Fantasy Football MOCK DRAFT | Expert Strategy, Picks & Round-By-Round Half-PPR League Advice (Ep. 2034)
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1 hr 6 min
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May 28, 2026
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Thu, May 28, 2026
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Episode Transcript
0:00This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human. Max softness, max energy, max run.
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0:13through to help you truly tune out and max your run.
0:16Shop the Glycerin Max 2 at brooksrunning.com. Hello everybody, welcome to Fantasy Pros.
0:20I'm Ryan warmly joined by Pat Fitzmaurice and Jake Seeley from The Athletic and a special guest, Joey Wright from Football Guys.
0:26We've got all four of us here talking, drafting.
0:28We're here in late May, getting ready, you know, it's still a few months away from the season, but it gets closer
0:34every single week and we want to do another mock draft for everybody.
0:38So we've got the four of us going up against the computer here in the mock draft lobby.
0:42Quick reminder for everybody before we jump in, all of our 2026 consensus rankings and tiers can be found at FantasyPros.com.
0:48Also today's live half PPR mock draft is done using our mock draft lobby over at FantasyPros.com slash draft wizard.
0:53Just like you'll see today, our multi-user drafts allow you to practice quick and fun mock drafts against both real and computer
0:59opponents using the same easy to use interface as our draft simulator.
1:03Public 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.
1:10Sync your league for free and try the draft simulator today at FantasyPros.com slash simulator or on the Fantasy Pros app.
1:15Before we dive in, Joey, how are you doing?
1:18It's been a few years since you've been on the show with us.
1:21How was your Memorial Day? How's everything going on over at Football Guys?
1:25Everything at Football Guys is going great. Wonderful things going on there.
1:28My Memorial Day was wonderful. I started building a 4,000-piece Lego set because, you know, I'm cool, I guess.
1:33But no, we got the Home Alone house and look, that's going to be like our Christmas decoration in our house.
1:39And 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.
1:46This is definitely the right time of year for that.
1:49Where are you, by the way, just in your kind of pre, you know, a couple months before the draft process in
1:55terms 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.
2:01So I've pulled out of Dynasty mode. Like I was in Dynasty mode there for a while.
2:06A lot of Dynasty drafts going on. I almost hit myself in the chin with my microphone there.
2:11Professional. So now I'm just kind of going team by team and evaluating stuff.
2:14I'm doing a team preview or sorry, position preview every Monday for the next four weeks with my buddy Dave Kluge over
2:20on the Fantasy Football Show or Football Guys. So just kind of going position by position right now.
2:25Jake, how was your Memorial Day? It was good.
2:28Real quick, did you know, Joey, that the friends Monica and Chandler moved into the Home Alone house?
2:32That it was confirmed by the director. Did you know that?
2:35I did not because I don't watch television. So the television knowledge is just gone for me.
2:40Yeah. When they bought the house, he actually confirmed it because they matched people, eagle-eyed people kind of caught across the street.
2:46That was the same house across the street from Home Alone.
2:49And then they confirmed that it was technically the Home Alone house that they moved into.
2:53But anyway, Memorial Day was great. Had some cookout.
2:55Rave reviews of my buffalo chicken dip, which is all that matters.
2:59Like 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?
3:06Like you just kind of feel like, ha ha, I won the party.
3:10I did that at Friendsgiving last year. I made chocolate chip cookies and so many people didn't believe that I had made them.
3:16They were like – I'm going to make the recipe.
3:19It did not seem capable of something like this.
3:21They were begging me for it. It was very, very – it's a great feeling.
3:25I could not agree with you more, Jake. Fitz.
3:27Fitz, what about you? Holiday weekend? How are you feeling?
3:30Yeah, it was good. And I just want to add that I maybe live about 10 to 12 miles away from the
3:36Home Alone house, which was up for sale not that long ago.
3:39But I didn't have three and a half million lying around, so I wasn't able to buy it.
3:44Would you ever live in one of the horror houses used from one of the movies?
3:48Oh, from a movie or an actual – Yeah, like the one where they actually film – or like the houses.
3:54But either the one was the house that the movie was based on and it is the house or the house that they filmed the movie in.
4:01Would you do either? Unless they filmed it and I'm good with that.
4:05I don't want to move into the Amityville house or anything like that.
4:08That's the one I was thinking of. Yeah, I'm not doing the haunted house.
4:12I want to end the scream? Scream house? Well, scream house isn't really – I can't even watch horror movies, let alone living there.
4:18I can't even imagine. That does not sound fun to me.
4:21All right. Well, this will not be a horror movie.
4:24It will be a fun episode of podcasting, doing a mock draft.
4:27So we'll get going here in a second. Very straightforward.
4:30You know, half PPR, one quarterback, two running backs, three receivers.
4:33One tight end. A few bench spots. We're not doing kickers and defenses today.
4:37I always make sure I'm picking on the ends of these just because it's easier for hosting.
4:41Last one of these we did, I was picking first.
4:44So today I am picking last. We've got the other guys kind of spread throughout the board here.
4:49I'll go ahead and unpause the draft and we'll get going in just a second.
4:53Fitz, I believe you have our first pick. What's your mindset here as we get going?
4:57Yeah, I'm going to take one of the first two running backs and it looks like team one has selected Jamar Chase.
5:03I was hoping this decision would be made for me.
5:06Sort of torn between Bijan and Gibbs. I don't have a strong stance on this.
5:10And if I'm lucky enough to get the number one pick three times this summer, I'll probably split the difference.
5:15But I do slightly prefer Bijan. And, you know, this is no great analysis, but he's slightly bigger, about 15 pounds heavier.
5:21And 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.
5:28Do you, Fitz, if you had the first pick, would you lean any towards Chase just because it's a three receiver league
5:34as opposed to a two receiver league? I know you talk about that a lot in previous drafts.
5:39No, I want to get one of the top two guys here and then just kind of go with a here are B build from there.
5:46If I'm picking one or two. Joey, you're picking down at 10.
5:49If you were picking towards the top, do you have a preferred player here in those first three?
5:54The first three, if I can get Gibbs, I want Gibbs.
5:57I think he's going to have a dynamic season.
6:00I like the schedule for the Lions a lot better this year now that we've seen it.
6:04So I would pick Gibbs number one overall if I had that pick.
6:08Jake, what are you thinking here at pick number five?
6:10Five. I purposely took five. You had already, I got the second choice.
6:14You had already taken the back end of the turn and I just want to, I want this spot because I want to try it.
6:20Because I, we've talked about in previous shows with you, with Fitz and said that like five makes the decision for you.
6:26Cause there is that clear five. It's two running backs, three wide receivers.
6:30And then now we're into tier twos of both positions.
6:33So I kind of want to see how the draft goes having made this decision for me.
6:37And it's Jackson Smith and Jigba. No problem with that.
6:40I don't have a problem with any of the five.
6:42And this is really just, like I said, I just, I haven't done this yet.
6:46And I want to see how the five plays out of having that first decision made for me.
6:51Yeah. 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, B.
6:59John Robinson, Jameer Gibbs, Pukanukua, then JSN at five, Christian McCaffrey at six, Justin Jefferson, seven, James Cook at eight, Jonathan Taylor
7:05at nine, which brings us to Joey at 10.
7:07Yeah. I'm going to take a monitor St. Brown.
7:10I, if he falls to me at 10, that's who I love taking there at that spot.
7:14If not, I'm tending to double up on running back at that 10, 11, 12 turn.
7:18There's about 15 running backs that I really liked this year and many, many more that I don't like.
7:24So. Yeah. That's good. Those guys. I'm happy. I was hoping to get a running back that I quite like Ashton Gentry at 12.
7:30He goes one pick after St. Brown. So I'm on the clock without Gentry available.
7:34I'm going to take CD lamb as one of these two picks here on the turn three receiver league.
7:39Very good receiver. Very good offense. Very happy to have him at the end of the first, the second pick.
7:44I 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.
7:52So it could go in a bunch of different directions as talented as he is.
7:56I don't want to take a Chan just because I just don't want to bet on that offense this year.
8:01It 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.
