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New York Times
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
NHL Mock Draft 2025: Pronman, Wheeler and Bultman play GM and pick Round 1
By Corey Pronman, Scott Wheeler and Max Bultman Two years ago, we tested out a new idea and called it our 'if I were GM' mock draft. The idea was simple: In place of the mock drafts our prospects writers Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler do individually where they predict what will happen on draft day, we wanted to give them a chance to draft the first round making their own selections for each team. Advertisement Today, for a third year running, it's back by popular demand. Once again, Max Bultman has joined Pronman and Wheeler in making the selections as a way to limit their ability to read off each other's lists. The order for the first round was drawn at random, with Wheeler going first, Bultman second and Pronman third. Here's how they'd pick if they were in charge of each team's draft board. Schaefer, Michael Misa and James Hagens are my top three prospects in the class, so I can understand the desire to at least consider the hometown player. I'd certainly consider Misa long and hard too (I've debated ranking him atop by board at various points). The Islanders could use a top-of-the-lineup center, to be sure. I even understand the hesitancy some have in taking a D with a No. 1 pick. But I still think the right place to land is probably on Schaefer, who has the makings of a franchise defenseman. He's a world class skater who projects as a two-way stud and he would be my pick. — Wheeler The Sharks certainly would have loved to have gotten Schaefer, with defense more of a long-term need in their system, but Misa is an excellent alternative and adds to the impressive firepower they're amassing. Misa could become an outstanding second-line center behind Macklin Celebrini, or bump to the wing to form a dynamic future top line. In either case, the Sharks are building quite the foundation. — Bultman I get the first big decision of this mock. That's fine, it's why they pay me to be the (mock) GM, to handle the pressure. I think Brampton winger Porter Martone is the best player available right now. Looking in the playoffs, he has the potential, if he hits, to do things that Sam Reinhart and Mikko Rantanen (in best, best case) are doing. I also am not in love with the idea of Connor Bedard as the 1C of the future, and think on a winning team he's likely best suited for the wing. Desnoyers is my top ranked center available, and I think he's a slight nudge behind Martone as an overall player. I don't love taking a slightly worse player at 3. But my team has had high picks three years in a row, taking defensemen with two of them and a center who is probably a winger with the other. This is where you find potential first-line centers. Reinhart, Rantanen are nice, but you can trade for wingers as those teams did in both cases. I'm getting my two-way play driving center. — Pronman Conventional wisdom will say that a 1-2 down the middle of Logan Cooley and Hagens is too small to win in May and June. For that reason, I think the Mammoth, who've prioritized size in their drafting and also have 5-11/6-foot players like Clayton Keller and Tij Iginla up front, probably go a different direction than I do here. But precisely because they have prioritized size, particularly on their blue line (where it matters most) but also up front (they still have it with guys like Jack McBain and Lawson Crouse, with Daniil But and the heavy strength of Cole Beaudoin on the way), I think you can take Hagens. Not only would he add skating and skill to a center depth chart that needs more of both, but also the Mammoth should like him for many of the reasons they liked Cooley. I think you can win with Cooley and Hagens, too. I'd also consider Porter Martone here, though, despite Utah's relatively stronger depth on the wings because the Mammoth are actually a little thin in right-shot wingers. I'd strongly consider Desnoyers here if he were available as well. And I'm taking all three of those players over Anton Frondell. — Wheeler Thanks to the new decentralized draft format, no one could see me grimace on camera as Scott called that last name. The Predators could certainly use an injection of Hagens' pace and skill in their system. Martone is tempting here too, and he certainly feels like a Nashville type. But it's just too hard to pass on the chance to take a two-way center with dangerous goal-scoring ability, so I'm going to take Frondell. He didn't finish on a high note, with a so-so showing at the U18 World Championship, but his body of work on the season is still very impressive, as is