It was my last and most important draft of the season. I had pick six ranked as my fourth choice, just behind 1, 2 and 3 because usually you get to choose between ARSB and JSN, you don’t have to wait forever for your picks as you would on the turn (and risk missing out on the runs) and you get to pick in the middle rather than at the end of Rounds 2 and 3.
But heading into the draft, I got a little nervous with all the bad news coming out on Puka Nacua. His ex posted a video alleging abuse — who knows if any of it’s true, but that didn’t matter in Trevor Bauer’s case — and he’s still, according to his coach “making good progress in his recovery” from a groin injury. With a top-six overall pick, I don’t want “progress,” I want nothing from which to progress in the first place.
So I wasn’t taking Nacua, who already makes me nervous with his physical style of play for a WR, but I was worried the news might spook the guys picking 4 and 5, they’d take ARSB and JSN, and I’d be stuck. Initially I decided I’d go Christian McCaffrey — if you’re gonna gamble, why settle for Nacua when you can go straight to the top? But McCaffrey’s workload last year, age, the electrical substation, his injury history, I’m not feeling it. I looked at James Cook and Jonathan Taylor, and they’re both solid, but your first round back should ideally be a PPR machine, and neither fits the bill.
So I decided if ARSB and JSN were gone, I was going Justin Jefferson at 6. Arguably a top-five all-time WR, still in his late prime, with a weak, but at least NFL-quality QB again. But if I did that, six was a bad draft slot, and I was hoping it didn’t happen.
In any event, here are the results:
1.6 Jaxson Smith-Njigba — Nacua went four, much to my relief, ARSB went five, and JSN was the easy call. I guess the downside is you can’t really stack him with a big-time fantasy QB, but give me the guy squarely in his prime, coming off an all-time efficient season, the only game in town, with, knock on wood, a clean injury history.
2.7 De’Von Achane — This was unplanned. Looking at recent ADP, I was going to reach a couple picks for Drake London whose poor QB situation is probably overblown. He’s never had a great QB, he’s the only game in town (besides the TE), and he’s always produced when healthy. But I wasn’t even close as London went on the turn, almost a full round early.
My fallback was George Pickens, but he too went two picks ahead of me. Once Omarion Hampton went (not sure I would have taken him anyway), I narrowed it down to Chris Olave or Achane. Olave will get a ton of work early with Jordyn Tyson out, but the concussion history and Tyson’s return well before the playoffs steered me away. I wasn’t ready to push Brock Bowers and the other receiver I like, Rashee Rice, seemed a little reachy. So I clicked Achane who has missed only one game the last two years, has had a modest workload and is a great player. Malik Willis might actually be good, too, and even if he takes off rather than checks down, the Dolphins will find ways to get the ball into the hands of their best player.
3.7 Tetairoa McMillan — The ADP had a few guys ahead of him — Ladd McConkey (health), Jaylen Waddle (new team that spreads it around), Tee Higgins (Chase), Luther Burden (promising, but unproven), Garrett Wilson (Jets) — so I took McMillan, the top WR in his class last year who more or less lived up to his billing as a rookie and almost certainly should get better in Year 2. In retrospect, McConkey would have made for a perfect stack, but I didn’t know that at the time. I love the top two WRs, but the QBs with whom they pair are bad.
4.6 DJ Moore — He slipped a bit, and I bought the dip. One luxury of having Achane is I didn’t have to get a running back here. I thought about Jeremiyah Love, and I would have taken him but for the high ankle sprain. The Bills brought in and paid Moore to be a true No. 1, though it remains to be seen whether they spread it around or use him like Stefon Diggs.
5.7 Davante Adams — He also slipped half a round. I was targeting Cam Skattebo there, but the same guy who took London half a round early did the same with him. I also considered Jadarian Price, but I don’t know the extent to which they’ll use him in the passing game, and a late first round pick isn’t the same draft capital as say Love where they’re forced to play him once Zach Charbonnet comes back. Adams is old, but he had 14 TDs in 14 games, and as I mentioned, I don’t trust Nacua to stay healthy. But now I had filled up my receivers and flex.
6.6 Quentin Johnston — Did I mention I had already filled up my WR and flex? The next back on the board, per ADP, was Jaylen Warren, and I wasn’t willing to push a timeshare guy up half a round past ADP just because I needed a RB. The Chargers offense has a ton of upside, and I don’t trust McConkey to stay healthy, but as I said, had I known who I’d have afterwards, maybe I would have taken him in Round 3.
