The Chippewa Champions League · 2026 drafts
Croushore crowns the league's first kicker in round six
Croushore made ten of his fourteen picks by hand this year, which is ten more than he made in 2023, in 2024 or in 2025, and the first time since 2022 that a human being has been meaningfully involved in the construction of this roster. He drew overall 3, the best slot he has had since he opened the 2019 draft at first overall, and spent it on Ja'Marr Chase. Then, at pick 94 in round 6, he took Brandon Aubrey — the first kicker off the board in the entire sixteen-team league, while J.K. Dobbins (165.5 points), Chris Godwin (152.0 points) and Brian Thomas Jr. (148.1 points) all disappeared before his next turn at 126. Nine rounds of hands-on work was apparently the ceiling. At 158 he let go of the wheel and the machine closed out the last four picks for him.
The result projects at 1599.1 points, sixth of sixteen, and the two positions nobody is supposed to care about are the two he nailed. Aubrey is the best kicker in this league at 171.5 points, the Texans D/ST at 129.1 points is second of sixteen, and Chase at 277.0 points is the second-best WR1 anybody has. Everything in between is bottom-third. Courtland Sutton is the WR2 at 164.0 points, 14th of 16 at that job, and Croushore used picks 99 through 222 without once improving on him. Travis Etienne Jr. leads the backfield at 217.4 points, 12th of 16 among RB1s, and Chuba Hubbard flexes at 165.9 points, also 12th. The round-6 kicker looks a lot more expensive from down here.
Tight end is the trapdoor. Tucker Kraft is the only one on the roster, he is coming off a torn ACL, and his 152.4 points rank 8th of 16 on the assumption that the knee cooperates. The robot ended the draft on Ryan Flournoy, a third Dallas receiver, while AJ Barner (103.0 points) and Chig Okonkwo (100.5 points) went undrafted by all sixteen teams. Five of these fourteen names carry an injury flag. And Jerry Jeudy turned up at 190 for the third time on a Croushore roster, after 2023 and 2025 — every one of those three picks was made by the computer, which means Croushore has now rostered Jeudy more often than anyone in this league and has never once chosen him.
| Slot | Player | Proj | At this slot |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Jalen Hurts | 321.8 | 4 of 16 |
| RB | Travis Etienne Jr. | 217.4 | 12 of 16 |
| WR | Ja'Marr Chase | 277.0 | 2 of 16 |
| WR | Courtland Sutton | 164.0 | 14 of 16 |
| TE | Tucker Kraft | 152.4 | 8 of 16 |
| DST | Texans D/ST | 129.1 | 2 of 16 |
| K | Brandon Aubrey | 171.5 | 1 of 16 |
| FLEX | Chuba Hubbard | 165.9 | 12 of 16 |
| Bench | |||
| RB | Jacory Croskey-Merritt | 141.5 | RB37 overall |
| RB | Dylan Sampson | 90.3 | RB48 overall |
| WR | Jordyn Tyson | 105.3 | WR66 overall |
| WR | Jerry Jeudy | 113.9 | WR59 overall |
| RB | Tank Bigsby | 76.2 | RB57 overall |
| WR | Ryan Flournoy | 82.7 | WR79 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.
| Rd | Overall | Player | Pos | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Ja'Marr Chase questionable | WR 1 vs 1 | questionable |
Best slot Croushore has had since the first overall pick in 2019, and he spent it on 277.0 points while Christian McCaffrey (293.0 points), Puka Nacua (291.0 points) and Jonathan Taylor (290.7 points) came off the board at 5, 4 and 6. Chase was also carrying a Questionable tag by the time the draft closed, though he still ended up the second-best WR1 in this league, so the bill has not come due yet. | ||||
| 2 | 30 | Jalen Hurts | QB 2 vs 6 | reach |
Second quarterback off the board in a sixteen-team league when the market had him sixth, four spots early, for a man whose rushing production collapsed last season. Dak Prescott was still sitting there at Croushore's round-5 turn and went at 73 for 315.8 points, against Hurts' 321.8. | ||||
| 3 | 35 | Travis Etienne Jr. | RB 17 vs 17 | routine |
| 4 | 62 | Tucker Kraft questionable | TE 5 vs 9 | questionable |
Fifth tight end taken when the market had him ninth, four spots early, for a man coming off a torn ACL and listed Questionable. Harold Fannin Jr., 158.0 points and with both knees intact, went at 80. | ||||
| 5 | 67 | Courtland Sutton | WR 31 vs 30 | routine |
One spot off his market, and the market is the problem: 164.0 points is this roster's WR2, 14th of 16 at the job in this league, and nothing Croushore did afterward improved on it. | ||||
| 6 | 94 | Brandon Aubrey | K 1 vs 1 | questionable |
The first kicker taken in the entire league, in round 6, in a league where Cairo Santos went at 191 for 143.0 points and Will Reichard at 198 for 142.5. Aubrey is the best kicker in the league at 171.5 points, and the price was a round-6 pick in a stretch where J.K. Dobbins (165.5 points), Chris Godwin (152.0 points) and Brian Thomas Jr. (148.1 points) all disappeared before Croushore's next turn at 126. | ||||
| 7 | 99 | Chuba Hubbard questionable | RB 33 vs 35 | routine |
| 8 | 126 | Jacory Croskey-Merritt questionable | RB 42 vs 41 | routine |
The fourth man on this roster listed Questionable, after Chase, Kraft and Hubbard. | ||||
| 9 | 131 | Texans D/ST | DST 1 vs 1 | routine |
| 10 | 158 | Dylan Sampson auto | RB | questionable |
After three consecutive drafts the robot ran from first pick to last (2023, 2024, 2025), Croushore sat through nine rounds himself and then blinked here, and the machine took a fourth running back at 90.3 points, a Cleveland backup the services price anywhere from 73.2 to 112.1. | ||||
| 11 | 163 | Jordyn Tyson injury reserve | WR | questionable |
A receiver on Injury Reserve who will miss a month or two of the season, and the fifth injury-flagged name on a fourteen-man roster. Denzel Boston, healthy and worth 117.4 points, was on the board and went at 180; so was Jerry Jeudy, whom the robot took for Croushore at 190 anyway. | ||||
| 12 | 190 | Jerry Jeudy auto | WR | routine |
Third Jeudy on a Croushore roster after 2023 and 2025, and Croushore has never once chosen him: both of those drafts were autodrafted end to end, and so was this pick. At 113.9 points he was the best thing left on the board, which is also not something Croushore can take credit for. | ||||
| 13 | 195 | Tank Bigsby auto | RB | questionable |
A fifth running back at 76.2 points, with Rashod Bateman (105.1 points, gone at 199) and Devaughn Vele (98.5 points, gone at 204) still sitting there. Draft Sharks has Bigsby at 57.0 points. | ||||
| 14 | 222 | Ryan Flournoy auto | WR | questionable |
The only tight end on this roster is Tucker Kraft, who is coming off a torn ACL, and the robot closed the draft on a third Dallas receiver while AJ Barner (103.0 points) and Chig Okonkwo (100.5 points) went undrafted by all sixteen teams. | ||||
Keeps going back to
- Jerry Jeudy — 2023, 2025, 2026
- Jarvis Landry — 2016, 2017, 2019