a lot. That's. Even though I already had tight end. That's just a value play for me. Joey, your final two picks were Jalen McMillan and Hunter Henry.

[C]

Yeah, I mean we're just a season removed from Jalen McMillan with the Bucks having eight touchdowns. You know, last year only played four games. But a little optimism there with Mike Evans no longer there. I'm so sad to see him go as a Bucks fan, but. But it was gonna happen one day. Oh, and my team just went away and then the last round because you took Catron Allen. I was very upset and I think I took Hunter Henry. Yeah, I did take Hunter Henry. It's no longer on my screen.

[A]

Yeah, I was gonna say fan. Fitz picked his final pick too quickly, so we all jumped the Draft.

[C]

Yeah. Hunter Henry we saw Drake may really lean on in the last two years his first or second target and pretty much every game out there. So yeah, I like Hunter Henry for value at the end of drafts.

[A]

And then Jake, I'm moving over to the draft board now. I didn't see your final pick.

[B]

I could tell my final pick was Tank Bigsby. I was considering between Washington and Bigsby but the way I looked at it and just my quick thinking was all right, they're both high end backups, both potential if the lead gets hurt. You're talking into RB2, not RB1 value but one is behind a second year very young player and the other is behind Saquon Barkley. And that's how I made the coin flip decision is like who's more likely like the if we had to put it on paper who we bet is more likely to get hurt. And also by the way he's in the better offense. So I went with Tank Bigsby over Washington for that reason and it fits.

[A]

Your final pick looks like was Claiborne.

[D]

Yeah. Just a shot at a guy who's going to be the number three running back for the Vikings. But Aaron Jones is pretty old and looked like maybe he was starting to slow down a little bit last year and Jordan Mason is pretty one dimensional. So Claiborne really quick dynamic. I think he can carve out a role.

[B]

Did you just take a shot at my pick of Jordan Mason earlier? Is that what that was?

[D]

No, I mean I, I, Mason is, Mason is fine for what he is. I just, he's. I like going with someone who's a little different from what the main running back is probably going to be and I do think Mason is probably going to be the lead guy there.

[B]

I would agree. It's funny. Well, I'm assuming Worm not to jump in, but I'm assuming we're going to talk about the pick analysis where it tells you the swaps. Yes, it's, you know, funny my biggest swap. Just talking about a tight end we were just talking about earlier and you'll see when you get to it.

[A]

Yeah. So let's take a look at the analysis just kind of throughout in this mock draft lobby. One of the cool things about doing a mock draft on fantasypros.com is you get all this cool analysis at the end of it. It's not just hey, we think your team did pretty well. It's projected standings, kind of power rankings, positional ranks. You can check out steals and reaches. Like obviously Sam Laporta was Listed as a steal for fifth. You can check out the pick analysis that Jake was just talking about where it'll show you, hey, if you took this player here at a different position in that same position later, your team would have scored X number of points higher. So for me, it says if I had taken Cam Scatter Boo where I took Justin Herbert and then taken Brock Purdy where I took Catron Allen, I would have finished several spots higher in the projected standings. Actually, a lot of my pick analysis was the first three are all, don't take Justin Herbert. Take a different player there. I just, like I said, I said it at the time right. When you're picking on the end, sometimes you kind of have to reach a little bit. And I just, I really like Herbert and, and his fit with Mike McDaniel. So I'm just very excited about that pick and we'll go ahead and ignore that pick analysis. By the way, on the projected standings and kind of the power rankings here. Fitz finishes second. Jake is fourth. I am eighth. We won't say where Joey is because we like him as a guest and want him to come back.

[C]

Experts, listen.

[D]

No, no.

[C]

I want to shout out Derek Brown and Joe P, two fantasy pros employees who both gave my drafts a.

[A]

Okay. That is helpful, actually. Interesting. One of my best, you know, thumbs up from a drafts in the expert opinions page is from Fitz. He gave me an 88 out of 100. So. So Pat really liked my draft. Jacob trade. Trade opportunity for sure. Jacob Gibbs and Justin Boone, a couple of other folks in the industry who liked my draft.

[D]

Yeah, what do they know?

[A]

Yeah, clearly nothing. But yeah, I've come in. By the way, my kind of grade was a C plus, so not the best. I was happier with how my team started with that, you know, kind of fun stretch of all the receivers. And when you do something like that, right. You wait really long at running back. That's more of a. When you play it out, you can kind of trust yourself to find running backs down the line. Right. In a mock draft show like this, maybe not going to look as strong. Fitz, looking at your team, any reactions from the analysis page?

