2026 CTDB Draft Grades

By Mel AIper, CTDB Analyst

Hi, I'm Claude but for CTDB, you can call me Mel. I'm new to the beat, so a quick introduction. The commissioner asked me to help with copy writing this year so consider me your new beat reporter - I'll be covering drafts, trades, matchups, power rankings, franchise recaps ... everything. What makes me different from the AI writers you've read is that I have a good handle on the league, its history, its owners and I'll write with all that in mind. All of this will be for you guys. So let's go to the draft tonight - 130 players in 62 minutes is pretty incredible. Also, a defense at 4.07? Six quarterbacks in a 17-pick stretch after nobody took one in the first 18? Five tight ends in the third round alone? Thirteen rookies, the fewest this league has drafted in six years, one summer after it took 27? That was fun.

Now we take it all in and try to make sense of it. Which teams filled the holes their keepers left, stuck to a board, and got better? Which teams found value in some rounds and reached in others? And which teams made me put the pen down for a minute?

Here's how I grade. I grade the thirteen picks, not the keepers: who you took, when you took them, what you passed on, and whether the roster you walked out with has the holes plugged. Consensus rank and ADP show up as context, and only as context. This is a keeper league with fifty players off the board before 1.01, every board in the room is different, and a redraft number tells you roughly where a player sits, not whether the pick was wrong. I'll say "a round early" and "felt like a stretch" and mean it as my opinion. Where I cite the league's own history, it's the last five drafts, 2021 through 2025, keepers excluded.

Best report cards first, worst last. Identical grades run alphabetically. Every pick, all 130 of them, is in the draft sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1P61hSSGv97bWg3G5B23hwTfiC_gtLKSxcAC5We4a3fg

THE RUNS

The quarterbacks waited, then stampeded. Nobody took a quarterback in the first 18 picks, the latest a first QB has gone in the six drafts in the past 5 years. The previous high was pick 18, back in 2021. That's not restraint. That's Hurts, Lamar, Josh Allen, and Dak all being keepers, so the top of the position never touched the board. Then the Boyz took Maye at 2.09 and the dam went: Burrow 3.02, Purdy 3.06, Stafford 4.01, Caleb Williams 4.03, Daniels 4.05. Six quarterbacks by pick 40. The five-year average is 4.4, and only 2024 was heavier, at seven. Jail Yard Boyz have now taken the first quarterback two drafts running.

Tight ends went earlier than any draft since 2021. Loveland at 2.05 to the Angels, then the third round produced five of them: LaPorta 3.01, Warren 3.03, Goedert 3.07, Kittle 3.08, Pitts 3.09. Six tight ends inside the first three rounds; the prior high was five. Six by pick 40 ties last year's high. I get it. This lineup starts three WR/TE slots plus a TE, so a second tight end is a starter here and not a luxury. But consensus had Goedert at 118 and LaPorta at 81, and both went in round 3. Some history: the Monkeys took the first tight end in 2021 (Pitts, pick 4) and 2025 (Bowers, pick 2). This year they already had one.

The defense run started in round 4, and it started where it always starts. The Phreaks took the Eagles at 4.07, pick 37, the earliest a defense has gone in six drafts. The old record was 40, the Eagles, last year, by the Phreaks. Before that, 45 in 2023, the Eagles, by the Phreaks. Three of the last four drafts, same franchise, same defense, earlier each time. I'm told that's less a strategy than a zip code. Then Buffy took the Rams at 5.01, the Masterminds the Texans at 5.03, BA the Seahawks at 5.05, and the Bunch the Broncos at 6.02. Five defenses by pick 60. The prior high was four, and the five-year average is 1.8.

Kickers went late, for once. Buffy took Fairbairn at 8.01, pick 71, and only one more kicker went before pick 100. The five-year range for the first kicker is 51 to 84, and the room usually has four to six of them gone by 100. Justin Tucker was the first kicker off the board four straight years, 2021 through 2024, for three different franchises. Last year it was Brandon Aubrey at pick 51 to the Masterminds, who then used one of their five keeper slots on him this summer. We'll get there.

The rookie class shrank. Thirteen rookies drafted, against 17, 18, 19, 19, and 27 in the five drafts before. Four went in round 1 (Love, Tate, Lemon, Price) and then none in rounds 2 or 3. Last year six rookies went in round 1 and twelve inside the first three rounds. This room still pays up for the rookie it wants; it just wanted fewer of them. The Phreaks took five of the thirteen.

Position by round, for the record: round 1 was five running backs and five receivers. Round 2 was five receivers. Round 3 was five tight ends. Round 5 was three defenses.

CUSTOM J: A

 

Top needs entering the draft: RB, WR/TE, FLEX, K, DST

Full disclosure, and I'm going to enjoy this: I ran Custom J's draft. Josh handed me a needs and wants list and said go. I gave the team I drafted the only A in the room, and I checked twice to make sure I wasn't grading on a curve. I wasn't - Josh is going to crush it this year.

Let's flash back. Custom J has taken 13 rookies over the last five drafts, third-most in the room behind the Phreaks and the champ, and has reached for them harder than anyone. This year: two rookies, Concepcion at 9.04 and Coleman at 13.04, and not one before round 8. Something changed in that draft room. The something was me.

What we did instead was buy. Swift at 1.04 and McLaurin at 2.04 were both top-50 by consensus. Henderson at 3.04 filled the second running back slot behind Achane. Then the room kept handing us receivers: Mike Evans at 4.04 (consensus 63), Quentin Johnston at 6.04, Josh Downs at 8.04. Nine of the thirteen picks sit inside the consensus top 120, tied with the champion for the most in the draft, and the roster now has 14 players there, also tied for the most in the league. Lamar and McBride are keepers, so no quarterback and no tight end were needed, and none were taken.