the toolkit. He'll slot perfectly into a Nashville system crying out for high-end centers. — Bultman This is going to be a challenging and potentially unpopular pick with our fans. The organization is dying for a premier center talent. Jake O'Brien is staring us in the face. He's a great player. I just did a similar analysis at 3 with Chicago where I opted for Desnoyers. The difference now is centers went off the board three picks in a row, we're now at the fourth option, and the difference between O'Brien and Martone is larger than the analysis was at 3. I feel I'm going substantially off my list if I take O'Brien over Martone for positional reasons. I think O'Brien is probably a second-line center on a good team. The Flyers rebuild is probably years away from completion, you have to imagine they will be back picking high again, even if next year's draft early on doesn't seem overflowing with premium center talent. We elect for the big, powerful winger with star upside even if his skating is a flaw. I hope this doesn't bite us in the ass. — Pronman Those top six are my top six and this is where the draft starts to open up for me and I'd start to consider Roger McQueen or a D like Radim Mrtka. But with McQueen's injury history, I don't think there's enough of a gap between him and O'Brien to justify taking him here. The Bruins are better off starting this bit of a reset they're in with a premium prospect down the middle rather than on D, too. O'Brien's combination of skill, skating, two-way commitment and hockey IQ make him the right choice. I'd bet that with his lean frame and summer birthday that he still has steep development in front of him, too. — Wheeler This one all comes down the medical, but the Kraken — with a stocked system of young centers — are in a great position to take this swing on a player who would go higher than this on pure talent. McQueen's combination of size, skill and skating is rare, and if he hits, he could give the Kraken the kind of cornerstone they sorely need. I considered a defenseman here, which Seattle has yet to take in the first round, but felt the talent with McQueen was just too much to ignore. — Bultman Victor Eklund is the BPA here, but in the background is the plethora of smaller, skilled forwards Buffalo has drafted over the past five years. It would be hard to justify Eklund into the mix the Sabres have already picked, even if he's a great and highly competitive player. We opt for Aitcheson here. He's our second ranked-defenseman in this class. He brings a combination of tenacity, skill and athleticism to the blue line and will help us at both ends of the ice on top of making our team harder to play against. — Pronman I'm only thinking about three names here: Mrtka, Eklund and Brady Martin. Coincidentally, they all play different positions and are all good fits for the Ducks for different reasons. Martin would give them an ultra-competitive center who fits the identity they want to play. Eklund, another competitor, would give them a right-shot winger to bolster the depth they began prioritizing with the Beckett Sennecke pick last year. And despite having a good, young group of defensemen to work with, all of Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov, Olen Zellweger and Stian Solberg are lefties, and none of them look like Mrtka. Mrtka's combination of handedness, size and skating would make him unique for the Ducks, even if this would be a real debate for me. — Wheeler I thought long and hard about Eklund, but this is still the early stages of what could be a long rebuild, and I'm taking every chance I can to build down the middle. Martin brings so many likable elements as a thick-bodied center with skill and an edge to his game. I don't think he'll be the first-line center of the future in Pittsburgh, but he projects to play a huge role, and should be a great culture-setter for the next era. — Bultman Really, really, really super not thrilled with this outcome because the last thing my organization needs is another first-round winger, but Eklund is the clear best player left on our board. We have to take him. He projects to be better than our recent first-round picks. This potential outcome, though, may be why the Rangers could lean to letting go of the pick to the Penguins because it's very possible there is a run on the premium centers and defensemen right in front of them. — Pronman Once the 12 names we just saw get picked, there's a case to be made that the next best players are wingers. I think Carbonneau has more puck skill than Carter Bear or Lynden Lakovic, and that gives him the edge for my Red Wings (take that, Bultman!). He has several of the elements the Red Wings have targeted (a 6-foot-1, pro-built