[D]

I'm a little worried that the. The analysis has been pretty good for my last two mock drafts when normally I'm an 8th, 9th place guy because I tend not to draft balanced rosters. I tend to be overweight on pass catchers. And these first two mocks have been a little more balanced, but also another reason to be nervous. I mean, Derek Brown really likes my draft. He gave Me an A plus, so that's some cause for alarm. No, just kidding. Thank you. DBRO steals and reaches. I'm seeing that the. I think the analysis was that I should have taken a running back on the 2, 3 turn. I took AJ Brown and Teterom McMillan. Seems like I was being urged to take either Saquon Barkley or Chase Brown in one of those spots and then, you know, get a. Get another wide receiver later.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Joe, you mentioned some of the folks who liked your draft. What do you think about your draft coming out? Where would you grade yourself on this roster?

[C]

I, you know, I would give myself like an honest B. I think I pan not in panic on Javante Williams, but I saw the clock. I didn't know that I could ask you to pause, but I'm still fine with it. I like Javante. I'm not complaining. I'm not, you know, But I will say I didn't realize you guys both had steals and I only have reaches. No, no, I have no steals. That's a feature with you guys

[B]

because

[C]

I didn't have steel.

[A]

Yeah, that's. That's intentional. No, I. Yeah, I actually mostly had reaches, too. I didn't really have any steals or values as highlighted by the draft board either. So you're. You're not alone there. By the way, the team that was, according to our system, you know, did the best is pick number four. And Jake, you kind of highlighted that you like picking five because there's kind of that clear top five for you. So picking towards the back end of that is maybe a good spot to be this year. Our system really likes the team picking fourth again, this is a computer, but ended up with Puka Nukua, Chris Olave, Saquon Barkley in the third. So it really liked that pick that it was maybe thinking Fitz should have made there. Devonte Adams, Luther Burden. So similar to some of us, actually. A few different teams went four receivers in their first five picks. Then it got Jalen Hurts in round six, got the Baysholt Tootin pick that Jake really wanted. Brian Thomas Jr. J.K. dobbins, Tyler Algier, Travis Kelsey Keaton Mitchell, Dalton Kincaid, Mike Washington Jr. That is a winning team according to our system. What do you guys think about that being the number one? Does that sound about right to you?

[D]

I don't know. I mean, it's kind of. The number two running back is kind of a questionable spot with like Tootin Dobbins, Algier as the prime candidates for that behind Barkley as the Number one and then really waited on tight end. It's Kelsey and Kincaid so you know an old guy, a guy with knee issues. We'll see.

[A]

Yeah, do you guys and this will be kind of the last question before we get out of here. You don't have to look at the entire roster for everybody. Obviously that's a lot of picks but just looking at the first few picks, was there a start to this draft that you guys liked best? When you're looking at some of these other ones like I'm looking at Team 6, Christian McCaffrey, Malik Neighbors, Josh Allen, Kyron Williams. That's a really exciting high upside start. Obviously there's a lot of downside there with injury risk but that seems like kind of a fun one. I, I do like Javante Williams so I, I like Joey's start too with Saint Brown. I just love Hampton so much. Javante and Col Loveland, another guy I like a lot. I like team 11. They went double running back to start but then lad McConkey and Lamar Jackson and Roma Dunes their next three picks. Looks really nice. Any anybody stand out to to you Joey that you kind of liked the start of this team?

[C]

Yeah, I, I and not just because you complimented me but if you're going to go 0 RB I really like your start getting Drake London at the 12 turn like London could very easily be top five in fantasy points this year based on volume alone and then Devonta Smith is somebody that I see think is just going to get peppered with targets this year. So I, I like your start a lot to be honest.

[A]

Yeah, I didn't really talk much about Smith but we Talked obviously about A.J. brown. We're already assuming he's a patriot. That means that there's an awesome opportunity for Smith in Philly and late third rounder I, I last pick at the third round. I quite like that. Jake, what about you? Any, any kind of early builds that you liked how they started off their rosters?

