Robot skips Kittle, Kane carries a seventy-two point hole at tight end

In thirteen drafts since 2012 Kane had never picked earlier than third, and the one time the board finally handed him the second overall selection he did the only sensible thing with it: Bijan Robinson, 316.3 points, the one back in the room nobody had to argue about. He also stayed awake for eight of fourteen picks, which sounds like faint praise until it is set against 2025, when the robot made all fourteen for him and he did not touch the thing. Six autodrafted picks out of fourteen is, by the standards of this particular franchise, a burst of civic engagement.

The trouble is which six. At pick 66 the robot woke up early, spent Kane's tight end money on Carnell Tate, a rookie listed Questionable at 145.5 points, and left Harold Fannin Jr. at 158.0 points and George Kittle at 155.0 points sitting on the board for another fifteen picks. So Jake Ferguson starts every week at 129.0 points, 15th of sixteen among this league's TE1s, in a year when the best of them projects 201.0 points. That is a seventy-two point hole Kane opens the lineup with each Sunday, and the draft closed on Zachariah Branch at 74.1 points while AJ Barner at 103.0 points and Chig Okonkwo at 100.5 points went undrafted by all sixteen teams.

What survives the tight end room is genuinely good. The starting lineup projects 1616.2 points, third of sixteen, carried by Robinson and by Javonte Williams at 225.0 points, the second-best flex in the league and the one unambiguously sharp human decision after round one. The Steelers defence comes in third at 124.5 points. The soft middle is everywhere else: Garrett Wilson leads the receivers at 192.4 points and ranks 11th of sixteen among WR1s, and Mahomes at 303.7 points is a quarterback rebuilding a knee who also ranks 11th of sixteen, though Kane at least had the sense to buy Jared Goff at 293.1 points as insurance before he clocked out. The robot's parting gift was Cairo Santos, the kicker Maciuba named a team after on the way to winning 2025 as Cairlos Santanos. The 2024 champion now owns the actual man, ranked 11th of sixteen at 143.0 points.

1616.2 points, 3 of 16
SlotPlayerProjAt this slot
QB Patrick Mahomes 303.7 11 of 16
RB Bijan Robinson 316.3 2 of 16
WR Garrett Wilson 192.4 11 of 16
WR Jameson Williams 182.3 8 of 16
TE Jake Ferguson 129.0 15 of 16
DST Steelers D/ST 124.5 3 of 16
K Cairo Santos 143.0 11 of 16
FLEX Javonte Williams 225.0 2 of 16
Bench
WR Carnell Tate 145.5 WR41 overall
WR Jayden Reed 144.9 WR43 overall
QB Jared Goff 293.1 QB16 overall
RB Keaton Mitchell 83.9 RB54 overall
WR Jalen Nailor 109.0 WR64 overall
WR Zachariah Branch 74.1 WR86 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 2 Bijan Robinson RB 2 vs 2 routine

Thirteen drafts since 2012 and Kane had never picked earlier than third; the reward was the one back nobody had to argue about, 316.3 points and right where the market had him. The best thing left behind him was Christian McCaffrey at 293.0 points, which settles it.

2 31 Garrett Wilson WR 12 vs 15 reach

Wilson went three spots earlier than the market had him at 192.4 points while George Pickens sat at 217.2 points until pick 38 and Breece Hall at 223.6 points until 33. Wilson is now the lead receiver here, 11th of sixteen among this league's WR1s, where the best is 291.0 points.

3 34 Javonte Williams RB 16 vs 14 routine

The best runner left on the board at 225.0 points, two spots after the market wanted him, and he turned into the second-best flex in the league. The one unambiguously good decision Kane made after round one.

4 63 Jameson Williams WR 27 vs 25 routine
5 66 Carnell Tate auto questionable WR 30 vs 29 questionable

The robot's only appearance before round 10, and it spent the pick on a rookie listed Questionable at 145.5 points with Harold Fannin Jr. (158.0 points, gone at 80) and George Kittle (155.0 points, gone at 83) both on the board. Every tight end complaint that follows starts here.

6 95 Jake Ferguson TE 13 vs 12 routine

Ferguson is the man who has to start at tight end, 129.0 points and 15th of sixteen among this league's TE1s, where the best is 201.0 points. The pick landed a spot off market and is defensible on its own; the hole was dug thirty picks earlier.

7 98 Patrick Mahomes questionable QB 12 vs 15 questionable

A quarterback rebuilding a knee, listed Questionable on draft day, taken three spots ahead of the market at 303.7 points, with Brock Purdy at 310.8 points still sitting there until 106. Mahomes starts here 11th of sixteen among the league's QB1s, where the best is 370.0 points.

8 127 Jayden Reed WR 51 vs 52 routine
9 130 Jared Goff QB 18 vs 17 routine

Goff at 293.1 points against Mahomes at 303.7 points is the hedge the round-seven pick demanded, bought one spot behind market. The last pick a human made all night, and it was the right one.

10 159 Steelers D/ST auto DST 5 vs 5 routine

This is where the humans left the building: every remaining pick was autodrafted. Last year the robot made all fourteen for Kane, so six of fourteen counts as progress, and its opening act was the third-best defence in the league at 124.5 points.

11 162 Keaton Mitchell auto questionable RB questionable

An autodrafted third-string back listed Questionable at 83.9 points whose entire case rests on Omarion Hampton getting hurt, and Hampton is not on this roster. Terrance Ferguson at 105.0 points went eleven picks later to somebody awake.

12 191 Cairo Santos auto K routine

The robot handed Kane the kicker the defending champion named his team after, Maciuba having won 2025 as Cairlos Santanos. Santos comes in 11th of sixteen among this league's K1s at 143.0 points, where the best is 171.5.

13 194 Jalen Nailor auto WR routine
14 223 Zachariah Branch auto WR questionable

The draft closed on a gadget slot receiver at 74.1 points, the only player Kane owns that CBS declined to project at all. AJ Barner at 103.0 points and Chig Okonkwo at 100.5 points went undrafted by all sixteen teams, which is a hard sight next to a tight end room ranked 15th of sixteen.

Keeps going back to

  • Marvin Jones Jr. — 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021
  • Keenan Allen — 2015, 2021, 2025
  • Patriots D/ST — 2015, 2020, 2023
  • Ryan Tannehill — 2012, 2016, 2022