forward who can play through contact), but he's got better hands than Michael Brandsegg-Nygård or Nate Danielson as well. He's my BPA and I think he makes sense for Detroit, checking some boxes while also adding offense and a talent grade that we need. Don't let the familiar profile fool you, he has legit offensive skill. — Wheeler The perfect scenario would have been if Mrtka had fallen here, giving us a right-shot D to replace David Jiricek, but even though Smith is a left shot, he still brings plenty of upside to the system. He's a great skater at 6 feet 3, and has the potential to become a big-minute blueliner who shuts down transition offense as a defender and helps spark it on the breakout. — Bultman Reschny's strong second half put him squarely in the conversation to go in this range. Whether or not he's an NHL center is to be determined due to his size, but he could be. He's a good enough skater and competes hard, but his skill and hockey sense are excellent. He provides an offensive element that Vancouver's organization needs post J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser. — Pronman Teams can get too cute when they have back-to-back picks like this. I'm not going to. Bear is the best player available on my board and could fit as an excellent up-and-down the lineup winger in bleu, blanc et rouge. His Achilles rehab appears to be trending in the right direction, and with the premium centers capable of filling our 2C hole off the board, Bear's our guy. — Wheeler Back-to-back wingers here makes me a little itchy, but without a slam dunk center fit (though I did consider Braeden Cootes), I'm going with the premium athlete in Lakovic. He can skate, shoot and handle the puck, and brings a needed size factor to our young forward group at 6 feet 4. Cameron Reid was another consideration, as a great skating blueliner, but with that part of our system in pretty good shape, we'll take the rare athletic traits with Lakovic. — Bultman We're very excited to see Cootes still there at 18 and we will take advantage of his slide. Cootes is a skilled center who plays with pace and a high compete level and projects as a middle-six center in the NHL. The Flames need young center depth and he's the clear best center left. We didn't sprint up to the virtual podium but it was a light jog. — Pronman Wingers Jimmy Snuggerud and Zach Bolduc have arrived, center Dalibor Dvorsky will follow them, and there's a case to be made that the two top prospects available are defensemen Logan Hensler and Cameron Reid, which suits us well. We've taken four defensemen in the first two rounds of the last two drafts but only one of them (Adam Jiricek) is a righty and none of them are true top-end prospects (though Jiricek and Theo Lindstein are legit prospects). We're happy to get Hensler — a 6-foot-2 righty who can skate, has two-way potential and is a comparable prospect to Jiricek and Lindstein. — Wheeler We got our D earlier this round, now we're taking a versatile forward we can deploy anywhere in the lineup. Nesbitt has a lot going for him with size, physicality and slick hands. He can use those qualities to complement offensive players, or he can use them to check. He does have one big question mark with his skating, but if he can iron that out as he adds muscle, there's a lot to like in Nesbitt's projection. — Bultman Ottawa acquires a hopeful goalie of the future that it hasn't had since Robin Lehner. The system needs a lot of things, but it does need a goalie. He's the best player available, has starting goalie level tools and makes sense as the pick here. Yes, goalies take forever to develop. But Ottawa just committed to Linus Ullmark for years so ideally he can be a bridge to Ravensbergen. — Pronman I strongly considered Reid here but we need to take some swings and Potter, the best skater in the draft, represents that in this range for me. I project him as a more likely winger than center at the next level, but once the top group in the draft is gone — and in my estimation it now is — his blend of elite skating and plus-level puck skill is worth the bet. We added speed with the Jett Luchanko selection last year and we're adding even more to a pool that could still use it here. Patience will be important for both him and us as he learns how to best deploy his skating and talent, but there's upside with proper development. Matvei Michkov, Martone, Luchanko and Potter gives us a diverse mix of players to work with and suddenly a lot more skill after our first two selections of 2025. — Wheeler I'm not going to watch Reid tumble any longer. It's true that we already have a smaller puck-moving left D in Tanner Molendyk as our top defense prospect, which made me consider big-bodied