[B]

Yeah, mine since I didn't get to talk about my team. Good grief. Thanks a lot Worm. Like, like talk about Heather Construction or nothing over here. Actually I do like what you were forced into so to speak because you're at the turn and a lot of times at the turn either side of it your hands are tied. You're trying to make predictions of what things are going to happen. But I did legit want to talk about my team for one thing that you said before and you're talking about how we make up our teams and we understand if you Go zero or heavy RB or hero RB that we know we can do things throughout the season. And if you look at fantasy pros where they have the team strength and it does you by position and stuff like that, but it also gives you the overlay chart, that little graphic chart for like if you're a prospect you see a lot of times, but if you look at mine, it's like pretty strong into the wide receiver flex, tight end. But then on the bench the running backs is way, way high and that's like kind of what you were saying is like yeah, my RB2 isn't the best but I took some really high upside running backs on my bench that if just one, maybe even two things breaks right, an injury happens and I have the guy or whatever it might be because I went wide receiver heavy like you did and Fitz did too. Like sometimes that's how things we know that we're going to do things throughout the season and this isn't just a best ball team that we're never going to touch. So having that strength at wires all the way down to wide receiver three and even the flex, I think that's what you have to think about too is that if you went the other direction with the running backs, well then you want to take a little bit more shots at the wide receivers or stuff like that so. Because we know like you said you can trade and everything like that. But yeah, like team four just annoyed me. I don't know who that was. It's probably Joe on secret just because like that's what he loves to do.

[A]

Fitz, what about you? Any teams they stand. I like team three too. I mean just the first three picks. Jameer Gibbs, Trey McBride, Derek Henry. I'd be all, I mean even in a three receiver league I'd be all over that.

[B]

Yeah. His number one receipt, his. Their number one wide receiver is Jameson Williams or Marvin Harrison.

[A]

Yeah, James. I mean Marvin Harrison Jr. If you, if you still want to believe. You know Makai Levin, as you know,

[B]

to be fair, I do. We talked about it on the other show. Was that with you Fits. I forget. Marvin Harrison was treated as the number one when all three of Brissette, Harrison and Wilson played together. Wilson's target share was almost only 10% in those games. So I still believe, I still believe he's potentially, you know, a post hype bust sleeper so to speak just because people hate him at this point. But I still don't want him as my 1/2 at Jameson Williams. Yeah, sorry.

[A]

That's.

[B]

Sorry. He Asked you. Sorry, I just did the Marvin Harrison thing. Sorry.

[D]

No, no, not at all. So I actually thought all, all three of you. I like your first, your round one round, two combos for the spots you were in. I mean I think a Marion Hampton has a lot of upside in the Mike McDaniel offense. Just what should be a rejuvenated Chargers offense. So like as an early third round pick and then Joey's sitting there at 10 and having Amon Ross St. Brown come to him. Where am I? Like you're you know, full on wide receiver assault in the early rounds. But Jake getting to me, there's kind of a firewall at pick 20 with Devon HN and I know the Dolphins are not expected to score a lot of touchdowns and maybe having a mobile quarterback with Malik Willis kind of cuts into the target total for Devon Hn. But man, that is a heck of a player to be going 20th pick 20 overall. And then Jake just sits there, number five and lets the first four picks sort themselves out. Oh, here's Jackson, Smith and Jigba just hanging out at number five. So really nice one, two start for Jake.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

To ask a question, I'm going to jump in again. Worm Fitz, knowing where you had two, like would you trade spots? Seeing how the draft fell out, would you rather be 4 or 5? Seeing how this went. I'm just curious because you know we get a lot of those questions all of us. I mean obviously Joey and Worm chime in too but like we get a lot like what's your favorite pick to drafts draft from? And it feels like at least to this draft, it feels like even if you have four and a half to make a decision, it feels like four or five was kind of like the sweet spot for values

[D]

right now. I, I like, I think I would stick with two just to get one of those big running back to running backs and then just start hammering wide receivers from there. Because I was pretty satisfied with the wide receiver selections when it came back to me in the second, third, fourth, fifth rounds.

[A]

Yeah, I like anywhere in that top five. And honestly I'm not going to like argue about where I just like being kind of assured one of those guys or at the end. I really don't like that kind of 6 to 9 or 10 range this season. But I mean we'll see. There's, there's a long way to go. I might feel differently two months from now after a whole lot more drafts. How do you feel about it, Joey?

[C]

I. The thing with Amanor Saint Brown is I, I really do believe he is the far and away wide receiver four and he keeps getting drafted as like the wide receiver five or six and drafts that I'm in and sometimes that's even the end of the first round. So I kind of like being towards the end of that first round knowing I'm going to get a true RB1 plus a Monroe St. Brown. That's kind of where I like to build my teams from.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. Let's do one final takeaway from, from just today's draft in general. Can be any direction, macro level, micro level, a single pick, whatever you think. One takeaway each and then we'll wrap things up. Fitz, I'll start with you.