8:08I think I will double up at receiver and take Drake London just because it's a player I love.
8:13And I'm pretty excited about what Stefanski can do just with the offense in general in Atlanta.
8:17So that is an offense I want to be investing in, unlike Miami.
8:21So I'm going to double up lamb and London here at the turn.
8:24Team 11, which is a computer team doubles up at running back here.
8:28They have Gentry and Walker. So it brings us back to Joey here.
8:31Yeah, I'm going to, I'm going to reach a little bit.
8:34I'm going to go with Marion Hampton. Very confident with Mike McDaniel coming in there.
8:38And we did see flashes last year from Hampton.
8:41I don't think we saw the whole show. So with the modern St.
8:44Brown, I feel like that's a really safe pick.
8:47I know what I'm going to get. I'll take a little bit of upside with Hampton over some of the other running
8:53backs that people probably would pick over Hampton. But I'm kind of in on Hampton this year.
8:57I just said, Joey, that the Falcons are an offense I want to invest in.
9:01I don't think there's any offense I want to invest in more than the Chargers.
9:05So I very, if there you're going to reach out on a team, I think the Chargers are a good team to reach on.
9:12Jake, you had kind of a surprise reaction. It sounded like to that pick.
9:15I was just not overly surprised at the Hampton pick because I know a lot of people are high on him and
9:21want to put him in this tier. So I haven't probably.
9:24My O was actually that. Hell, you were thinking about it at the turn with A-Chan or A-Chan, E-Chan, whatever the hell his name is.
9:31And he's still, he's still there at 208. Like smash done.
9:34Thank you very much. Like I had concerns of the offense.
9:37I don't have any concerns if you're going to give me towards the end of the second round.
9:42I'll immediately click on that every single time. So, so far, fifth pick.
9:45Super happy about. Yeah, it feels like it's working out well for you here.
9:49By the way, Fitz, you're on the clock now.
9:51Just quickly, what did you think about doubling up on receiver at the end of the first round?
9:56It doesn't, regardless of whether or not it's Lamb in London, but just as a general strategy, would you rather make sure
10:02you get a running back or are you okay doubling up at the position there?
10:06No, I'm okay doubling up, but I think there should be an emphasis on wide receivers early on in three receiver leagues.
10:12Yeah, 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.
10:19It just kind of pans out that I tend to like a running back or even tight ends earlier better.
10:24So it's kind of fun to actually do on a Fitz where he's not going to yell at me for not having
10:30good enough receivers at the end of this. Fitz, you kind of double up at receiver here with your second and third picks.
10:36Yeah, just kind of capitalizing before, I think, I don't know, there's maybe a little bit of a tear break for me
10:42after around the first 12, 13 receivers. So I want to get two of those guys, A.J.
10:47Brown, who I think we all anticipate is going to be a New England Patriot before long, but four straight thousand yard seasons.
10:53And 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.
10:59So I'm kind of excited about that and what he might be able to do in new settings, a new setting.
11:05And then Ted O'Rourke McMillan, who I think is still elevator, still going up for him.
11:09Good, satisfying season for him last year. And I think there's more meat on that bone.
11:13Joey, where are you ranking A.J. Brown? Obviously under the assumption already that he's going to be a Patriot.
11:19But I have got him, he's like a top 12 wide receiver, I want to say right at, as my rankings load, terrible, terrible Joey.
11:25I actually have him at 14, so just outside my top 12.
11:28And whether he stays in Philadelphia, which he's not going to, or he goes to New England, there's been rumblings about the Chiefs.
11:35I don't think that's happening. I think that's just fun talk as we're waiting for him to land in New England.
11:40I have him as my wide receiver 14. Do you have Malik neighbors ahead of him, Joey?
11:45I do. Oh, fair. One spot. Well, Jake, while Joey makes his pick, I want to ask about your pick.
11:50Zay Flowers, 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.
11:58Walk us through that thing. Yeah, the funny thing is, is as you well know, I actually had somebody in my way too early rankings for this year.
12:05And they're like, what's with Zay Flowers inside your top 15?
12:08I thought you hated him. Like, no, my point about Zay Flowers has never changed.
12:12It's the fact that even when Lamar threw 41 touchdowns, still barely caught anything in the touchdown department.
12:17And it's the fact of where he was. And then last year, whether or not Lamar got hurt, the offense also changed.
12:23The offense changed. Mark Andrews has fallen off a cliff.
12:26Isaiah likely is now gone. They have a collection of maybe can somebody step as the number two.
12:30And all you have Doyle coming in too, who's going to do more play action.
12:34We did a whole show about how good Lamar Jackson is with play action, actually the best in the league over the past two years.
12:41So I'm looking at the fact that now Zay Flowers goes from somebody I never wanted to I will take him inside the top 15 wide receiver.
12:48I actually have him at 14. I thought long about love on that pick, but I just I do like the running
12:54back depth a little bit more after like there was a drop of a wide receiver.
12:59I thought was a little more stark. A few quarterbacks go between Jake's pick and yours.
13:03Joey, did you consider going with an early quarterback or were you on your running back all the way?
13:08I love waiting on quarterback, but I have said if Josh Allen makes it past the three to three turn, I'll take
13:14Allen wherever I'm picking in the third round. And so when we hit Jake's pick and he didn't take Allen, I was
13:20like, all right, I guess I'm going to take Josh Allen.
13:23But nope, he just ran off the board real quick.
13:25Yeah. And then Drake, they went Joe Burrow. There's another quarterback I like.
13:29I don't know if I'll take one, though, because I'm waiting on you.
13:32I took Javante Williams. I mentioned that there's like a few running backs.
13:36I like there's 15 that I really like. And he's the last one that I really like is an RB one that
13:42I think has a lot of ups. I think Dallas is invested in him.
13:46They brought nobody else in that I think is going to compete with him for work.
13:50So I like Javante in the third round. I'm staring at Lamar Jackson as a Ravens fan.
13:54I really wanted to not take an early quarterback in this.
13:57So I think I will be disciplined and not take him.
14:00But it's very tempting here in the fourth. And I just like so many other quarterbacks that I have just values.
14:06I really like. I'm going to actually do something I never do because it's a mock and we're going to experiment.
14:12I'm going to take a fourth straight receiver to start.
14:14I just thought I was the best player on the board if I wasn't going with Lamar.
14:19And now I can very comfortably just hammer all the other positions the rest of the way.
14:23And mocks are times for experimenting. So I'm happy to just see how I feel about this team.
14:28But we get to the end of it. Lamar does go next.
14:31So it does not get back to Joey if that's the quarterback you or I.
14:35I was actually INT Higgins. So you really. It was Smith and Higgins.
14:39It was my whole cue went. It was Smith, Higgins, Jackson.
14:42Just like bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop. Which, you know, that's fun for everybody to see me.
14:46What was it? Bloop, bloop, bloop. Just like that.
14:49So what's going through your head here with your cue God?
14:52Well, there's a few wide receivers that I really like.
14:54You know, I'm pretty good at running back. Let me see.
14:57Is Colston Loveland still around? He is. You know what?
15:00We're going to take him. I like him almost as much as I like Trey McBride at this point, especially based on value.
15:06But if I can get Loveland in the fourth, I'm happy with that pick.
15:10But there were some wide receivers I like, but it's kind of a glob.
15:14So I'm hoping one of them makes it back to me.
15:17Yeah. Once I decided not to take Lamar, I was between Higgins and Loveland.
15:20So I think that's a totally good pick. While Jake makes his next pick fits.
15:24What do you think about the last few picks to go off the board?
15:28Yeah. So Kyron, I thought, was a really good value.
15:31That's why I went, oh. That's what I was talking about.
15:34Yeah. I was wondering if there was any chance he was going to fall to me.
15:38But alas, no. And H-E-N. Yeah. Josh Jacobs, probably if any draft were held today and it wasn't a robot picking at
15:44404, it wasn't going to be Josh Jacobs in light of the recent news.
15:48So 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.
15:55Yeah. That's one where the news is pretty recent.
15:57So the rankings haven't adjusted to reflect it. Our mock draft lobbies will reflect new rankings as they kind of get updated.
