Fantasy Football Mock Draft: 10-round results, post-NFL Draft

The first round of this draft unfolded essentially within what one can expect when real leagues get rolling later this summer. This was particularly true in the first six selections.

I’d be pretty shocked if the first six picks aren’t universally, in some order: Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, Ja'Marr Chase. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Puka Nacua and Christian McCaffrey. The last two players in the bucket may give managers the most pause before clicking; Nacua has had a rocky offseason, to say the least, and McCaffrey is coming off a monster workload after handling the fourth-most opportunities at the running back position since 2000. Still, at their individual peaks, both are capable of tilting leagues, so they are worthy top-six selections.

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The back-half of Round 1 here may end up being more “receiver-pilled” than your typical league, where running backs like James Cook, Jonathan Taylor and De’Von Achane may end up ahead of some of the receivers we took.

My pick: Kyler Murray may not be the perfect quarterback, but he’s still been a top-20 player in most efficiency metrics while playing in an offense that didn’t suit his skills the last three seasons. He is a considerable upgrade over what Justin Jefferson played with in 2025. Jefferson can win on the vertical and boundary routes that Murray likes to throw better than his Arizona WR1s did.

I find this addition to be enough to push Jefferson back to top-five receiver status and firmly believe getting a high-end WR1 is a must this year with the massive influx of heavy personnel packages removing most third receivers from the field.

Most intriguing pick: Ashton Jeanty will likely end up a back-end Round 1 player in most leagues this year. His rookie season was mildly disappointing from a stats perspective but most are willing to give him a mulligan considering the heinous nature of his offensive ecosystem. Klint Kubiak is a proven elevator.

Round 2

Here we see the running back revival get back on track as seven of the 10 picks in Round 2 were at that position. For the most part, all of these names check out just fine relative to where they went. The one name that strikes me as a big volatile is Omarion Hampton. Based on extremely early ADP, this is where we can expect him to go off the board; it just requires somewhat of a leap of faith based on an incomplete rookie season for Hampton. With Mike McDaniel in town and a zone-heavy system installed that fits Hampton’s rushing style, I won’t blame anyone for taking the plunge.

One pick I liked here was Brock Bowers as the TE1 off the board ahead of Trey McBride, who goes in Round 3 of our draft. This should be the consensus opinion. McBride dominated last year and is an awesome player but Arizona was relentlessly dropping back last season while trailing and had just McBride and Michael Wilson as viable targets with Marvin Harrison Jr. hurt. The Raiders’ receiver room looks much more like one that will require the tight end to be the top targeted player by a significant gap.

My pick: I’m mildly concerned that De’Von Achane’s fantasy ceiling is diminished with what will almost certainly be a decline in his total target number this year. However, he’s still a strong selection in the second round with Miami’s massive offensive line ready to pave the way for a run-heavy team.

**Most intriguing pick:**Jeremiyah Love’s ADP will be fascinating to track this offseason. I’m of the belief that the Cardinals offense isn’t nearly as bad as many think and this situation is much better than the one that thwarted Jeanty’s ceiling in 2025. Getting Love at the end of Round 2 works for me.

Round 3

The pendulum swings back to wideouts in Round 3 as six of them go off the board compared to two backs and two tight ends. Remember, the takeaway from last fantasy season is not that wide receivers as a whole are less valuable; the lower-ranked players at WR2 and certainly WR3 just flattened out. WR1s still hold the same value over the field, with an argument that they’re even more critical with potential target consolidation available in heavier personnel packages. This was the round where drafters made their last gasp at getting some of those options.

My pick: Colston Loveland was an aggressive pick by me here as a top-30 player, which will likely come in ahead of ADP. I want to be high on the Bears offense in 2026 and beyond and am very much in on Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III, depending on cost. However, Loveland has a claim to be the best of the pass-catching trio and could offer positional value advantage at tight end.

Most intriguing pick: Malik Nabers might end up being the steal of the draft at pick 30, or he could be a rocky ride with missed games to start 2026 and a ramp-up period as he works back to form. His injury is worth tracking all offseason, with mixed reports about his likely availability to date. I like taking the risk here at the end of Round 3.

