The Chippewa Champions League · 2026 drafts

Bench brings four picks, robot brings ten, Brutes bring up the rear

Reilly Bench · The Brutes · snake draft

Reilly Bench made four picks in 2026 and let the machine make the other ten, which is less a scandal than a return to form. Ten of fifteen went to autodraft in 2022, thirteen of fourteen in 2023, twelve of fourteen in 2024. Last season he turned up and made ten picks by hand, and in hindsight that looks like a brief attack of conscience rather than a change of policy. The one clear benefit of the absence: Bench drafted the Seahawks defence in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016, and it took an unattended keyboard to finally get a different team — the Patriots — into that slot.

The lineup that came out the other end projects to 1491.4 points, sixteenth of sixteen in this league. The wound is at receiver, where Michael Pittman Jr. and his 148.5 points are the worst WR2 among all sixteen teams, and that is not a bad week here and there, it is a starting spot every single Sunday. Emeka Egbuka at 187.8 points is twelfth of sixteen at WR1, which means David Montgomery — the third running back, drafted in the fourth round, riding the bench at 188.3 points — projects for more points than either man Bench actually starts at the position. There are five running backs on this roster. Matthew Stafford, the reigning MVP, arrived at pick 110 for 297.6 points and fourteenth of sixteen among this league's starting quarterbacks, which is what happens when Josh Allen's 370.0 points leave the board at 28 and you are not in the room.

Credit where it is owed, and the machine gets most of it. Ashton Jeanty at 227.6 points is the best FLEX in the entire league, first of sixteen, no argument. George Kittle went tenth among tight ends when the market had him sixth, and at 155.0 points he is seventh of sixteen and the only Brutes starter standing in the top half of his position. Bench has been to one final in fifteen years, losing to Harvey in 2012. Nothing here suggests the second one is coming, but the robot found the tight end.

1491.4 points, 16 of 16
SlotPlayerProjAt this slot
QB Matthew Stafford 297.6 14 of 16
RB Jeremiyah Love 215.0 13 of 16
WR Emeka Egbuka 187.8 12 of 16
WR Michael Pittman Jr. 148.5 16 of 16
TE George Kittle 155.0 7 of 16
DST Patriots D/ST 113.0 7 of 16
K Cam Little 146.9 8 of 16
FLEX Ashton Jeanty 227.6 1 of 16
Bench
RB David Montgomery 188.3 RB23 overall
RB MarShawn Lloyd 129.3 RB43 overall
WR Tank Dell 63.0 WR100 overall
RB Zach Charbonnet 121.0 RB44 overall
WR Jaylin Noel 93.2 WR71 overall
WR Ja'Kobi Lane 92.5 WR72 overall

Half-PPR season points. The lineup is fixed by draft order, so switching service changes the numbers and never who is in the chair. The written copy above is from the median and does not move.

RdOverallPlayerPosVerdict
1 14 Jeremiyah Love questionable RB 9 vs 13 reach

Ninth back off the board in a league where the market had him thirteenth, and Derrick Henry's 267.7 points sat there untouched and went one pick later at 15. Love's 215.0 points make him the 13th-best RB1 in a 16-team league, which is a strange place to land from the 14th pick.

2 19 Ashton Jeanty questionable RB 12 vs 11 routine
3 46 Emeka Egbuka questionable WR 18 vs 18 routine
4 51 David Montgomery RB 23 vs 22 questionable

A fourth-round pick spent on a third running back who ends the day on the bench at 188.3 points, while Tee Higgins and his 195.2 points sat as ESPN's 42nd-ranked player and went at 56. The receiver room this left behind is 16th of 16 at WR2.

5 78 Michael Pittman Jr. auto questionable WR 34 vs 35 questionable

The first pick nobody was awake for, and the robot spent it on a 148.5-point receiver with DK Metcalf's 162.5 points still sitting at ESPN's No. 78; Metcalf went at 88. Pittman is now the worst WR2 among all sixteen teams.

6 83 George Kittle auto questionable TE 10 vs 6 value

Tenth tight end taken when the market had him sixth, Achilles and all, and at 155.0 points he is the only Brutes starter in the top half of his position. The machine's finest hour.

7 110 Matthew Stafford auto QB 15 vs 11 value

The reigning MVP went as the 15th quarterback here when the market had him 11th, which is a real fall. It still only buys 297.6 points and 14th place of 16 among this league's starting quarterbacks, with Josh Allen's 370.0 points long gone at 28.

8 115 MarShawn Lloyd auto RB 38 vs 32 steal

Six spots later than the market wanted him, which would be fine business if he were not the fifth running back on a roster whose WR2 is last in the league. Quentin Johnston and his 152.8 points went two picks later at 117.

9 142 Tank Dell auto injury reserve WR questionable

A receiver on injured reserve taken in round nine, with ESPN declining to put a number on him at all. His 63.0 points consensus is the smallest figure anywhere on this roster.

10 147 Zach Charbonnet auto out RB 47 vs 45 questionable

Two picks in a row on men who cannot play: Charbonnet was listed Out with a torn ACL from January, and the robot did not blink.

11 174 Patriots D/ST auto DST 10 vs 8 routine

Bench has drafted the Seahawks defence four times in this league — 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 — so it took an absent manager and a machine to finally put someone else here.

12 179 Cam Little auto K 8 vs 6 routine
13 206 Jaylin Noel auto questionable WR routine
14 211 Ja'Kobi Lane auto WR questionable

The last act of a ten-pick autodraft run, spent on a rookie ESPN had fourth in line in Baltimore behind Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman and worth owning mainly in leagues that keep players, which this one is not. Jauan Jennings and his 106.0 points went at 219.

Keeps going back to

  • Russell Wilson — 2012, 2013, 2014, 2020
  • Seahawks D/ST — 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016
  • Alvin Kamara — 2019, 2022, 2023
  • Doug Baldwin — 2012, 2014, 2018
  • Cam Newton — 2012, 2015, 2016