16:03But we're obviously taping this just shortly after that news broke earlier this week.
16:07Jake, Kyron did not get to you. Another guy that I was somewhat considering at the turn there.
16:12So you go Garrett Wilson instead. Yeah. As I was excited for the fifth pick in the first two rounds, and there's
16:17been some tough decisions all of a sudden. I'm like, I'm like struggling over here.
16:21But like I was leaning actually to Jess crazy enough to think about whether to go Brees Hall or Garrett Wilson again
16:27to get Garrett Wilson as my third wide receiver versus Brees Hall and what is still remaining at running back.
16:33Not that I don't think Brees Hall was potentially the best of what's left.
16:36Just the drop off being a little bit more to secure it.
16:40Like you said, three wide receiver, half PPR. Uh, it's kind of nitpicky, but I just leaned into the receiver for as
16:46bad as things have been for Garrett Wilson. I actually don't think Gino is the worst thing in the world for him.
16:52Like everybody complained about Gino last year, but a lot of it was the making of that offense and the reason why
16:57they 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.
17:04Fitz, you take two receivers with your next two picks here, Emeka Ibuka and Terry McLaurin.
17:08Luther Burden goes a couple of picks later. I'm surprised you didn't.
17:12Oh, maybe you did consider him. I'm surprised you didn't take him just knowing how high you are in him in general.
17:18Now, a lot of those conversations where you've talked about being high on him are on the dynasty side.
17:23This is of course a redraft mock. So I'm guessing that's kind of what played into the difference there.
17:28But why did you not go with Burden and instead went with Ibuka and McLaurin at receiver?
17:32I just have Ibuka and McLaurin ranked a little bit higher.
17:35I mean, we saw Ibuka get off to that fast start last year where he was a wide receiver three through what, like five games or whatever.
17:42And now with no Mike Evans, I think, I don't know if Chris Godwin is going to ever get back to where
17:48he was maybe like four or five years ago when he was a premium guy.
17:52He didn't look quite the same to me last year.
17:55So I think Ibuka is going to be the wide receiver one for Baker Mayfield.
17:59And I think we saw what the ceiling could look like early last year before he got banged up.
18:04And then McLaurin, I mean, let's not forget that two years ago, Terry McLaurin was wide receiver seven in PPR fantasy scoring.
18:10Career high 13 touchdowns. He and Jane Daniels clicked, but both of them, Daniels and McLaurin missed a lot of time last year.
18:16So I think they're going to pick up where they left off in 2024.
18:20And he was already out there today in voluntary OTAs.
18:23So there you go. Nice. This has been a real round of receivers.
18:26McLaurin, Jameson Williams, Luther Byrd, and Mike Evans, Christian Watson, DJ Moore, Carnell Tate, DK Metcalf, and Roma Dunes.
18:31They have all gone off the board, which is good for me because I've already taken four receivers.
18:36It 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.
18:43I'm a huge fan of Justin Herbert. I'm going to take Justin Herbert here just because, you know, when you're picking on
18:49the turn, you know, fifth round in a one QB league may feels a little.
18:53If you're not taking like one of the true superstars, like established guys, but you kind of have to reach it some
18:59points when you're picking on the end. So I'll take Herbert again.
19:02I just want to invest in this chargers offense as much as possible.
19:05I've said it repeatedly here. Well, I think about my next pick, Jake, you went with Mike Evans.
19:10So you also have four receivers in your first five picks here.
19:13It basically comes down to kind of my roster construction.
19:16Again, I was thinking running back already after having three wide receivers, but I mean, let's be honest about it.
19:21Dave Flowers is my number two is a great number two, but the Ravens offense could be inconsistent.
19:26It could be yards again, without a lot of touchdowns.
19:29Garrett Wilson could be yards without touchdowns. Mike Evans could be touchdown reliant.
19:32Again, I actually love the fit with the 49ers, but I'm getting like, I'm looking at the fact that Evans, for all
19:38intents and purposes, is in my flex between Flowers, Wilson and Mike Evans.
19:42I'll probably have one bad score every single week, but I'll also likely have one of those guys putting up 20, which is balances.
19:48That's why I really liked how I have my wide receivers at this point.
19:52Joey, you also go with a receiver here, DK Metcalf, and then another one, a rookie Jordan Tyson with your pick in the sixth round.
19:59Walk me through both of those picks. Yeah, DK Metcalf.
20:01We've seen Aaron Rodgers doesn't usually lean on the guy in your one.
20:05He usually takes a little bit of time for him to build rapport with someone.
20:09This looks like it might be the last ride for Rodgers.
20:12He's saying it will be. Do we trust Aaron Rodgers?
20:15I don't know, but I think DK Metcalf, this is the year that him and Rodgers get on the same page.
20:20Some people are predicting Michael Pittman. I don't know how I feel about that.
20:24With 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.
20:31The Saints is an offense I'm really in on this year with Tyler Shuck and Chris Alabe.
20:36I don't think Tyson's going to be asked to do as much because they've got Alabe on the field.
20:41So I think that's going to open them up a little bit more.
20:44I think Carnell Tate's going to kind of not stumble into the league, but I think he's going to have a harder climb to the league.
20:51Eventually, though, I think Tate and Tyson will be pretty much even.
20:55I took Quinchon Judkins with the first pick in the sixth round.
20:58He'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.
21:05What do you guys think about Judkins? I mean, obviously, there's been some optimism with some of those early videos of him
21:11at minicamp and OTAs, things like that in terms of coming back from that really gruesome injury.
21:16He had a successful rookie season prior to that injury.
21:18Joey, I'll actually keep it with you. What do you think about Judkins?
21:22And where's the right range for him? I mean, I think he's got the workload there in Cleveland.
21:27You know, you hear Watson's going to come back, but I don't think he's the scrambler that he used to be.
21:32So I like the workload for Judkins. And if you're taking him in the sixth round, I love the value.
21:38Jake, what do you think about Judkins? I want to ask everyone's opinion on him.
21:42Yeah. And I'll tie it into my pick of what just, I know you're not asking, but the reason I'm doing this
21:48because we have Zach Jackson covers the Browns for the athletic and we were talking to him recently and he was saying
21:54two things he noticed about the Browns as a healthy Judkins will lead the backfield, but he still actually has concerns that
22:00it's going to be a committee, not full blown where it's going to be only 40% for Judkins, but that Samson and others are going to be involved.
22:07But the other thing you said, which is why I went my pick and I was like, yeah, what he got there
22:13is he said, I would expect to him again, things could change, but he said, I would expect Fannin to lead this
22:19team and targets no matter who the quarterback is.
22:21So to have Fannin coming off last year and the big concern about him right now is just what's the quarterback play.
22:27But we just saw last year what he's able to do potentially leading this team and targets.
22:32So I was excited about that, but also he does back up your point about Judkins that he can do everything.
22:37He's just a little concerned that Monken and the staff might not give him like a 60, 65% of the share of the workload.
22:44I'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.
22:51Oh, Tootin went one pick before me. This is why you wanted the best.
22:55No. So Tootin's the guy you were hoping to get back to.
22:58Yeah, I wanted to run it back here in that.
23:01Oh, all right. Go ahead. Fitz, you go with a running back, DeAndre Swift, your second running back.
23:06And then you take a tight end in Tyler Warren.
23:08Yeah. Swift was the last player in a tier for me.
23:11I didn't want to quite get to that Jadarian Price, Tootin role where, you know, Tootin's the backfield is kind of ambiguous in Jacksonville.
23:18Reason to like Tootin for sure that maybe Jake can elaborate on soon.
23:21Oh, just at that value. Just there. Just in the chance that he leads the way.
23:25To get him in the, you know, almost seventh round.
23:28That's why. So go ahead. Reasonable spot for him for sure.
23:31And, you know, I like Jadarian Price. I just worry that Zach Charbonnet is coming back at the time when the games
23:37are going to be most important on the fantasy football calendar late in the season.
23:41So maybe Price doesn't have as big a role later on once Charbonnet is back.