[D]

I'm just looking at Joey's pick of Colston Loveland in the fourth round and Loveland ended last season on such a heater. Like I don't think it's that far fetched that he could be up there with Brock Bowers and Trey McBride as far as production on a per game basis this year and to get him in the fourth round. I'm, I'm kind of all about elite tight end this year and I think Loveland in the fourth might be the best value of any of the top eight guys. Unless you're going to give me Tyler Warren in the seventh or Sam Laporte 11. But that's, that's not going to happen in most drafts.

[A]

Yeah, Jake, your final takeaway.

[B]

I was actually going to head towards tight end too. Mostly because like let's throw Laporta out. Like there's no way on earth. Laporta should have been there in the 11th. And I like, as you said, I don't think that happens in most drafts. I think there's a very clear tier one, tier two, you know, like whether people agree or disagree, like are in your side of taking the Kyle Pitts. I don't love Kyle Pitts and that's actually nothing to do with Diggs either. It just happens to be the fact that he's a power forward playing in the NFL and that's what they got out of him last year. They stopped asking him to run routes which he can't do. Instead just go basically box out the defenders. Does that carry over? That's a little bit of my concern for Pitt. So where Pat was saying that, you know, you get elite tight end, the big three. I feel like Kraft is kind of hanging in his own world, at least of right now because we're uncertain how healthy he'll be for week one. Like if he was 100% healthy. I'd say there's a big four and then Fanon Warren and then Kittle also because of the injury. But I think those seven and they all went in the first seven rounds, I feel better about getting like normally I've been the guy that's been like everybody says tight end bounces back every single year. That never does. I think they're kind of more like the quarterbacks this year. Like if you don't get one of the big four, slash seven, just wait until the end and take a flyer on a likely or a Kelsey bouncing back a little bit or Gadsden being the number two or three for the Chargers because the draft pretty much did that. There was no tight ends taken around 8, 9 or 10.

[A]

Yeah, I'll give a quick takeaway then throw it over to you, Joey. I just to quickly say mine outside of the three Cleveland Browns I took, which I just now realized I did, that I like to mug it a lot, but that's excessive. Outside of that, all of my picks were offenses that I'm interested in investing in this season. Dallas, Atlanta was Stefanski, you know, Smith getting opportunity in Philly, Cincinnati, the Chargers, who I love this year and talked about a lot. The Bears. I want to be investing in the, you know, the Jags, obviously coming off a great year. It's a lot of offenses I want, you know, even the Ravens and Commanders bouncing back in the last two picks. That has been a theme in the early mocks I've done is just getting in with good offenses and having that not even be a tiebreaker but just be a point of emphasis for me in early mock. So again, besides the Cleveland picks which were aggressive, kind of going in that direction for me is. Is one of my early takeaways. Joey, what's yours?

[C]

I think my and I want to hone in on your pick of Jonathan Brooks. It's that early drafters that are smart drafters can really get advantages in drafts. I think that Jonathan Brooks pick in a month is going to be around two rounds earlier. So I think it's being able to like find those little, those one or two guys that are going really late and draft them now. So if you're hosting your drafts now, you can really catch an edge here. But always wait on quarterback because the position is super, super deep. Looking at this draft board like knowing that I could have got Trevor Lawrence, I probably could have taken him in the seventh and been super happy that he fell to the eighth round. It's just like this quarterback's so deep.

[B]

Brock Curry. Yeah, it's in the final round.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Oh, I mean, and Brock Purdy honestly might even be a, a better pick than either Stafford or Mahomes. I just like the combo of those two together. But yeah. So yeah, Brock, party in the 14th round.

[A]

Pure value. That might be the best pick on the whole board is a guy like 30 in the 14th. I mean, that's, that's, that should be, I didn't look, but that should be listed as one of the steals hopefully in our system. All right, we'll go ahead and wrap things up there. Thanks everybody for checking out our half PPR mock draft. We're gonna have a ton more of these throughout the next few months. This is a fun one to do. Kind of get that late May snapshot of what we're thinking. Thanks to Fitz and and Joey for joining us over from football guys. For those three, I'm Ryan Wormley. Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you again next time. Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Football Podcast. If you love the show, the best free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on apple [e-mail] review or on Spotify. Follow us on X Instagram and tik tok at fantasypros and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com fantasy pros. If you're feeling off fatigue, mood changes, skin shifts, yet your labs say everything's normal.

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