righty Blake Fiddler here instead. There aren't many playoff teams with two smaller D (at least ones who aren't dynamic-offense-types) in their top four. But Reid is an excellent skater, a smart defender and the kind of player I want in my lineup. We'll figure out the rest later. — Bultman Boumedienne's season ended on a high note after a lot of ups and downs. I have some reservations on him this high, but I also think there's potential for this pick to age well. He's an excellent skater, a defenseman with size, and although his hockey sense can worry you at times, he's had a history of showing legit offense as well. The tools are just to good to pass up at 24. — Pronman The two most-talented players left on the board are Ben Kindel and Ryker Lee, but we have a lot of the skilled 5-10/11 variety up front in Chicago, and Spence represents a better fit as a competitive and driven 6-1, 200-pound winger who can skate with our speed and projects to be able to play up and down our lineup. — Wheeler Turns out we're going to get both of the defensemen I considered at No. 23 — now adding a 6-foot-4 mobile righty in Fiddler to the future defense corps. He projects to take on tough matchups, and could form a great second pair of the future with Reid. — Bultman Washington has drafted a lot of wingers in recent years, and we use the 27th pick to add one of the most competitive centers in the age group. Gastrin isn't a flashy player, but he's a steady two-way player who could be a potential third-line center for the Capitals. — Pronman We were hoping a D would be available here but in the absence of one who fits this range, we're excited by Kindel's smarts and skill. We have good size up front in our pool already and Kindel gives us more of a thinking offensive game and a potential point producer (99-point CHL players aren't typically available in this range). He's the best player available at this slot. — Wheeler After getting Cootes earlier in the round, we'll take a tooled-up winger here in Ihs-Wozniak, who skates quite well at 6 feet 3 with slick hands and playmaking feel. That offense in a bigger body has the potential to be a valuable, versatile piece in our future top nine. — Bultman Prokhorov is an ideal gamble with the Flyers' third pick. He's a big, fast, physical winger who could provide secondary offense in the NHL. He will become adored by Flyers fans for the way he plays. — Pronman We're going to swing on skill here and Lee's a dynamic on-puck talent with one of the best sets of hands in the draft. He has to get quicker but we believe he's not done developing or growing and his skill level is hard for us in Carolina to find when we're always drafting so late. We can also afford to give him the time he needs at Michigan State, where he'll be in good hands (pun intended) under a great coaching staff. They don't call him The Wizard for nothing. — Wheeler We didn't get our D at No. 2, so we're getting one here in Brzustewicz. And our guy just so happens to be a teammate (and sometimes defense partner) of our 2024 first-rounder Sam Dickinson. Brzustewicz can make defensive stops thanks to his skating and compete level, and shows poise with the puck to help chip in offense as well. — Bultman (Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photos of Anton Frondell, Matthew Schaefer and Michael Misa: Michael Miller / ISI Photos / Getty Images)
New York Times
08-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Submit your questions for Scott Wheeler's 2025 NHL Draft mailbag
The Athletic's Scott Wheeler released a new 2025 NHL Draft ranking on Monday and his first 2025 mock draft on Thursday. Have a draft, prospects or scouting question for him? Submit them below for his upcoming mailbag.
New York Times
07-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Tough decisions, ‘stolen' players and more from an early 2025 fantasy football mock draft
For many, the fantasy drafts you care about the most aren't likely to take place until the dog days of August. But preparing for league domination should begin long before that. If you haven't taken stock of the fantasy football landscape for 2025, consider this mock draft the first step in your quest for a fantasy title in 2025. Participants in this 12-team, half-PPR exercise include (listed in draft order) Jake Ciely, Jay Felicio, Theo Gremminger, Gary Davenport, Brandon Funston, Jacob Robinson, Jeff Haverlack, Michael Salfino, Scott Engel, John Laghezza, Jess Bryant and KC Joyner. ► Click here for an expanded view of the draft grid One unique wrinkle to this mock exercise was requiring every team to draft at least two quarterbacks or two tight ends — you had to have a backup for at least one of those two positions. It's a