23:45So Swift, I mean, I love what Ben Johnson did with the Bears running game last year.
23:50That offensive line is good, even though they lost Chris Dahlman in retirement.
23:53Nazi Trapillo, too. Pretty significant knee injury. But, you know, Swift was solid.
23:57I know he's going to share some time with Mononga, but like he's still a solid RB2 to me.
24:02And then Tyler Warren. I mean, I just things really open up with Michael Pittman not there anymore.
24:06I know Warren's production sort of nosedive late in the year, partly tied into the Daniel Jones injury.
24:11And we don't know what how healthy Jones is going to be to start the season.
24:16But I still feel pretty good about Warren and his role in that offense.
24:19I think he's going to have a pretty beefy target share for the Colts.
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27:00Healthcare just got less painful. We are halfway through the draft here, guys.
27:04Let's just take a moment while it's paused anyway, since we're moving pretty quickly.
27:08Just kind of recap how we're feeling about our teams so far.
27:11Joey, you just made your most recent pick as Chris Godwin.
27:14How are you feeling about your roster as a whole halfway through the draft?
27:17I like it. I think there's a lot of balance to it.
27:21I'm not nervous that I didn't take a quarterback.
27:23I'm normally waiting until the double-digit rounds to take a quarterback, especially this year.
27:27That position's so deep. But if there's value, I'll take it.
27:30You know, if Lamar Jackson, I think if he would have made it to me, I would have really considered it there.
27:36But no, I really like my team. It looks like a very Joey team.
27:39So, yeah, we'll see where it goes from here, though.
27:42Jake, how are you feeling seven picks in? I was feeling great five picks in.
27:46And now I did like the Fannin value. But unfortunately, two running backs right before that, Montgomery and Scadaboo, guys I was
27:52considering is why I was excited to still have Fannin at that point.
27:56And then coming back, as mentioned, with the Tootin, Jadarian Price went, or just so now I went with Jackson Dart, which
28:01arguments to be made, 19.9, almost 20 points per game when his healthy...
28:05I don't know why all the sites include those first two games.
28:08But he would have been QB5 in fancy points per game, not having Malik Nabors last year.
28:13Like, who cares if he has him this year?
28:15He didn't have him last year. He had him for one game.
28:18That all being said, I still don't have a second running back.
28:22So I essentially went the hero RB full on bore.
28:24Full hero RB, because I got to figure out my second running back right now.
28:28Yeah, I don't have a second running back either.
28:31I kind of went hero RB, but without a hero at RB.
28:34So we know what that means. Fitz, picking from the 102 slot, how are you feeling seven picks in?
28:39Yeah, just to beat the hero RB theme to death here, I really wanted to try a mock with one of the
28:45first two picks to see how that hero build worked.
28:48And 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.
28:54So that worked out pretty well. And then I felt like I lucked into a pretty good second running back and a
29:00good tight end that I feel like I got two rounds of value, maybe at least around on Tyler Warren.
29:06I would expect him to go earlier than I got him.
29:09Speaking of tight end, I'm going to take a tight end here once the draft gets resumed here in just a couple
29:14seconds, 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.
29:22I mean, Colson Loveland, third tight end off the board, Joey.
29:25But like outside of that very clear kind of top two guys, do you guys have a preferred approach at tight end
29:31this season in terms of like you want to get one of the early guys, you want to wait really late?
29:36I mean, we've all kind of done this more middle round approach.
29:40Joey, what's your kind of like overall approach at the position?
29:43Yeah, if I don't get Loveland in the fourth or third, I mean, I would have thought about him at the 34
29:49turn there if I was closer to like maybe 11th or 12th pick.
29:52I'm waiting. There's guys that I like late. I'll stack two of those guys.
29:56Fannin is somebody that I like, and I like the value Jake got him in the sixth round.
30:01If I could switch it out, I would take Fannin in the sixth, just knowing the value there.
30:05So I like Jake's pick a lot. But yeah, I'm pretty much waiting if I possibly can.
30:10Jake, I heard you say which one. I'm actually kind of torn here.
30:13I think I'm going to go with Pitts. It's Pitts and Laporta are the two that I'm staring at.
30:19I will go with Pitts, obviously tied into last year.
30:21Again, I said it when I took Drake London.
30:24I am very interested in Kevin Stefanski getting to run an offense that's not in Cleveland.
30:28And obviously Pitts, you know, very talented player. So I found myself more kind of torn than I expected to be when
30:34I'm actually on the clock here looking at those two.
30:37What direction would you have gone, Jake? I, for the upside, I would have slightly leaned Laporta just because Petsing coming in.
30:42And that's the concerns for Jameson Williams. And does he feature Laporta more?
30:46And Laporta being healthy. Also, I don't know. This is just me.
30:49I will say I'm one for one calling the Juwan Jennings signing.
30:52I just have this weird feeling that like Diggs is going to end up in the dirty South and Atlanta as their number two.
30:59Like just because I'm looking at teams of like who still needs a two.
31:03And you could argue Washington, maybe if they're not sold and Williams being the number two.
31:07But there's a lot of talk about whether they make the IUC trade.
31:10And I'm like, where's Diggs going to go? And I don't know.
31:14He just feels like Falcons digs at this point in his career for some reason to me.
31:18Fitz, what do you think about that conversation? Pitts versus Laporta?
31:21Yeah, well, Jake is kind of scaring me because I give Pitts the slight nod there.
31:25But obviously, if Diggs signed with Atlanta, that would swing the pendulum toward Laporta.
31:29Yeah, I think that's definitely fair. We're moving here in round eight.
31:32Joey, you go with Tony Pollard. I was between Pollard and Monongai.
31:36I took what I felt was like an upside swing on Monongai, but I think Pollard, obviously, very good pick there.
31:41I was considering him. Was he your preferred choice there?
31:44Were you hoping? Because three running backs went in a row.
31:47Were you eyeing Rico Dowdle or Monongai? Or did you want Pollard all along?
31:51I wanted Pollard. Pollard is someone that I really enjoy taking and pairing him with somebody later on.
31:55Because I think Pollard is going to have a really good start to the season.
31:59I think Nicholas Singleton is going to be brought in a little slower.
32:03Once Singleton is brought in, I think the split might be a little closer to 50-50.
32:07But to start the season, we've seen Pollard have two really good seasons in a row.
32:12I like taking Pollard a lot, especially in the eighth round as my third running back.
32:16Yeah. Jake, you take your second running back on your team here, Ramondre Stevenson, in round eight.
32:20Yeah. Outproduced 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.
32:28I mean, there's still big plays were happening, but there was more everything.
32:31Yards per touch, yards receiving. Like, you can go down the list.
32:35Stevenson was better. And again, I'm not saying that to say I have full confidence that Steven's going to continue to outplay him.
32:41I just, at this point, I still think it's going to be pretty much a 50-50 share like we've seen from the
32:47Seahawks for the past couple of years where Stevenson, do I want him as my number two?
32:51No. But as Pat said before, I have a similar team to him.
32:55I have three number twos at wide receiver behind JSN.
32:57I'm okay with Stevenson being my RB2 in that case, especially with Etchen.
33:01But also, just a side note, I did say DM you, Pat, in the chat because Parker Washington with the 8-11.
33:07I actually thought I'd be able to sneak him here with the 9-5.
33:10I was just going to hit on this stretch.
33:12So four straight picks fits our Jacksonville Jaguars. We have Brian Thomas Jr., Trevor Lawrence, Parker Washington, Jacoby Myers go off the
33:18board back to back to back to back. You are the one who comes with Parker Washington.
33:23We've talked about this a lot with Jake and how he feels about it.
33:27Can you help just kind of make sense of these three Jags receivers going off the board in the span of four picks?
33:33Yeah. I mean, I think in just about everyone's rankings and in the fantasy pros expert consensus rankings, they are pretty close together.
33:39And it is kind of hard to discern. I mean, we got that great rookie season from Brian Thomas Jr.
33:44We saw Parker Washington catch fire late last season and reportedly just have a really good session of OTAs with the Jaguars.