Round 4

We saw our first two quarterbacks come off the board in Round 4, with Josh Allen being the expected name and Drake Maye something of a surprise at QB2 overall. Even though he finished at this spot last year, extremely early ADP has Maye outside the top-five at the position. Taking him here indicates extreme optimism in what the all but cemented AJ Brown addition will do for the young quarterback. Maybe I’m just a little more skeptical about what Brown has left than most.

My pick: Your ultimate boring but value pick, Josh Jacobs is set up for another massive workload projection. The Packers offense shuffled at receiver and on the offensive line but had the depth needed to survive the churn. It should still be a good unit across the board and Jacobs faces no real threat to his bell-cow status.

Most intriguing pick: Bucky Irving followed up his rookie sensation year with a nightmare second season. He dealt with injuries and wasn’t playing much at the goal line or on passing downs by the end of 2025. If he can regain the trust of the staff on passing downs and be closer to full strength, he will be a steal at RB19.

Round 5

The fifth round was a receiver-heavy run and it’s guys of all different archetypes with risk/reward profiles. Frankly, it’s hard to argue with almost any of these selections. We also saw two quarterbacks leave the board in this round and it’s two players at something of a crossroads in their careers. Lamar Jackson is coming off a down season but gets a fresh start under a new coaching staff. Jalen Hurts is playing under a new offensive coordinator with the understanding that this unit is going to try and look quite different from his past seasons. The reward is similar but there may be more risks with these high-end quarterbacks than in previous seasons.

My pick: Let’s keep the oldheads train rolling with Davante Adams following Jacobs in Round 5. Adams definitely doesn’t have a top-five ceiling anymore but was still effective and will be a threat around the goal line once again. The Rams didn’t add any serious target competition this offseason, so as long as he can stay healthy and Matthew Stafford is on the field, Adams is ticketed for a similar role as what we saw last year. That’s well worth a Round 5 selection.

Most intriguing pick: Cam Skattebo was the only running back selected in this round. At RB20, you can certainly inherit just about any risk needed with the Year 2 back coming off an injury. Despite rumors that the Giants were heavily interested in adding a back this offseason, New York is running back the same trio they had last year. Considering that Skattebo had a strong stretch where he ran out as the bell cow amid that group, there’s a lot of upside in his 2026 outlook. 

Round 6

We saw two more tight ends leave the board this draft but otherwise, it was more of the same at running back and wide receiver. You’re seeing a ton of second-year players in this round and that makes sense. All of the players selected who fit that bill have credible upside cases but some murkiness we need to uncover in the rotations of their various positional rooms. Those are the types of high-upside swings you want to take in this range.

My pick: Jameson Williams is a boom-or-bust receiver on a weekly basis but when he can be slotted in as your team’s WR3, as he will be for me, I’m more than comfortable living with that volatility. To be fully transparent, if I hadn’t taken Colston Loveland in this exercise, I would have taken Rome Odunze here, as I’m confident he has just as credible a chance to be the top target in the offense, despite what ADP says. As for Williams, he provides spike week potential as well as anyone.

Most intriguing pick: Tre’Veyon Henderson is a player I just don’t have a good read on. The final stats from his rookie year were impressive but buoyed by a few big games when Rhamondre Stevenson missed time. I also can’t get it out of my head how this team almost completely pushed Henderson aside for Stevenson in the playoffs, a series of games fantasy managers and analysts rarely remember to factor in. Henderson at RB23 isn’t a heinous bet or anything but I fear Stevenson hasn’t done anything to be overtaken as the lead ball-carrier — and he went in Round 10 of this draft.

Round 7

The running backs taken in this round are perfect seventh-rounders. Veterans like D’Andre Swift, David Montgomery and Jaylen Warren aren’t going to get anyone excited but each projects for key roles in their backfields. Swift and Montgomery are likely clear frontmen for teams with strong projected win totals. The fourth back taken in this round was Jadarian Price, because you need to have some sizzle mixed in with the substance. Price at RB26 is an ideal range for the rookie to go off the board.

My pick: When one Arizona wide receiver gets taken, that’s your signal to grab the next one. Both Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michael Wilson (my pick) have a shot to lead this room in targets and both fit the new offense under Mike LaFleur. Wilson has shown more interpositional versatility so far and he could end up as the slot-heavy option of the two players.

