2026 Draft Recap

Pat

Pat's draft showed a clear preference for RBs - or, really, an anti-preference for WRs - early. He took Jahmyr Gibbs at 1.01, Quinshon Judkins at 3.01, and Kyle Pitts, Sr. at 5.01. Considering he kept a RB (D'Andre Swift, 4.14) and QB (Jayden Daniels, 6.12), the only WR on his roster after six rounds was Tee Higgins.

That makes Pat just the sixth team in league history to spend such little capital on the WR position (i.e. only have one rostered in some form through six rounds). The first two were 2008 Dave and 2008 Derrek, and all I can say there is that 2008 was a very different time, as Dave took a defense in the 6th and Derrek took one in the 7th.

The next two teams to avoid WR that much were both from 2012: Pat and Schertz. Pat's draft that year was fairly normal (though it did involve him trading away his 6th round pick!), but Schertz took two QBs before he took a second WR.

Finally, 2020 Schertz joined the club, coming off his 2019 Blingabowl championship.

Given that none of those teams made the playoffs, the big question for Pat is: Can he get enough WR production to be a contender?

Derrek

Derrek's draft was pretty straightforward. He took Bijan Robinson in the 1st, then added three established veterans - Davante Adams, Terry McLaurin, and Jalen Hurts - with his next three picks. I don't have any notable history to be found here, unfortunately, so my only real question is: Will Adams and McLaurin hold off aging enough to return D to glory?

Babel

Babel had the first real choice of the draft, given he kept no RBs: fill that positional hole with Christian McCaffrey, or go with Puka Nacua? Babel opted for the latter, and after he wound up getting Josh Jacobs and Travis Etienne, Jr. with his 2nd and 3rd round picks, it's hard to argue against his choice. Overall, Babel has quite a few high-floor picks in Jacobs, Etienne, Sam Laporta (5.03), and Michael Pittman, Jr. (6.12). That means The Gazette's question about his team is: Will Nacua, Drake Maye (keeper, 9th), and Luther Burden III (keeper, 9th) hit the same highs they did last year?

Matt

It wasn't surprising when Matt took a WR, Amon-Ra St. Brown, with his first pick, since he kept RBs Bucky Irving (keeper, 7th) and Javonte Williams (keeper, 9th). It still wasn't surprising when he took DeVonta Smith and Zay Flowers with 2.11 and 3.04, respectively.

That makes him just the seventh team to take a WR in each of the first three rounds, joining 2009 Ed, 2016 Dave, 2017 Kevin, 2018 Dave, 2019 Rob, and 2020 Mike R.. If you look at those six historical teams, the question for Matt becomes obvious: Can he become the first team so heavily-invested in WR to win a playoff game?

Mike R.

Mike's draft was, per him, "super boring." He did seem happy enough to take Christian McCaffrey when he was available at 1.05 and was aggressive at QB, taking Lamar Jackson at 3.05. But after that, I guess I do agree with his self-assessment; the most exciting thing that happened for the rest of his draft was taking players named Braelon and Kaelon (Allen and Black, respectively) back-to-back. So let's say the question here is: Will his season be more exciting than his draft? (Answer: yes, this is Mike we're talking about, something ridiculous is in store.)

Ed

The commissioner did what he always does: make a trade. After taking De'Von Achane at 1.06, he didn't like his options at 2.09 and traded it and his 5th round pick for Trey McBride (whom Rob had just taken at 2.05) and Rob's 6th. How's that for not-super-boring, Mike?

But anyways, the question for Ed is, as always: Just how bad will his trade wind up looking in hindsight?

Pulley

Pulley added Derrick Henry at 1.07 to his excellent WR keepers. For good measure, he also drafted the first two WRs taken in the 2024 NFL draft, Malik Nabers (2.08) and Marvin Harrison, Jr. (5.07). He's got some question marks at RB after Henry, but he shouldn't need to rely on Aaron Jones, Sr. (7.07) or R.J. Harvey (8.08). Ultimately, it looks like Pulley's season will come down to: Can Derrick Henry stave off father time for another year?

Dave

Dave took James Cook III at 1.08 and immediately regretted it... so he traded Cook to Scott for Ashton Jeanty (1.09) before either of them made their second round pick. Then, mid-draft, Jeanty suffered what appeared to be a scary ankle injury. Reports are that the injury isn't that bad, but it's still not a great outcome.

Dave later made a second trade, sending Rob 6.07 and 8.07 for Caleb Williams (5.10) and 10.05. We can ask ourselves: How much wheeling and dealing is too much?

Scott

Scott made the aforementioned trade for James Cook III, then followed that up by taking another Bill, Josh Allen, in the 2nd. The rest of his draft was pretty uneventful; there are a few high-upside players in Tucker Kraft (4.06) and Makai Lemon (8.06), but also some boring-but-reliable RBs like J.K. Dobbins (6.06) and Rachaad White (9.09). That means that when it comes to Scott's 2026: Can his elite Bills bring him back to the playoffs?

Rob

Rob, like Dave, was involved in two draft-day trades (which were covered in the Ed and Dave sections above), which means he's now been involved in seven of the eleven total trades that have included draft picks. Another classic Rob trope: Saquon Barkley (1.10) is on his team! So: Is this just going to be another typical Rob year?

Richie

Richie auto-drafted A.J. Brown, Justin Jefferson, and Joe Burrow. While we confirmed he was not (again) using a past year's list, a time traveler from 2023 would think Richie's team is going to be unstoppable. Question: Can his big three return to form and carry him to a third straight playoff appearance?

Kevin

Kevin's first two live picks were a pair of Williamses, Kyren (2.03) and Jameson (3.12). He also wound up with two breakout WRs from last year, Alec Pierce (5.12) and Quentin Johnston (8.03). But after Kyren Williams, his RB stable consists of Bhayshul Tuten (4.03) and players taken in the 10th or later. It's fair to ask: Does Kevin have enough RB depth to be a true contender?

Schertz

Last year's runner-up grabbed CeeDee Lamb 13th overall, then used his next two picks on second-year RBs Omarion Hampton (kept for 2.02) and TreVeyon Henderson (3.13). A concern here could be that Schertz didn't add a third WR until Tre Tucker in the 11th, so, like Pat: Can he get enough WR production to be a contender?

Rabbit

Rabbit entered the draft with Jonathan Taylor (keeper, 1st) and Chase Brown (keeper, 4th) already on his roster, so he used his first three live picks on WRs Drake London (2.01), Mike Evans (3.14), and Brian Thomas, Jr. (5.14). He also shrewdly waited on QB and wound up with reigning MVP Matthew Stafford (9.14). Are we in for another year of Rabbit dominance?

Closing Thoughts

It was awesome to see so many of you this weekend! The first game of the season is on Wednesday, September 9, so make sure to have your lineups set by then!

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