33:50And, you know, Jacoby Myers is Mr. Steady who seemed to click with Trevor Lawrence right away.
33:55I'm cursing the bot picking one overall because I really wanted to stack Parker Washington with Trevor Lawrence.
34:00That wasn't happening. So I had to settle for Dak Prescott on the comeback.
34:03Wanted to get one of the top 12 quarterbacks.
34:06Didn't want to wait another 24 picks to see if that happened.
34:09Anybody who's watched the shows knows how Jake feels about the Jags receivers.
34:13So I want to ask you, Joey, how do you kind of rank these guys who are all ranked very similarly in consensus?
34:19Give me the one that goes last. Now, that's a very terrible answer to the question.
34:23I would prefer Jacoby Myers because at this point when I'm in a draft, I might be looking for safety.
34:28Now, 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.
34:36I think there's a ton of upside there. He had a really bad season last year.
34:40We saw his best production in his rookie year with Mac Jones.
34:43So hopefully him and Trevor can get on the same page.
34:46But I would take Jacoby Myers if I had the choice of between them all.
34:50If I had to like put my chips on something to hit, like let's say I'm playing roulette in Vegas.
34:55It'll be on Myers. Well, I'm on the clock here again.
34:58Sam Laporta got all the way back to me.
35:01So it makes me regret taking pits in the last one because I could have just get him down there.
35:06That is a regret that I have. I went with Jonathan Brooks as my first pick here.
35:11We've talked a lot about him. Fitz, just a guy like kind of the upside swing, like, you know, starting to see some optimism.
35:17Injury wise, they didn't really do anything to address the position in a way that would scare you off if he is healthy.
35:23And obviously, you know, he was a player that we liked, you know, all that long ago when he came into the league.
35:30So I think with his about me, but if I didn't take my guy, if he wasn't there, I would have taken Brooks.
35:36Brooks was my next up just for the upside of Brooks in case he is finally healthy.
35:40And while I make my next pick, you took Kenneth Gainwell.
35:43What was the thought process there? The Bucky Irving news, which they still keep saying that he should be out there and
35:49he'll be fine and ready for week one and potentially even ready for training camp.
35:53But even if so, there's, you know, I know I'm actually curious about Pat to see if he's changed his opinion because
35:59I was with Pat a few weeks ago. Like it was about a month ago when we talked about Bucky Irving and
36:05like, why does everybody hate Bucky Irving? But that the news continues similar to like the Malik neighbor situation.
36:10I am pulling back a little bit. I was lockstep.
36:13And that's why I say I'm curious if Pat has pulled back a little bit just because the concerns and that if
36:19he isn't even 100 percent, but he's ready for week one, do they split touches the entire season and give Kenneth Gainwell
36:25the passing game work like we just saw with Pittsburgh?
36:27And then that's the big concern to lose that from Bucky Irving share.
36:31So not to use your job, but I'm curious.
36:33I want to get Pat's opinion. I'm very curious.
36:36I was just writing something about this for one of our featured pros articles.
36:39I'd be more concerned if, you know, Bucky had to play tackle football next week, but with three and a half months
36:45to go till week one, I'm still feeling okay about it.
36:48And I just, I mean, I think the Kenneth Gainwell threat to Bucky's workload is being grossly overstated.
36:53I mean, even as a passing game thing, like Bucky has a career average of 1.56 yards per route run.
36:58Kenneth Gainwell, 1.19. Bucky's the better pass catcher too.
37:01I just don't see Gainwell. Gainwell's the replacement for Rashad White.
37:04That's it. Looking at the last few picks, by the way, Sam Laporta still has not gone here and we're at late round 10.
37:10I know. I was like, if he gets back to me, I might have to just on pure value or any of
37:16you guys really good in this next round. I've looked at him like three times and I'm like, but I have fan
37:22in, so what I'm going to do? I know.
37:24Joey, you do finally take your quarterback here in round 10.
37:27The elder statesman coming off the MVP, Matthew Stafford.
37:30Yeah, I mean, I knew that I would be able to get Stafford in the 10th round because everybody had their quarterbacks.
37:36So I went Dobbs before him. I still think he's going to be somebody that just gets, you know, 60 receptions next
37:42season and he, it gives you wide receiver three value.
37:44We've seen him do it before, but Stafford like finished the QB four last year.
37:48Like I understand that he's like 48 years old, but as long as he's out there and he's got Devante Adams of
37:54Pukunukua, he's going to be a top 12 quarterback for me.
37:57So I'm very happy to get them there at 10 and I do have him as my QB 11.
38:02So I didn't get them at too much value, but he's kind of the last of the QB one.
38:07So I definitely wanted to get one of them.
38:10Fitz, you go. You do take the Florida here.
38:12Just value too good to pass up. Yeah. Trade leverage, man.
38:15When there's that much value, like relative to what was available at the other positions, I just had to do it.
38:21You know, we, we like to trade in fantasy football.
38:23So I'll, I'll try to use my tight end leverage at some point in this mock draft that I'm never going to
38:29be able to use that tight end leverage. But yeah, so I just couldn't pass that up.
38:34Yeah. And then with the other pick Zach Charbonnet, I don't know.
38:37I 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.
38:44It seems like with younger players, like the ACL is not a full year recovery.
38:48Like it used to be. It's more of like an eight month recovery.
38:52So I don't know. I know he didn't have the surgery till February.
38:55I'm definitely not expecting to see Zach Charbonnet in September, maybe not October either, but down the backstretch, he could be a useful piece.
39:01Yeah. I, I, I'm pretty low on Charbonnet and redraft leagues because, because it was a late February surgery.
39:07I'm like, so we're talking like best case scenario, Halloween, then working your way back.
39:11Like, and the reason that I pointed out is because I like Chris Rodriguez a lot as a late round running back target.
39:17And he went two picks later. So I was kind of thinking if I had gone running back in your spot, maybe
39:23that would have been the direction I go. But, but I understand the upside of like, Hey, in the fantasy playoff times,
39:29you know, you get to that time of year where it's going to matter most.
39:33If Charbonnet is back and, and, you know, in a healthy spot, then that's going to be really beneficial for you.
39:38Jake, you took Khalil Shakir with your pick. You're your first receiver in several rounds.
39:42Yeah. Cause we're talking bench at this point. And I, I do want at least one and I'm probably going to get
39:48another, if not two, but you know how much I'm a proponent for DJ Moore being the number one for the bills.
39:54But 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.
40:01And maybe he's at the point where he can't handle number one coverage and he just completely gets shut down by the
40:07bills and he struggles, but that opens things up for Khalil Shakir, who now is not forced to be a one that
40:13he's not in the Keon Coleman situation. Obviously he's talking about how terrible his own career has been, but maybe this opens
40:19things up for Shakir and he turns into a volume play for the bills.
40:23So at this point, just a flyer on the bills offense.
40:26And then Joey, you doubled down on quarterback Stafford first.
40:28And then now my homes. It was very yucky when I went and looked at what else was out there.
40:34And listen, last year, Patrick Holmes was a QB two on a points per game basis.
40:38There's talk. He's going to struggle to get out to a start this season.
40:42That's fine. I've got Matthew Stafford to start my season off.
40:45So the hardest part of my season with this team will be picking the right matchup to play.
40:50I feel most weeks, but I'm pretty confident, you know, between those two guys and I'm on the clock again.
40:55Yeah. At the turn, I took Dylan Sampson, pairing him with Quinchon Judkins, that Cleveland backfield.
40:59And then Travis Hunter, you know, round 12. It's an upside.
41:02It's not, not 90 peeling. You know that, right?
41:05The best thing I saw yesterday was somebody showed the Lawrence to Hunter pass and it's like his first drop back and he throws an interception.
41:12Like, I thought that was great. That's pretty good.
41:14There's not a ton of names here that I'm super excited about.
41:17Also, I have four very good receivers. So taking an upside swing as a bench piece.
41:22I historically am not the Travis Hunter guy. I avoided him a lot of leagues last year.
41:26I was, you know, kind of selling him in dynasty leagues a year ago in rookie drafts too.
41:31But this late when I have a good core of receivers elsewhere and I didn't really love a lot of the other names around.