way to manufacture a larger snapshot of those positions — otherwise, most managers would do what they often do in these mocks, which is spend all their picks on the 'sexier' running back and wide receiver positions, and we'd end up with maybe 12-14 picks at QB and/or TE. With this stipulation in place, we finished with 20 drafted quarterbacks and 16 drafted tight ends, casting a wider net on the hierarchy of those positions. Additionally, this draft took place before reports that the Cowboys are looking to acquire George Pickens. After the draft concluded, we asked each participant what their toughest decision was and which player was 'stolen' right before they were going to take them—the one who got away! Those answers are below, but since Jake Ciely had the first pick and his player rankings are already so well known among many of you reading here, we thought we'd ask him some questions specific to his draft strategy. Let's get to it! Jake Ciely Q. You took receivers with four of your first five picks. Was that by design, given the 3 WR+Flex setup, or more a function of how things fell to you? A. I almost always let the board fall to me, and drafting at 1.01, my plan was starting 1 RB and 2 WR, unless great value fell. It was the Round 4/5 turn where I considered grabbing a second running back, but after Joe Mixon went at 4.08, my next tier of running backs left more opportunities for value at the next turn. I will never be a proponent of true Zero RB, but I do enjoy Hero RB, and I believe this year is a great time to do it. Given the draft class and number of split backfields, you'll find running backs with lead/RB2 potential in the sixth, seventh and even eighth rounds. There is some injury risk with my No. 3 and 4 receivers, but I can absorb that given Chris Godwin's WR1 upside as my third option, plus D'Andre Swift, Kaleb Johnson and Brian Robinson Jr. are in play as my RB2 … one of which should definitely hit. Q. You didn't take the requisite three combined QB/TE until your final three picks — C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson and Dalton Kincaid. Would you be good going heading into the 2025 fantasy season with this QB/TE crew? Were you tempted by someone at either position earlier in the draft? A. Given I was on the turn, I was subject to runs and didn't expect to be in on either position early. I would have drafted a top-5 QB if one made it to the 4/5 turn. Once that didn't happen — and at tight end, only Mark Andrews neared the investment I wanted to pay, but went two picks ahead of me — I was in end-game mode. Stroud is in a great spot to bounce back, and I will always chase Top 5 upside if I don't get a Top 5 player in the draft. If Richardson learned anything and can pass half decently, we know he's in play for a Top 5 spot, which is a gamble I'll always take as my QB2. Jay Felicio Toughest decision: Drafting Quinshon Judkins over Omarion Hampton and TreVeyon Henderson in the fifth. I prefer both Hampton and Henderson in dynasty, but being redraft, I took the back I feel has the clearest path to bell-cow touches. Jerome Ford doesn't concern me — he's just a guy. But Najee Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson likely cap the latter two's upside for 2025. One who got away: Losing out on Jayden Higgins on the Round 8/9 turn was a dagger straight to the heart. I was targeting Kyler Murray in the mid-to-late rounds and thought I could wait a little longer on Higgins. I was wrong. Theo Gremminger Toughest decision: After my RB-RB start, I had anticipated selecting either Ladd McConkey or Garrett Wilson. McConkey was taken a few picks earlier, but I was pleasantly surprised that Bucky Irving lasted past the Round 2-3 turn. This created a major headache between Irving and Wilson, but I ultimately went with the running back. Wilson is a target magnet (469 over the past three seasons) and should have one of the highest target shares of any wide receiver this season. But the allure of Irving was too much to pass up. As a rookie, Irving finished with over 1,513 combined rushing and receiving yards and eight touchdowns — numbers that should tick up in Year 2. He has top-5 RB upside and is an absolute hammer at this range in the draft. One who got away: I was sniped multiple times in this draft — right from the top (I prefer Bijan Robinson to Saquon Barkley this season) and again toward the end (Gary Davenport sniped me on Justin Fields and tilted me in the process!). But the one who truly got away was RJ Harvey. He was a tremendous value in early Round 7, and even with my three-running-back start, he would have been too good to pass up. The Denver Broncos have been on the hunt for a high-end fantasy producer at the running back