Most intriguing pick: Christian Watson had the best season of his pro career in terms of how he played in isolation last year in my opinion and I’m not sure it was all that close. Getting Watson at WR30 is a nice value, even if there is some injury risk in the equation. The Packers’ wide receiver room is going to be more concentrated than we’ve seen in previous years after Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks moved on. So there is more stability for the top three options there and that could lead to all of them being underrated.

Round 8

We’re clearly getting into murky territory here as each of these wide receivers have a major question or two in their profiles and the running backs are either backups on good teams or shaky starters on questionable offenses. That’s the range we’re in. As such, my favorite pick of the round was Jayden Daniels, whom I might rank ahead of Jackson and Hurts, who went off the board several rounds before this one.

My pick: Rico Dowdle should go ahead of Jaylen Warren, in my view. Dowdle has back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and is a superior early-down runner. He is a headstrong back who could fit well behind a steadily improving offensive line. It helps that he has some familiarity with head coach Mike McCarthy and is a good pass blocker.

Most intriguing pick: Alec Pierce goes off the board at WR35. If the Colts are hoping to make good on their investment in Pierce, they need him to be more than this. Yet, a volatile downfield receiver who has major ups and downs usually goes in this range. The question for Pierce is whether he can grow his game beyond that. Clearly, the Colts think the answer is yes, and I like taking the exploratory journey at this ADP. 

Round 9

Three drafters took their quarterback in this round. Since this is a 10-round exercise, and I don’t see much discernible difference between the trio taken here and guys closer to QB10, I just won’t take one in this specific draft. Most everyone else took wideouts. All of the receiver bets in this range have varying levels of appeal and there isn’t much dropoff to these guys from the players taken in Rounds 6 and 7. That’s why grabbing an elite receiver and taking your shots in this range for WR2-4 makes so much more sense to me.

My pick: Anyone with eyeballs can see that Ricky Pearsall is good at the game. He just needs to stay healthy. The addition of Mike Evans should allow Pearsall to move around the formation and play fewer on-ball snaps with a less vertical-heavy route tree than he had to own in 2025. He’s still an excellent breakout candidate.

Most intriguing pick: I have no idea what to make of Kyle Pitts Sr. in 2026. He had a breakout year on paper last year and he played well down the stretch. But anyone sensible can admit his final stat line was inflated by his massive 40-point eruption late in the year. The Falcons have a hole at their WR2 spot so Pitts stands to inherit more volume and perhaps a change at play-caller can allow him and Drake London to produce at the same time. That has been a struggle in recent seasons.

Round 10

We again see several drafters fill out the roster by snagging tight end picks here. That position gets pretty brutal toward TE10 and on — you can’t get me excited about Dallas Goedert in the year 2026. My guess is that these drafters, if we played this out, would take a second tight end to insulate themselves from rolling out the Isaiah Likelys of the world as the clear, every-week TE1s. That’s a perfectly viable strategy to me.

My pick: To be fully transparent, I mostly took him so we could discuss him on the mock draft recap podcast episode, but still, Jonathon Brooks is one of the more fascinating fantasy options this year. Brooks was an explosive talent coming into the league but has been thwarted by multiple ACL tears. There were rumblings out of Carolina that the team was excited about Brooks’ rehab and had faith in him contributing this year. That seemed backed up by their actions, as Carolina didn’t add a back after Rico Dowdle left. Brooks could be the clear RB2 behind Chuba Hubbard, who is coming off a down year, in what’s a good rushing ecosystem. You can find worse dart throws.

Most intriguing pick: Brooks is probably the right answer but I’ll go with Oronde Gadsden II. At times in his rookie season, he looked like the next big thing at tight end. However, his role faded as the receiving corps improved and the offensive line fell apart, leading him to stay in to block more often than run a route on passing plays. The Chargers will likely play more heavy personnel packages in 2026 after adding a blocking tight end and fullback in free agency. While that could be good for Gadsden, we also see targets get funneled to the wideouts in those looks. Gadsden is a volatile but high upside pick in 2026.