41:37I figured, you know, what the heck it's again, it's a mock.
41:41I probably won't be taking much Travis Hunter in, uh, in real drafts that will be playing out, but it's fun to do it here.
41:47Um, so like I said, Dylan Samson, Travis, by the way, I took Casey conception on a couple of rounds ago.
41:53Didn't say that one out loud. I just like investing in rookie receivers who went in the first round.
41:58That's always appealing to me. Uh, Joey, you go with Malik Washington, a player who I do actually like investing in.
42:04Yeah. In the 12th round, I got what we think is going to be the wide receiver one for the dolphins.
42:09It's not a pretty pick, but volume wise, it's a pretty good bench player.
42:13So I'm excited for that. Um, I'm hoping Malik Willis and him can get on the same page pretty quick.
42:18Um, so in the 12th round, I like, thank you fits.
42:21I wanted to get him the hell off the board.
42:24I already had Garrett Wilson and I could tired of staring at Omar Cooper's name, by the way, for everybody out there.
42:30Yeah. I was actually between Cooper and Travis Hunter on my pick.
42:33And I wanted to kind of take the fun swing on Hunter, but I was staring at Cooper too.
42:38Uh, again, I just talked about with Casey conception first round, you know, rookie receiver, uh, always a pretty good investment here.
42:44Uh, Fitz, are you feeling good about that pick?
42:47Yeah. I mean, I'm feeling okay. Probably a pretty limited ceiling with this jets offense this year, but, uh, there, there should
42:53be a lot of past friendly game scripts for the jets.
42:55And, uh, I just, I believe in the player, um, after watching a lot of Indiana football last year, like Cooper is just so tough.
43:02So good after the catch, um, showed at the combine, he's very athletic.
43:06So I think it's a decent, a decent shot at this late point.
43:09Jake, you, our last two picks are both receivers, the rookie Antonio Williams, and then maybe a potential future teammate and Brandon.
43:15I think how things pan out, uh, currently listed as San Francisco.
43:18Obviously we, we don't, we're not going to see him play there again.
43:22Uh, but, uh, you know, in a different way, somewhere to kind of an upside swing, like Travis Hunter, you know, round
43:2812, just like maybe you really hit it big with the guy like I, and that's really what it was is like worst case scenario.
43:34Well, I guess worst case scenario, I use a nothing burger and I threw away my 12th pick, but worst case I
43:40said, for these two picks, you presented how I wasn't expecting it to happen, but I, you goes to the commanders and
43:46he ends up being a wide receiver three, but ruins my Antonio Williams pick best case scenario.
43:51I think ends up somewhere else as a wide receiver three and Williams is the number two for the commanders.
43:56So I think both of them 12th, 13th round upside pick here situation of just hopefully I, who the hell knows what's
44:02even going on with I use brain at this point, if he wants to play football, but we were assuming he's out there next year or this year.
44:10But yeah, that's, that's really what it was. It wasn't a planned situation, but like, yeah, it does actually kind of work
44:15its way into what we think is potentially the commanders number two.
44:19By the way, Fitz, I skipped past your running back pick.
44:22You took around 13 Emmett Johnson, a guy that you've been targeting in rookie drafts.
44:26I know a lot. Yeah, I, I do think that, um, Kenneth Walker is going to need a tag team partner.
44:31Like he was a workhorse down the stretch for the Seahawks last year.
44:35I don't know if he can be that all season long for the chiefs.
44:38I don't know if he can handle 300 plus touches.
44:41And I just think Emmett Johnson as a guy who handled a lot of work for the Nebraska Cornhuskers last fall.
44:47I think he's just a better bet than Brashard Smith or any of the other guys in that Kansas city backfield.
44:52My final two picks, Katron Allen, just a guy who I think this offense could bounce back really well this season, uh,
44:58obviously assuming Jane Daniels, uh, is healthy and it's not totally certain what that running back, you know, room is going to
45:04look like in terms of the opportunity. I could see Allen being a guy who gets some scoring opportunities in a high powered offense.
45:11So I'll take him late. Uh, and then Andrews is just a value pick.
45:14I really like Andrews in redraft leagues this year, like likely left.
45:18And then they drafted a couple of day three guys.
45:20Um, I think this office could bounce back really nicely.
45:23There's not a ton of, you know, um, uh, competition for target volume.
45:27And obviously we know the connection with Andrews and Lamar in the red zone.
45:30So, um, I like Andrews a lot. That's even though I already had tight end, that's just a value play for me.
45:36Um, Joey, your final two picks were Jalen McMillan and Hunter Henry.
45:39Yeah. I mean, we're just a season removed from Jalen McMillan with the bucks having eight touchdowns, you know, last year I
45:45only played four games, but, um, a little optimism there with Mike Evans, no longer there.
45:50I'm so sad to see him go as a bucks fan, but it was going to happen one day.
45:55Oh, and my team just went away. And then the last round, because we took Haytron Allen, um, I was very upset
46:01and I think I took Hunter Henry. Yeah. I did take Hunter Henry.
46:04Uh, it's no longer on my screen. Oh yeah.
46:06I was going to say Fitz picked his final pick too quickly.
46:10So we all would jump to the draft. Oh, no worries.
46:13Yeah. Hunter Henry. We saw Drake may really lean on him the last two years.
46:17Um, his first or second target pretty much every game out there.
46:20So yeah, I like Hunter Henry for value at the end of drafts.
46:23Uh, and then Jake, I'm moving over to the draft board now.
46:27I didn't see your final pick. I could tell my final pick was tank Bixby.
46:31Uh, I was considering between Washington and Bixby, but the way I looked at it and just my quick thinking was, all
46:37right, they're both high end backups, both potential. If the lead gets hurt, you're talking into RB two, not RB one value,
46:42but one is behind a second year, very young player.
46:45And the other is behind Saquon Barkley. And that's how I made the coin flip decision is like, who's more likely.
46:51And like, if we had to put it on paper, who we bet is more likely to get hurt.
46:56And also by the way, he's in the better offense.
46:59So I went tank Bixby over Washington for that reason.
47:01And if it's your final pick looks like was a Claiborne.
47:04Yeah. Just a shot at a guy who's going to be the number three running back for the Vikings, but Aaron Jones
47:10is, is pretty old and look like maybe he was starting to slow down a little bit last year.
47:15And, uh, Jordan Mason is pretty one dimensional. So Claiborne really quick dynamic.
47:19I think he can carve out a role. Did you just take a shot at my pick of Jordan Mason earlier?
47:24Is that what that was? No, I mean, I, I, Mason is, Mason is fine for what he is.
47:29I just, uh, I, he's, I like going with someone who's a little different from what the main running back is probably going to be.
47:36And I do think Mason is probably going to be the lead guy there.
47:40Yeah. 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
47:46the pick analysis where it tells you the swaps.
47:48Yes. It's real funny. My biggest swap is talking about a tight end.
47:52We were just talking about earlier and you'll see when you get to it.
47:55Yeah. So let's take a look at the analysis.
47:58I just kind of threw out, um, in this mock draft.
48:01One of the cool things about doing a mock draft on fantasypros.com is you get all this cool analysis at the end of it.
48:07It's not just, Hey, we think your team did pretty well.
48:10It's projected standings and kind of power rankings, positional ranks.
48:13You can check out steals and reaches. Like obviously Sam Laporta was listed as a steal for fits.
48:18You can check out the pick analysis that Jake was just talking about where it'll show you, Hey, if you took this
48:24player here, a different position in that same position later, your team would have scored X number of points higher.
48:29So for me, it says if I had taken Cam Scadaboo where I took Justin Herbert and then taking Brock Purdy where
48:35I took Katron Allen, I would have finished several spots higher in the projected standings.
48:39Uh, actually a lot of my, uh, pick analysis was the first three are all don't take Justin Herbert, take a different player there.
48:45I just, I, like I said, I said it at the time, right?
48:49When you're picking on the end, sometimes you kind of have to reach a little.
48:53And I just, I really like Herbert and his fit was Mike McDaniels.
