I love doing mock drafts. You learn what you like and what you want to avoid, so you're more prepared when your actual draft happens. I encourage you to do as many mock drafts as possible, especially now that training camp is here.
We held this 12-team, PPR mock draft at the end of July with members of our CBS Sports staff, as well as Fantasy Football Today Podcast listeners Erik Guenther and Andrew Baumhor. I like how this draft turned out, but I also don't love my team.
I had the No. 7 pick in Round 1 and selected Jonathan Taylor, which is great. In Round 2, I drafted Kenneth Walker III and was excited to start RB-RB in this league, even though our starting lineup features three receivers.
In Round 3, I just missed on Tee Higgins and DeVonta Smith since both were selected right before my pick at No. 31 overall, but I got Emeka Egbuka, who is one of my favorite breakout candidates since he should be the No. 1 receiver in Tampa Bay. So far, so good.
Round 4 is where I made a pick I might regret with Breece Hall. This has nothing to do with Hall, who should have a bounce-back season in 2026 and is appropriately priced at No. 42 overall. He's an excellent flex option, and that's something to keep in mind here.
We often view the flex spot as a throwaway position, but Fantasy production in all your starting spots is important. I now have the best trio of running backs in this league, and hopefully that will carry my team into the playoffs and to a potential championship.
But the reason I might regret drafting Hall here is that I passed on Terry McLaurin, Luther Burden III and D.J. Moore, and either of those guys would have bolstered my receiving corps. They were all gone by the time I was on the clock in Round 5, as were Malik Nabers, Davante Adams and Mike Evans, who went right before my selection at No. 55.
I didn't want to reach for Christian Watson or Rome Odunze at that spot -- both went right after my pick -- so I selected my No. 2 ranked quarterback in Lamar Jackson. At this point in the draft, I had a stud running back corps (Taylor, Walker and Hall), an elite quarterback in Jackson and a breakout receiver in Egbuka. But why was I unsatisfied?
You never want to miss on a player or players in a tier when your strategy starts to unfold, and that's what happened to me at wide receiver. I was now chasing the position, and I filled out my starting lineup with Alec Pierce (Round 6), Quentin Johnston (Round 7) and Travis Kelce (Round 9) since I also waited on tight end.
My bench is receiver-heavy with Jalen Coker (Round 10), Denzel Boston (Round 11), Antonio Williams (Round 12) and Jack Bech (Round 13), and I also have Rhamondre Stevenson (Round 8) and Emmett Johnson (Round 14). Overall, this is a solid roster, especially if Pierce takes a step forward as the new No. 1 receiver for the Colts, as well as Johnston thriving under new Chargers' offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. Coker, Boston, Williams and Bech also offer plenty of upside.
But I might have liked it better with McLaurin, Burden or Moore instead of Hall in Round 4. And I would have loved it if I drafted Hall and then still landed Nabers, Evans or Adams in Round 5.
Maybe next time it will work out in my favor, or I will try something different. And that's why we do mock drafts. Practice makes progress, and you get different data points to learn from. It should help when your real Draft Day arrives.
As a reference point for this mock draft, all touchdowns are worth six points, and we award one point for every 10 yards rushing and receiving and one point for every 25 yards passing. We also award one point for every reception. We feature a starting lineup of QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, TE and FLEX (RB/WR/TE) with six reserves for a 14-round draft.
Our draft order is as follows:
1. Jake Winderman, CBS Sports News Editor
2. Jake Grogins, CBS Sports HQ Production Staff
3. R.J. White, Managing Editor, SportsLine and CBS Fantasy
4. Meron Berkson, CBS Sports HQ Senior Coordinating Producer
5. Sam Davis, FFT Podcast Producer
6. Erik Guenther, Podcast Listener
7. Jamey Eisenberg, Senior Fantasy Writer
8. Dave Richard, Senior Fantasy Writer
9. Will Brinson, CBS Sports NFL Writer
10. Adam Aizer, FFT Podcast Host
11. Mike Eisley, FFT Social Media Coordinator
12. Andrew Bauhmor, Podcast Listener
