Around the League
Four slots, and one receiver
Puka Nacua projects 356 points, the most of any receiver in this league, and he was
the twenty-ninth receiver drafted. Twenty-eight names came off the board ahead of him,
three of them in the first round, and every single one projects worse. THE SQUAD took
him with pick 70.
| Slot | Best | Proj | Worst | Proj | Gap |
|---|
| Quarterback | Josh Allen | 422 | Trevor Lawrence | 338 | 84 |
| Tight end | Trey McBride | 242 | Dallas Goedert | 177 | 65 |
| Defense | Texans | 147 | Jaguars | 92 | 55 |
| Kicker | Brandon Aubrey | 172 | Andre Szmyt | 122 | 50 |
Quarterback is now the widest starting slot in the league. The kicker column runs
upside down: the position’s best went 44th overall, its third-best was the final pick of
the draft, and the fifteenth-round selection between them sits in last place. Both of the
best entries at defense and kicker belong to the last-place roster, which is carrying 319
points across the two slots nobody plans around.
Second Quarterbacks
Eight of ten managers drafted one
Correction: an earlier edition of this page counted six backup
quarterbacks, then named only two teams without one, which left two managers in neither
list. The number was eight. The desk regrets the arithmetic.
One quarterback starts, no flex slot takes a second, and so a backup plays in exactly
two kinds of week: the bye, and the bad kind. Eight managers drafted one anyway, and in
two cases the spare has already taken the job. Drake Maye, drafted 114th as insurance,
now projects third among every quarterback in this league, and Jaxson Dart, drafted
128th, out-projects Justin Herbert by six.
| Team | Starting QB | Proj | On the bench | Proj |
|---|
| Spitters and Shitters | Bo Nix | 349 | Dak Prescott | 346 |
| Threepeat Starting | Jaxson Dart | 341 | Justin Herbert | 335 |
| San Diego Fourth and Long | Lamar Jackson | 375 | Matthew Stafford | 363 |
| Dungeon Masters | Drake Maye | 373 | Brock Purdy | 347 |
| Dangerwich | Patrick Mahomes | 344 | Baker Mayfield | 314 |
| The Paper Tigers | Joe Burrow | 371 | Caleb Williams | 332 |
| Downto Party | Jalen Hurts | 367 | Jared Goff | 327 |
| THE SQUAD | Josh Allen | 422 | Tyler Shough | 307 |
Only Luke and Jared stopped at one quarterback, and with two of the eight spares now
starting, the case for the backup has never looked better than it does this week.
Team Reports
In projected order
The Paper Tigers
Leo Barahona2307.7
1st on starters · bench 1250.8 · slot 1
Burrow, Gibbs, Jeanty, Chase and Nabers were the plan, and the plan leads the league by 114.1 with Gibbs projecting 365, the most of any running back in it. The stranger contribution is the last pick of the entire draft: Harrison Mevis, taken 160th because somebody had to be, projects 160 — third among the league's ten kickers, ahead of seven men drafted before him.
- Best value
- Harrison Mevis at 160. The final pick of the draft projects 160, third-best at the position.
- Worst value
- MarShawn Lloyd at 81, projecting 86, four picks before Javonte Williams went at 85 with 260.
Chase at 41 projects 338, more than any of the sixteen receivers drafted ahead of him, and Nabers hands the flex 246. First by 114.1 was built at both ends of the board, which is the way nobody plans it and everybody wants it.
THE SQUAD
Roland Howard2193.6
2nd on starters · bench 1262.6 · slot 10
Puka Nacua at pick 70 projects 356, the highest number attached to any receiver in this draft, and twenty-eight of them went earlier. Add Josh Allen's 422, the best quarterback projection in the league, and drafting from the ten slot stops looking like a punishment.
- Best value
- Puka Nacua at 70. The twenty-ninth receiver drafted projects 356, first at the position league-wide.
- Worst value
- De'Zhaun Stribling at 71, projecting 150, spent one pick after finding the best receiver in the draft.
The double defense finally has its argument: Denver's 141 is second-best in the league and starts, while Seattle's 133 waits behind it. There is still exactly one slot, so the better half of the idea plays and the other half decorates the bench.
Clints 3rd roster
Luke Troxel2178.7
3rd on starters · bench 1197.9 · slot 5
The draft-day headliners took the damage here: Brian Thomas Jr. projects 177, Chuba Hubbard 173, and neither cracks the lineup. What holds third place together is the back half of the draft — Javonte Williams, pick 85, projects 260 and leads the backfield, while Travis Etienne, pick 136, projects 246 and starts beside him. Luke's ninth and fourteenth rounds are now his starting running backs.
- Best value
- Travis Etienne Jr. at 136. He out-projects twenty-six of the running backs drafted before him.
- Worst value
- Jaguars D/ST at 145, projecting 92 — the worst defense in the league, with Cleveland at 114 and New England at 109 still on the board.
St. Brown at 324, London at 270 and McBride at 242 keep the top of the lineup heavy, and McBride edges Bowers by a single point for the league's best tight end projection. A team named after Clint remains on the podium, one step lower than it was drafted for.
Dangerwich
Bryan Cruz2147.3
4th on starters · bench 1366.8 · slot 6
- Best value
- Patrick Mahomes at 126. The fifteenth quarterback drafted projects 344 and holds the job by thirty points.
- Worst value
- Kyle Pitts at 55, projecting 185, with Tyler Warren still available until 91 at 211.