position seemingly since the Knowshon Moreno days. This role could be fantasy gold. Denver ranked fourth in running back targets in 2024 and first in 2023 — the explosive Harvey will have a baked-in floor as a receiver in this offense. As a runner, Harvey had the second-most runs of 10 yards or more among FBS backs, trailing only Ashton Jeanty. Gary Davenport Toughest decision: Not to cop out here, but my hardest call was probably my first — deciding between Jahmyr Gibbs, Justin Jefferson or CeeDee Lamb with the fourth overall pick. Compelling arguments can be made for all three, but the 'old school' in me won out in taking Gibbs. The list of running backs who are true fantasy 'anchors' seemingly shrinks by the season, and I just feel more comfortable finding mid-round values at wide receiver. It's still early, but right now I think the place to be on draft day might be the back half of Round 1. One who got away: It was a two-pick gap, so it wasn't the snipiest of snipes, but missing on Marvin Harrison Jr. in Round 3 stung. Yes, his rookie year was rather meh, but I still believe in the talent, and Kyler Murray and Jonathan Gannon have both raved about the work Harrison has put in this offseason. I won't be even a little surprised if Harrison winds up a Top 10 fantasy receiver in 2025 and a value pick for drafters. Brandon Funston Toughest decision: Unlike Jake, I haven't finished my initial 2025 player rankings yet, so when I was looking for a WR in Round 5, I was stalled by an inability to decide between Zay Flowers, DeVonta Smith and Courtland Sutton. With a couple of seconds left on the pick clock, I decided on Flowers. It was at least heartening to see Smith and Sutton go with two of the next three picks — I don't think there was a wrong answer. The one who got away: I was one pick away from landing James Conner as my third top 13 running back from last season, after taking Kyren Williams and Joe Mixon earlier. It would have been so nice to have three running backs with no real threat to their featured roles. Instead, after getting sniped again in the next round on Aaron Jones, I ended up with committee members Cam Skattebo and Jaylen Wright as my other running backs — I opted to take players at different positions where I was hoping to land Conner and Jones. Jacob Robinson Toughest decision: No. 6 overall. Taking Jeanty would've set the tone for a high-risk, high-reward team, but CeeDee Lamb felt like the safer option. I went with safety here, following the philosophy that you can't win a draft in the first round, but you can lose it. I began to regret it by Round 6, as running backs flew off the board. One who got away: Aaron Jones in Round 7. My plan was obvious: Get high-upside receivers and pair them with established running backs below ADP. That got blown up when Gary Davenport drafted Jones, which caused me to panic-draft Patrick Mahomes and, by necessity, a few rounds later, Travis Kelce. Had I gone Jones, I would've had my ideal stable of skill position talent to pair with an ascending passer like Caleb Williams. After that, all my worries would've disappeared. Heck, I'd be willing to go as far as saying we might've seen world peace. Thanks, Gary. Jeff Haverlack Toughest decision: My toughest decision was to abandon my 'no risk early' draft strategy to select Ashton Jeanty at 1.07. Being this was a half-PPR draft, I naturally elevated running backs, but when Bijan Robinson, Saquon Barkley and Jahmyr Gibbs were off the board, my top tier was gone, leaving Jeanty, Christian McCaffrey and Jonathan Taylor as my fallbacks. My hope was that one of the latter two would also make it back to me in Round 2. Jeanty was sure not to. He has a guaranteed high-volume role and should be a three-down player, so I took the gamble. As it turned out, McCaffrey went early in the second round, and Taylor went at 2.05, one selection before I would have paired him with Jeanty. One who got away: Cooper Kupp is aging and has had difficulty remaining healthy, but I love his fit in the Seahawks offense. I didn't believe he'd go in Round 8, so I had him queued up to select at 8.06. Once again, the manager (Michael Salfino), who was before me at 8.05, surprised me by selecting him. I had no expectation that would occur, and I had to scramble to select Stephon Diggs, which is a solid selection, but I believe Kupp will have the better season. Michael Salfino Toughest decision: It was early. We're playing Flex 10 (three WRs and a flex). Totally different game and draft than two WRs and a flex (RBs rule). So when I was planning Brian Thomas Jr. as a worst-case scenario in Round 2, and I was sniped the pick before, I had to scramble. No WR was worth it. I had to choose between Jonathan Taylor