48:56I'm just very excited about that pick and we'll go ahead and ignore that pick analysis.
49:01Um, by the way, on the projected standings and kind of the power rankings here, Fitz finishes second.
49:05Jake 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.
49:12Listen, no, no, no. I want to shout out Derek Brown and Joe Piazzavilla to fantasy pros employees.
49:17We both gave my draft says. Okay. That is helpful.
49:20Actually, it's just a guy. One of my best, uh, um, you know, thumbs up from a drafts in the expert opinions page is from Fitz.
49:27He gave me an 88 out of a hundred.
49:29So, so Pat really liked my draft, uh, Jacob trade, trade opportunity for sure.
49:33Jacob Gibbs and Justin Boone, a couple of other folks in the industry who liked my draft.
49:37Yeah. Clearly nothing. Um, but, uh, yeah, I've come in, by the way, my kind of grade was a C plus.
49:43So not the best. I was happier with how my team started with that, uh, you know, kind of fun stretch of all the receivers.
49:50And when you do something like that, right, you wait really long at running back.
49:54That's more of a, when you play it out, you can kind of trust yourself to find running backs down the line
50:00in a mock draft show like this. Maybe not going to look as strong, uh, fits looking at your team, any reactions from the analysis page.
50:07I'm a little worried that, uh, the, the analysis has been pretty good for my last two mock drafts.
50:12When normally I'm an eighth, ninth place guy, um, because I tend not to draft balance rosters.
50:16I tend to be overweight on pass catchers. Um, and these first two mocks, I've been a little more balanced, but, um, also another reason to be nervous.
50:24I mean, Derek Brown really likes my draft. He gave me an a plus.
50:28So, uh, that's some cause for alarm. No, just kidding.
50:30Thank you, D bro. Um, steals and reaches. I'm seeing that the, uh, I think the, uh, analysis was that I should
50:36have taken a running back on the two, three turn.
50:39I took AJ Brown and Ted Aron McMillan. It seems like, uh, I was being urged to take either Saquon Barkley or
50:45Chase Brown in one of those spots and then, you know, get a, get another wide receiver later.
50:50Yeah. Yeah. Uh, Joey, you mentioned some of the folks who liked your draft.
50:53What do you think about your draft coming out?
50:56Where would you grade yourself on this roster? I, you know, I would give myself an, like an honest B.
51:01I think I pan, not in panic on Javante Williams, but I saw the clock.
51:05I didn't know that I could ask you to pause, um, but I'm still fine with it.
51:10I like Javante. I'm not complaining. I'm not, you know, but I will say I didn't realize you guys both had steals.
51:16I only have reaches. None of them. I have no steals.
51:19Um, that's a feature. With you guys. I didn't have steals.
51:21Yeah. That's, that's intentional. Um, no, I, uh, yeah, I actually mostly had reaches too.
51:25I didn't really have any, uh, steals or values as highlighted by the draft board either.
51:30So you're, you're not alone there. Um, by the way, the team that was according to our system, you know, did the
51:36best is pick number four and Jake, you kind of highlighted that you like picking five.
51:40Cause there's kind of that clear top five for you.
51:43So picking towards the back end of that is maybe a good spot to be this year.
51:47Our system really liked the team picking forth. Um, again, this is a computer, but ended up with, uh, Puka Nakua, Chris Alave, Saquon Barkley in the third.
51:55So it really liked that pick that it was maybe thinking Fitz should have made there.
51:59Devante Adams, Luther Burden. So similar to some of us, actually a few different teams went four receivers in their first five picks.
52:05Um, then it got Jalen hurts in round six, got the Bayshall toot and pick that Jake really wanted.
52:10Brian Thomas, Jr. JK Dobbins, Tyler Algeer, Travis Kelsey, Keaton Mitchell, Dalton Kincaid, Mike Washington, Jr.
52:15That is a winning team according to our system.
52:17What do you guys think about that being the number one?
52:20Does that sound about right to you? I don't know.
52:23I mean, it's kind of, uh, the number two running back is kind of a questionable spot with like toot and Dobbins,
52:29Algier as the prime candidates for that behind Barkley as the number one, and then really weighted on tight end.
52:34It's Kelsey and Kincaid. So, um, you know, an old guy, a guy with knee issues.
52:38Uh, we'll see. Yeah. Um, do you guys, and this will be kind of the last question before we get out of here.
52:44Uh, you don't have to look at the entire roster for everybody.
52:48Obviously that's a lot of picks, but just looking at the first few picks, was there a start to this draft that
52:54you guys liked best when you're looking at some of these other ones?
52:57Like I'm looking at team six, Christian McCaffrey, Malik neighbors, Josh Allen, Kyron Williams.
53:01That's a really exciting high upside start. Obviously there's a lot of downside there with injury risk, but that's, cause seems like kind of a fun one.
53:08Uh, I do like Javante Williams. So I, I like Joey's start to with same ground.
53:12I just love Hampton so much. Javante and Colson Loveland, another guy I like a lot.
53:17I like team 11. They went double running back to start, but then lad McConkie and Lamar Jackson and Roma duns.
53:22They had their next three picks. Looks really nice.
53:25Anybody stand out to you, Joey, that, um, you kind of liked the start of this team.
53:29Yeah. I, I, and not just cause you complimented me, but if you're going to go zero RB, I really like your
53:35start getting Drake London at the one, two turn.
53:38Like London could very easily be top five in fantasy points this year based on volume alone.
53:42And then Devonta Smith is somebody that I think is just going to get peppered with targets this year.
53:47So I, I like your start a lot, to be honest.
53:50Yeah. I didn't really talk much about Smith, but we talked obviously about AJ Brown.
53:54We're already assuming he's a Patriot. That means that there's an awesome opportunity for Smith in Philly and a late third rounder.
54:00I, I read last pick at the third round.
54:02I quite liked that. Jake, what about you? Any, any, uh, kind of early builds that you liked how they started off their rosters?
54:09Yeah. Mine. Since I didn't get to talk about my team.
54:12Good grief. Thanks a lot. Like, I'm like talking about how the construction or nothing over here.
54:16Uh, actually, I do like what you were forced into, so to speak, because you're at the turn and a lot of
54:22times at the turn, either, either side of it, your hands are tied.
54:26You're trying to make predictions of what things are going to happen.
54:29Um, but I, I did legit want to talk about my team for one thing that you said before.
54:34And you're talking about like how we make up our teams and we understand like, if you go zero or heavy RB
54:40or a hero RB that we know we can do things throughout the season.
54:44And if you look at, uh, fancy pros where they have the team strengths and it does you by position and stuff
54:50like that, but it also gives you the overlay chart, that little graphic chart for like, if you're a prospect that you
54:56see a lot of times, but if you look at mine, it's like pretty strong into the wide receiver flex tight end.
55:01But then on the bench, the running backs is way, way high.
55:05And that's like kind of what you were saying is like, yeah, my RB two isn't the best, but I took some
55:11really high upside running backs on my bench that if just one, maybe even two things breaks, right.
55:15An injury happens and I have the guy or whatever it might be because I went wide receiver heavy, like you did.
55:21And Fitz did too. Uh, like sometimes that's how things we know that we're going to do things throughout the season.
55:27And this isn't just the best ball team that we're never going to touch.
55:31So having that strength at why was all the way down to wide receiver three and even the flex, I think that's
55:37what you have to think about too, is that if you went the other direction with the running backs, well, then you
55:43want to take a little bit more shots at the wide receivers or stuff like that.
55:47So, because we know, like you said, you can train everything like that, but, um, yeah, I like team four just annoyed me.
55:53I don't know who that was. It's probably Joe on secret just because like that's what he loves to do.
55:58Uh, Fitz, what about you? Any teams that say, I like team three too.
56:02I mean, just the first three picks, Jameer Gibbs, Trey McBride, Derek Henry.
56:06I'd be all, I mean, even in a three receiver league, I'd be all over that.
56:10Yeah. But the receivers, his number one wide receiver is Jameson Williams or Marvin Harrison.