Smith-Njigba's 327 is the third-best receiver projection in the league, and McCaffrey brings 343 out of the backfield. Mahomes sits thirty clear of Baker Mayfield, whose 314 waits on the bench for bad news that may never arrive. Tight end is still the thin slot, and the fix was on the board at the time.
Downto Party
Duane Phillips2142.8
5th on starters · bench 1342.1 · slot 2
- Best value
- George Pickens at 59, projecting 239. Twelve receivers drafted ahead of him project less.
- Worst value
- Courtland Sutton at 62, projecting 204, with Puka Nacua still sitting there for another eight picks.
Rashee Rice at 22 leads the receiving room at 261, Jeremiyah Love's 278 has quietly taken the top backfield job from Saquon Barkley's 274, and Hurts supplies 367 behind them. The early defense at 82 remains the awkward pick — Houston went two selections later and projects twelve more — but a fifth-place lineup is a smaller complaint than most of this league is carrying.
Dungeon Masters
Clint Troxel2104.1
6th on starters · bench 1438.5 · slot 7
Drake Maye, drafted 114th to hold a clipboard, projects 373, behind only Allen and Jackson among every quarterback in this league. He has taken the starting job from Brock Purdy without playing a down. Achane at 293 and Henry at 275 carry the backfield, Jacobs and his 259 slide to the flex, and the bench, at 1438.5, is the second-largest in the league.
- Best value
- Drake Maye at 114. Eleven quarterbacks went earlier, and he projects third in the league at the position.
- Worst value
- Andre Szmyt at 147, projecting 122, last among the league's kickers, with Pineiro, Loop, Bates and Mevis all still on the board.
HomerThe Cleveland situation has escalated. Harold Fannin Jr. has taken the tight end job from Travis Kelce, so all three Browns on this roster — Fannin, Szmyt and the Cleveland defense — now start every week. That is 425 projected points of undiluted municipal loyalty. The defense, at 114, is no longer the league's worst; that title moved to Luke's Jaguars. The kicker still is.
Sixth also means the roster Clint manages now outranks Clint's 2nd Roster, the team Jared named after him, by two places. The brand recovers.
Spitters and Shitters
Andrew Suberlak2101.1
7th on starters · bench 1376.8 · slot 9
The roster is deeper than the name: Loveland's 206 is the fourth-best tight end projection in the league, and Nix at 349 holds off Prescott's 346 by a margin thin enough to argue about all season. Pineiro at 152 turned out to be the rare late kicker who out-projects both men taken with the next two picks.
- Best value
- Bo Nix at 109. Six quarterbacks drafted earlier project less than his 349.
- Worst value
- Bhayshul Tuten at 52, projecting 205, with Javonte Williams still on the board until 85 at 260.
Jefferson at 294, Hall at 274 and Chase Brown at 272 fill the top of the lineup, and the Steelers at 137 remain a top-three defense. Seventh with the ninth slot and two autodrafted picks is honest work, and the less said about the name the better.
Clint’s 2nd Roster
Jared Troxel2084.6
8th on starters · bench 1136.2 · slot 3
4 autodraftedBijan Robinson projects 353, third among the league's non-quarterbacks, and Brock Bowers at 241 lost the best-tight-end title to Trey McBride by a single point. Below those two it thins quickly: Higgins at 219 and Waddle at 213 lead the receivers, and the flex belongs to Carnell Tate, a pick ESPN made while Jared was out of the room.
- Best value
- Bijan Robinson at 3. Only Gibbs and Nacua project more among players who are not quarterbacks.
- Worst value
- Trevor Lawrence at 78, projecting 338, the lowest starting-quarterback figure in the league, with Drake Maye available until 114 at 373.
The computer's four picks held up — Tate starts, Pittman projects 197 — and the real weight is the smallest bench in the league at 1136.2. Eighth also sits one place behind Dungeon Masters, which means the team named Clint's 2nd Roster has been out-drafted by the actual Clint.
Threepeat Starting
Vincent Silvia2073.2
9th on starters · bench 1467.8 · slot 8
Start with the quarterback room, since it was undercounted around here once already. Vincent drafted two, Herbert at 48 and Jaxson Dart at 128, and the rookie has taken the job at 341 to Herbert's 335. A thirteenth-round quarterback starting over a fifth-round one is the kind of outcome this draft kept producing.
- Best value
- Jaxson Dart at 128. Five quarterbacks drafted earlier project less, including the one he now starts ahead of.
- Worst value
- Rachaad White at 108, projecting 165, with Travis Etienne on the board until 136 at 246.
The rest is the same balanced construction it always was — five backs, five receivers, no autodrafted picks, no holes — and the bench, at 1467.8, is the biggest in the league. Ninth is a rude return on the league's most sensible draft, and the flex still runs through DeVonta Smith at 239.
San Diego Fourth and Long
Al Johnson2005.0
10th on starters · bench 1269.2 · slot 4
Here is a team holding the best kicker in the league and the best defense in the league, Aubrey at 172 and Houston at 147, and finishing last anyway. The other seven slots have to play too. Golden's 185 is the second receiver, Goedert's 177 is the tight end, and the flex is Xavier Worthy at 174.
- Best value
- Matthew Stafford at 64, projecting 363. He sits behind Jackson doing nothing and out-projects four other teams' starters.
- Worst value
- Still Brandon Aubrey at 44 — now the best kicker in the league, and the board still had Puka Nacua on it.
Aubrey deserves the strange little history he is writing. A kicker taken at pick 44 became the position's runaway leader, ten points clear of the field, and the pick remains hard to defend because Nacua projects 356 and was sitting right there. Being right about the kicker and wrong about the pick at the same time is its own kind of achievement, and the standings hold the verdict.