The Chippewa Champions League · 2026 drafts
Dorenbusch's receivers rank 14th, 15th and dead last
Dorenbusch made eight picks by hand this year, which by his standards is an act of sustained concentration — six autodrafted is the fewest he has turned in since 2022, and a considerable climb from the eleven of fourteen he phoned in back in 2024. He got as far as Jason Myers at 122 and then left the room for good. The machine took it from there, six straight, and did what machines do: 79.1 points on Travis Hunter, whose ESPN outlook is largely concerned with mirroring receivers and tracking the ball in coverage, because he plays defense now. The last pick of the entire draft went on a 57.0-point rookie stuck behind Christian McCaffrey, one slot before Jauan Jennings and his 106.0 points came off the board at 219.
The part he was awake for is genuinely good. Drake Maye at 324.9 points is the third-best QB1 in a sixteen-team league, James Cook III at 262.0 points is sixth among the RB1s, and Tyler Warren — taken in the second round with a Questionable tag attached, which is the kind of thing this paper usually gets to mock in November — came in fourth of sixteen at tight end with 168.2 points. Then there is Myers, 158.5 points and third among kickers, drafted by Dorenbusch in 2021, in 2023, and now in 2026, on the same biennial schedule as a dental cleaning. Four starting spots, all of them top six. Nobody expected that.
What ruins it is the receiver room, and ruins is the right word. Terry McLaurin is the best wideout on this team at 179.7 points, which places him 14th of 16 among the league's WR1s. Alec Pierce is 15th of 16 at WR2 with 155.3 points. Michael Wilson is 16th of 16 at flex with 144.4 points — dead last in the league at the position, a starter every single week, and Rico Dowdle and his 172.6 points were still sitting there when that card went in one pick earlier. The pattern has been visible since the opening round: Jaxon Smith-Njigba went at 8 with 269.2 points, one pick after Cook, and Malik Nabers went at 40 with 202.0 points, one pick after Maye. Twice the receiver was right there and twice the clock moved on without him.
The whole thing projects to 1508.4 points, 14th of 16. Fifteen seasons of this league have been played and Dorenbusch has not won one of them or appeared in a final, and a quarterback, a back, a tight end and a kicker cannot carry three bottom-of-the-league receiver slots to the first.
| Slot | Player | Proj | At this slot |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Drake Maye | 324.9 | 3 of 16 |
| RB | James Cook III | 262.0 | 6 of 16 |
| WR | Terry McLaurin | 179.7 | 14 of 16 |
| WR | Alec Pierce | 155.3 | 15 of 16 |
| TE | Tyler Warren | 168.2 | 4 of 16 |
| DST | Ravens D/ST | 115.4 | 6 of 16 |
| K | Jason Myers | 158.5 | 3 of 16 |
| FLEX | Michael Wilson | 144.4 | 16 of 16 |
| Bench | |||
| RB | Blake Corum | 141.0 | RB38 overall |
| WR | Jalen Coker | 123.0 | WR56 overall |
| WR | Travis Hunter | 79.1 | WR81 overall |
| RB | Samaje Perine | 84.0 | RB53 overall |
| WR | Rashod Bateman | 105.1 | WR67 overall |
| RB | Kaelon Black | 57.0 | RB64 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 | 7 | James Cook III | RB 5 vs 5 | routine |
Fifth back off the board where the market wanted him fifth, and Cook's 262.0 points are sixth among this league's RB1s. Jaxon Smith-Njigba and his 269.2 points went the very next pick at 8, which is worth remembering once the receiver room comes into view. | ||||
| 2 | 26 | Tyler Warren questionable | TE 3 vs 4 | questionable |
Taking a tight end carrying a Questionable tag in the second round is a bet, and this one landed: 168.2 points, fourth of sixteen at the position. What sat there untouched was Josh Allen at 370.0 points, gone at 28, after which Dorenbusch spent pick 39 on a quarterback worth 324.9. | ||||
| 3 | 39 | Drake Maye | QB 4 vs 3 | routine |
Fourth quarterback taken against a market that had him third, and Maye is the third-best QB1 in the league at 324.9 points. Malik Nabers went at 40 for 202.0 points, one pick later, and nothing that good came near this roster at receiver again. | ||||
| 4 | 58 | Terry McLaurin | WR 25 vs 24 | routine |
McLaurin is the best wideout on this team and that is exactly the problem: 179.7 points ranks 14th of 16 among the league's WR1s. Luther Burden III (183.0 points) and Jameson Williams (182.3 points) both sat on the board and went at 65 and 63. | ||||
| 5 | 71 | Alec Pierce | WR 33 vs 37 | reach |
Four spots ahead of the market for a deep threat the services cannot agree on at all — CBS projects 189.7 points, Draft Sharks 131.0 — and he is now the WR2 here at 155.3, fifteenth of sixteen. Jaylen Warren and his 174.0 points went three picks later at 74. | ||||
| 6 | 90 | Michael Wilson | WR 37 vs 38 | questionable |
Rico Dowdle went at 91, one single pick later, for 172.6 points. Wilson's 144.4 points are dead last among the league's flex starters, 16th of 16, and the man who fixed that was still sitting there when the card went in. | ||||
| 7 | 103 | Blake Corum | RB 35 vs 38 | reach |
Three spots early for a handcuff who needs Kyren Williams to get hurt before he means anything, on a roster that needed a receiver more than it needed insurance. J.K. Dobbins (165.5 points) went at 105 and Chris Godwin Jr. (152.0 points) at 107. | ||||
| 8 | 122 | Jason Myers | K 2 vs 3 | routine |
Third time Dorenbusch has drafted Jason Myers, after 2021 and 2023, and at 158.5 points he is the third-best kicker in a sixteen-team league. The habit pays. | ||||
| 9 | 135 | Jalen Coker auto | WR 54 vs 56 | routine |
This is where Dorenbusch left the room and never came back — every pick from here was autodrafted, six in a row. The robot's opening move was Coker at 123.0 points with KC Concepcion (138.3 points) going at 136. | ||||
| 10 | 154 | Travis Hunter auto | WR 61 vs 45 | questionable |
Sixteen spots past the market looks like a fall worth catching until the reason for it registers: ESPN's own outlook on Hunter is about mirroring receivers and tracking the ball in coverage, because he plays defense now. The robot bought 79.1 points while Denzel Boston (117.4 points) went unclaimed until 180. | ||||
| 11 | 167 | Ravens D/ST auto | DST 7 vs 6 | routine |
| 12 | 186 | Samaje Perine auto | RB | questionable |
Eighty-four points from Chase Brown's backup, a 30-year-old ESPN openly advises leaving on the waiver wire. Jerry Jeudy (113.9 points) lasted until 190 and Jalen Nailor (109.0 points) until 194. | ||||
| 13 | 199 | Rashod Bateman auto | WR | routine |
| 14 | 218 | Kaelon Black auto | RB | questionable |
The last pick of the draft and the machine spent it on a 57.0-point rookie stuck behind Christian McCaffrey, with the services ranging from 110.5 at CBS to 48.8 at RotoBaller. Jauan Jennings and his 106.0 points went at 219, the very next pick. | ||||
Keeps going back to
- Jason Myers — 2021, 2023, 2026
- Patrick Mahomes — 2019, 2022, 2025
- Raheem Mostert — 2020, 2022, 2024
- Corey Davis — 2017, 2018, 2020
- Larry Fitzgerald — 2014, 2016, 2019
- Kyle Rudolph — 2016, 2017, 2019
- Stephen Gostkowski — 2013, 2015, 2017
- Andrew Luck — 2014, 2015, 2016