7.7 Jonathon Brooks — I’ve been out on Brooks all draft season. Real long shot a guy with his injury history survives in the NFL. Best case is JK Dobbins who gets you like 10 games before going down. But this was cheaper than usual, and taking a big risk in Round 7 is not the same as doing it in Rounds 1-3.
8.6 RJ Harvey — Sean Payton said he wanted to make Harvey a big part of the passing game, and if that’s true, that means floor. After a ceiling RB2 pick, floor is what I needed. Hoping he’s the Darren Sproles while Dobbins and Jonah Coleman battle it out for the dirty work.
9.7 Harold Fannin — It was Fannin who’s been overhyped IMO, given the mouths to feed in the weak Cleveland offense, or Chuba Hubbard to play it extra safe and lock up the Carolina backfield. I went Fannin once Dalton Kincaid went the pick ahead of me to secure a tight end. You can play defense if the draft delivers it to you, but I didn’t want to pay market price just to lock up weak team’s backfield.
10.6 Justin Herbert — Once Hubbard went two picks ahead of me, I was in on Herbert who pairs with Johnston and now you know why I might have gone McConkey in Round 3. Mike McDaniel brings a new level of upside to the offense, and Herbert could be the QB1 if turned loose behind a better offensive line.
11.7 Woody Marks — I was glad Marks fell to me, as he was the last semi-timeshare back I wanted. There’s chance David Montgomery takes 70 percent of the touches, but Montgomery has been banged up in recent years, and there’s a lot of wear on those tires.
12.6 Tre’ Harris — Harris was a second round pick last year and is now third on the depth chart behind only McConkey and Johnston. With Oronde Gadsden possibly out of favor (I suspect that’s overblown) and Keenan Allen gone, there’s upside should one of the two starters go down. He also helps complete my Chargers stack.
13.7 Jalen McMillan — Taking Harris cost me my backup QB Jaxson Dart by one pick, but I knew it might. I almost took Dart the round before, but didn’t want the weekly headache of choosing between Herbert and Dart anyway, and when you spend up on (for me) an expensive starting QB, you don’t want to forego value to grab a quality backup. But it still stung not to get Dart here. I actually had McMillan as my fallback the previous round had Harris been taken, so I was happy to snap him up a round later. Emeka Egbuka is already hurt, and Chris Godwin always gets hurt.
14.6 Malik Davis — I was willing to play chicken on the backup QB one more round, thinking I’d grab the other Malik (Willis) in 15 to pair with Achane. Davis is the clear backup to Javonte Williams now that Jaydon Blue was cut, and that’s a valuable backfield to own should Williams get hurt.
15.7 Kimani Vidal — Willis went to the same guy who took both London and Skattebo, so I decided to wait even longer for Daniel Jones and take Vidal. Vidal was actually good last year, and if anything happens to Hampton, I’d expect him to get the bulk of the work rather than injury-prone gadget guy Keaton Mitchell.
16.6 Jaguars Defense — If Travis Hunter was worth the No. 2 overall pick as a cornerback and is playing full time there, that should improve the entire defense, but mostly I like that they draw the Browns in Week 1.
17.7 Jaguars Kicker — Cam Big is a staple of my teams this year. Booming leg attached to a good offense in good weather. I also like pairing the kicker with the defense, a sneaky correlation.
18.6 TJ Hockenson — I decided to play chicken on backup QB one more round and snag Hockenson who for some reason no one likes. Remember, the Vikings have an NFL QB now, and there’s not much depth behind Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Moreover, Hockenson has been bad the last two years, one due to it being his first year back from ACL surgery (2024) and the other due to JJ McCarthy/Carson Wentz (2025). He’s now healthy and still presumably has the skills.
19.7 Evan Engram — Daniel Jones got snagged, I STILL did not have a backup QB, so I took another TE who was going in the top-10 rounds last year.
20.6 Jacoby Brissett — I could have taken another backup RB, but I wanted a backup QB in case Herbert gets into a freak accident this week, and Brissett should be higher than this given where Trey McBride, Marvin Harrison, Love and Michael Wilson go and the numbers Brissett put up last year. He’ll probably lose his job at some point, but I can cross that bridge when we get there.
Roster By Position
QB Justin Herbert
RB De’Von Achane/Jonathon Brooks
WR Jaxson Smith-Njigba/Tetairoa McMillan/DJ Moore
FLEX Davante Adams
TE Harold Fannin
K Jaguars
D Jaguars
B Quentin Johnston/RJ Harvey/Woody Marks/Tre’ Harris/Jalen McMillan/Malik Davis/Kimani Vidal/TJ Hockenson/Evan Engram/Jacoby Brissett