56:14Jameson. I mean, Marvin Harrison Jr. If you, if you still want to believe, you know, Makai Levin as, you know, a
56:20tie to To be fair, I do. We talked about it on the other show.
56:24Was that with you Fitz? I forget. Marvin Harrison was treated as the number one when all three of Brissette, Harrison and Wilson played together.
56:31Wilson's target share was almost only 10% in those games.
56:33So 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.
56:40But I still don't want him as my one slash two at Jameson Williams.
56:44Yeah. Sorry, Fitz. That's not my thing. He asked you.
56:47Sorry. I just, that the Marvin Harrison thing. It's just, sorry.
56:50No, no, not at all. So I actually thought all, all three of you, I like your first, your round one, round
56:56two combos for the spots you were in. I mean, I think a Marion Hampton has a lot of upside in the
57:01Mike McDaniel offense, just what should be a rejuvenated Chargers offense.
57:04So like as an early third round pick and then Joey sitting there at 10 and having Amon Ross and Brown come to him.
57:11Where am I? Like your, you know, full on wide receiver assault in the early rounds.
57:15But Jake getting, to me, there's kind of a firewall at pick 20 with Devon HN.
57:19And I know the Dolphins are not expected to score a lot of touchdowns and maybe having a mobile quarterback with Malik
57:25Willis kind of cuts into the target total for Devon HN.
57:28But man, that is a heck of a player to be going pick 20 overall.
57:32And then Jake just sits there number five and, and let's, you know, the, the first four picks sort themselves out.
57:38Oh, here's Jackson Smith and Jigba just hanging out at number five.
57:41So really nice one to start for Jake. Yeah.
57:44To ask a question, I'm going to jump in again, Worm.
57:46Fitz, knowing where you, where you had to, like, would you trade spots seeing how the draft fell out?
57:52Would you rather be four or five seeing how this went?
57:55I'm just curious because, you know, we get a lot of those questions, all of us.
57:59I mean, obviously Joey and Worm chime in too, but like, we get a lot, like, what's your favorite pick the drafts draft from?
58:05And it feels like, at least to this draft, it feels like even if you have four and have to make a
58:11decision, it feels like four or five was kind of like the sweet spot for values.
58:15Right now. I, I like, I think I would stick with two just to get one of those big running backs and
58:21then just start hammering wide receivers from there. Cause I was pretty satisfied with the wide receiver selections when it came back
58:27to me in the second, third, fourth, fifth rounds.
58:30Yeah. I like anywhere in that top five. And honestly, I'm not going to like argue about where, um, I just like
58:36being kind of assured one of those guys or at the end, I really don't like that kind of six to nine or 10 range this season.
58:43But I mean, we'll see. There's, there's a long way to go.
58:46I might feel differently two months from now after a whole lot more drafts.
58:50Uh, how do you feel about it? Joey? I, the thing with the modern St.
58:54Brown is I, I really do believe he is the far and away wide receiver four and he keeps getting drafted as
59:00like the wide receiver five or six and, and drafts that I'm in.
59:03And sometimes that's even the end of the first round.
59:06So I kind of like being towards the end of that first round, knowing I'm going to get a true RB one plus a modern St.
59:13Brown. That's kind of where I like to build my teams from.
59:16Uh, yeah. Yeah. All right. Let's do one final takeaway from, from just today's drafted general can be any direction macro level,
59:22micro level, a single pick, whatever you think one takeaway each, then we'll wrap things up.
59:26Fitz, I'll start with you. I'm just looking at Joey's pick of Colston Loveland in the fourth round and Loveland ended last season on such a heater.
59:34Like, I don't think it's that far fetched that he could be up there with Brock Bowers and Trey McBride as far
59:39as production on a per game basis this year.
59:42And to get him in the fourth round, um, I'm, I'm kind of all about elite tight ends this year.
59:47And I think Loveland in the fourth might be the best value of any of the top eight guys.
59:52Jake, unless you're going to give me a Tyler Warren in the seventh or Sam LaPorte 11, but that's, that's not going to happen in most drafts.
60:00Yeah. Uh, Jake, your final takeaway. I was actually going to head towards tight end too.
60:04Um, also because like, let's throw LaPorte out. Like there's no way on earth LaPorte should have been there in the 11th.
60:10And I, like, as you said, I don't think that happens in most drafts.
60:14I think there's a very clear tier one, tier two.
60:16Um, you know, like whether people agree or disagree, like are in your side of taking the Kyle pits.
60:21I don't love Kyle pits. It has actually nothing to do with digs either.
60:25It just happens to be the fact that he's a power forward playing in the NFL.
60:29And that's what they got out of him last year.
60:32They stopped asking him to run routes, which he can't do.
60:35And said, just go basically box out the defenders.
60:37Does that carry over? That's a little bit of my concern for pit.
60:41So where Pat was saying that, you know, you get elite tight end the big three, I feel like craft is kind
60:47of hanging in his own world, at least of right now.
60:50Cause we're uncertain how healthy he'll be for week one.
60:52Like if he was a hundred percent healthy, I'd say there's a big four.
60:56Um, and then fan in Warren and then kiddo, but also because of the injury.
61:00But I think those seven and they all went in the first seven rounds.
61:04I feel better about getting it. Like normally I've been the guy that's been like, everybody says tight end bounces back every single year.
61:10That never does. Cause I think they're kind of more like the quarterbacks this year.
61:14Like if you don't get one of the big four slash seven, just wait until the end and take a flyer on
61:20a 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.
61:28There was no tight ends taken in rounds eight, nine or 10.
61:31Yeah. Um, I'll give a quick takeaway and then throw it over to you, Joey.
61:35Uh, I just to quickly say mine outside of the three Cleveland Browns I took, which I just now realized if I
61:41did that, I like I'm not getting a lot, but that's excessive.
61:44Um, outside of that, all of my picks were offenses that I'm interested in investing in this season, Dallas, Atlanta was Stefanski,
61:50you know, Smith getting opportunity in Philly, Cincinnati, the chargers who I love this year and talked about a lot, the bears.
61:56I want to be investing in the, you know, the Jags obviously coming off a great year.
62:01It's a lot of offenses. I want, you know, even the Ravens and commanders bouncing back in the last two picks that
62:06has been a theme in the early mocks I've done is just getting in with good offenses and having that not even
62:12be a tiebreaker, but just be a point of emphasis for me in early mocks.
62:16So again, besides the Cleveland picks, which were aggressive, uh, kind of going in that direction for me is, is one of my early takeaways, Joey, what's yours?
62:24I think my, and I want to hone in on your pick of Jonathan Brooks.
62:28It's that early drafters that are smart drafters can really get advantages in drafts.
62:32I think that Jonathan Brooks pick in a month is going to be around two rounds earlier.
62:36Um, 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.
62:43Um, so if you're hosting your drafts now, you can really catch an edge here, but always wait on quarterback because the
62:49position is super, super deep looking at this draft board.
62:52Like I knowing that I could have got Trevor Lawrence, I probably could have taken him in the seventh and been super
62:58happy that he fell to the eighth round. It's just like this quarterback.
63:01So deep. Brock. Yeah. It's on the final round.
63:04Yeah. Oh, I mean, and Brock Purdy, honestly might even be a, a better pick than either Stafford or Mahomes.
63:09Um, I just like the combo of those two together, but yeah.
63:12So yeah. Brock Purdy in the 14th round. Pure, pure value.
63:15That might be the best pick on the whole board is a guy like pretty in the 14th.
63:20I mean, that's, that's, that's, that should be, I didn't look, but that should be listed as one of the seals hopefully in our system.
63:27Um, all right, we'll go ahead and wrap things up there.
63:30Thanks everybody for checking out our half PPR mock draft.
63:32We're going to have a ton more of these throughout the next few months.
63:36Um, this was a fun one to do. Kind of get that late May snapshot of what we're thinking.
63:41Uh, thanks to Fitz and Jake and Joey for joining us over from football guys for those three.
63:46I'm Ryan warmly. Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you again next time.
63:50Thanks for listening to the fantasy pros, fantasy football podcast.
63:52If you love the show, the best free way to support us is by leaving a positive review on apple podcasts at
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