and Josh Jacobs. I went with the player I think is better and who is a year younger in Taylor, but the setup in Green Bay seems better, honestly. One who got away: Isiah Pacheco was a snipe against me in Round 8. I was sniped earlier, but that's more expected. Late snipes are so rare, and it was literally one spot before I picked. Scott Engel Toughest decision: My third-round decision was the toughest, but I liked how it worked out. I was deciding whether to go with a top WR as a third starter or take an RB1 or elite QB. It was between Terry McLaurin, Jayden Daniels,and James Cook. In the end, I could not resist McLaurin as a WR3. One who got away: I never get sniped or annoyed at someone being picked before me because I always have several players in the queue and realize others may be targeting the same guys. That said, it would have been good to see James Cook slip to my spot in Round 4, but I could have taken him in the third, so that's the risk I was willing to go with. John Laghezza Toughest decision: In Round 6, I chose Jaylen Waddle over a second RB, which turned out to be a mistake. One who got away: Najee Harris went right before me at the Round 7-8 turn and blocked me from pairing him with fellow Charger Omarion Hampton. I was not happy. Jess Bryant Toughest decision: I would say choosing my running back room was generally difficult. I feel like I got Christian McCaffrey at a fair price, and I think he'll have a good year. But I don't think anyone drafting him can be 'confident,' given last season, his injury history and Isaac Guerendo's performance in McCaffrey's absence. James Cook is in contract negotiations and could lose touches to Ray Davis or someone else, but Davis isn't stellar, and I have to believe Cook will be the lead back in Buffalo. Then, I opted for TreVeyon Henderson. I think Henderson will outperform Rhamondre Stevenson and have a solid season, but drafting a rookie is always a risk. I was the 11th pick, though, so most Hero RBs were off the board before I could grab them. I always try to draft the best available player, but I had to fill out my running back room, and there are only so many bell cows and guarantees. One who got away: Sam LaPorta was chosen two picks before my slot, and, in my opinion, he was the last TE I had my eye on in the top 1-2 tiers. So, I waited a few rounds and grabbed Kyle Pitts, who has failed me in at least two previous fantasy seasons. He will likely falter again, but he still has a ceiling, and I'm praying for it. KC Joyner Toughest decision: The toughest early call was Xavier Worthy with the 4.1 pick. It was between him, Mike Evans, Davante Adams, Rashee Rice and DeVonta Smith. I already had A.J. Brown, so that eliminated Smith. Evans and Adams have age risk issues and Worthy seemed a safer pick than Rice (although they are all somewhat relatively risky picks at that point). One who got away: Josh Allen was the vultured pick at 3.11. I'm aiming higher at QB this year than in past years, and he may have the highest upside at his position. I still ended up with Joe Burrow, which is a good consolation, but I would have preferred Allen's rushing ability. Mock draft miscellanea Of the first 76 picks, 67 were running backs (27 total) and receivers (40), with just five quarterbacks and four tight ends selected in that span. Ashton Jeanty was the first rookie selected, No. 7 overall, and another rookie didn't come off the board until Travis Hunter was selected in Round 4, No. 43 overall. Brock Bowers is the new Travis Kelce, pushing up near the Round 1 boundary as the No. 15 overall pick. Trey McBride went as the TE2 six picks later, followed by George Kittle in Round 3 (No. 32 overall) — a predictable Salfino selection. After that, just one tight end — Sam LaPorta (No. 57 overall) — went in the next 44 picks. Here's where some of the expected backfield committees were drafted, with industry ECR listed in parentheses: Los Angeles Chargers: Omarion Hampton RB19 (19); Najee Harris RB30 (33) Pittsburgh Steelers: Kaleb Johnson RB25 (27); Jaylen Warren RB28 (31) New York Giants: Tyrone Tracy Jr. RB31 (32); Cam Skattebo RB34 (37) Jacksonville Jaguars: Travis Etienne Jr. RB33 (36); Tank Bigsby RB36 (38); Bhayshul Tuten RB42 (50) New England Patriots: TreVeyon Henderson RB20 (24); Rhamondre Stevenson RB37 (34) Here's where some of the old faces in new places landed, with industry ECR listed in parentheses: Justin Fields, NYJ — QB12 (11) Davante Adams, LAR — WR20 (18) DK Metcalf, PIT — WR32 (26) Deebo Samuel, WAS — WR35 (41) Cooper Kupp, SEA — WR45 (47) Stefon Diggs, BUF — WR46 (41) Christian Kirk, HOU — WR55 (50) Evan Engram, DEN — TE12 (10) (Top photo of Brock Bowers: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