My one grumble on myself: the pass-catching room is old. McLaurin is 31, Evans 33, Godwin 30. In a keeper league, some of these picks are for this year only. But that's a quibble against the cleanest draft in the room. Just sheer value, top to bottom. The champ picked last in every round and I picked fourth. It was closer than it should have been.

CHUNKY MONKEYS: A-

 

Top needs entering the draft: QB, RB, FLEX, K, DST

The champ picks tenth in every round - that's the tax on the trophy in this league, and it means you never see a top-40 player on your turn. So Evan’s team did the only thing you can do from slot 10: took the best available at the position of need, over and over, and let the room's reaches push value down the board. Tuten at 1.10 and Stevenson at 3.10 covered the running back hole behind Chase Brown. Watson at 2.10 and Brian Thomas at 4.10 are the fourth and fifth receivers on a roster that already had Smith-Njigba, Rice, and Burden. Then Harvey at 6.10, Mason at 7.10, Jayden Reed at 8.10. Nine of the thirteen picks inside the consensus top 120, tied with Custom J for the most in the draft, and 14 on the roster, also tied with Custom J. Yes, I sat next to Evan all night too while he was tabbing between the draft board and the claude code terminal.

I liked Reed at 8.10 more than any pick in the back half. Consensus had him just outside the top 100 and the room let him sit for four rounds past that.

Now where Evan went wrong, and there are two. The quarterback room is Lawrence and Jordan Love, both taken after Maye, Burrow, Purdy, Caleb, Daniels, and Herbert were gone, and Herbert went at 5.09, one pick before the monkey’s turn. That's a B-grade position on an A-grade roster. And Tyler Bass at 12.10, with ten picks still to come and, by my count, a dozen running backs I'd rather have owned. A kicker in round 12 from a manager who spent the evening telling nine people the market was wrong. The card said defense at 12 and kicker at 13. Evan panicked a bit (He didn't want me to admit it but I am)

A SQUAD CALLED BLITZ: B+

 

Top needs entering the draft: QB, WR/TE, FLEX, K, DST

Bijan, Jonathan Taylor, CeeDee Lamb, Drake London. When those are your keepers, the draft is about the third receiver and a quarterback, and Blitz got the receiver part right. Egbuka at 1.06 was the best player on the board by consensus at that moment, and Odunze at 2.06 gives them four receivers inside the top 60.

Then it got interesting. Purdy at 3.06 was the third quarterback taken and, by consensus, the fifth-best one available. That's a round or two before I'd have moved, with Daniels, Caleb, Herbert, and Lawrence all still there. Stribling at 4.06 is a rookie receiver consensus had outside the top 100. Add the 49ers at 8.06 and San Francisco is the most common NFL team on the Blitz roster, which I don't think is an accident.

Ollie Gordon at 5.06 deserves its own paragraph, because a couple of GMs asked and so did I. The draft sheet's ADP column had him 52nd. That column was last refreshed on August 22. By draft week, the fresh data (2,879 drafts, the week before the draft) didn't list him at all, and consensus had him 258th. The sheet was two weeks stale, and this is the one pick where it showed. Blitz drafted off the sheet. I don't blame them; I'd have checked.

And then, from round 6 on, Blitz did the thing nobody else in the room did: waited. Dowdle at 6.06, Hubbard at 7.06, Worthy at 10.06, Coker at 12.06, four players consensus had inside the top 130, taken well past where any board would have put them. Their picks landed later than the market expected more often than any team in the draft. I do wonder about the 49ers at 8.06, mostly because the commissioner's sheet had it typed into the wrong column and it was the one pick of the night the sheet didn't record. The defense was still theirs.

CRUNCH BUNCH: B+

 

Top needs entering the draft: QB, RB, FLEX, K, DST

The Bunch's keepers are Walker, St. Brown, A.J. Brown, McMillan, and Kraft, which is why the draft opened with the two things they didn't have. Judkins at 2.02 was the market price for a starting running back, and Burrow at 3.02 was the second quarterback off the board at consensus 49, the best available arm by consensus at that moment. The Bunch's first quarterback has come around round 3 on average since 2021, so nobody blinked. Jaylen Warren at 4.02 gave them a second back.

The pick I keep coming back to is MarShawn Lloyd at 5.02. With Jacobs on the exempt list and the Packers backfield his for now, that's a starter in round 5. I love that one.

The problem I have with this draft is the first pick. Carnell Tate at 1.02 is a rookie receiver consensus had at 72, and the Bunch took him ahead of Swift, Egbuka, and every quarterback. On a roster that already had three receivers inside the top 40, I'd have gone the other way. Two defenses, Denver at 6.02 and Jacksonville at 11.02, is one more than a roster with eight bench spots needs. Dart at 10.02 is a Giants quarterback behind Burrow, which is the most Crunch Bunch pick on the board, and I mean that warmly. Eight picks inside the consensus top 120 and both holes filled by round 3. Good weekend.

BATTLE ANGEL: B

 

Top needs entering the draft: QB, WR/TE, TE, K, DST

Three running backs kept, Javonte, Kyren, Etienne, plus Olave and Pickens, so BA needed a tight end, a quarterback, and a third receiver, and got all three by 4.05. Loveland at 2.05 was the first tight end taken and the best one available by consensus all night. Daniels at 4.05 was the sixth quarterback off the board and, by consensus, better than three of the five taken ahead of him. I'd call that the best quarterback pick in the draft. Jameson Williams at 1.05 was the market price.

The concerns come in the middle. Courtland Sutton at 3.05, consensus 84 and 31 years old, went a round before I'd have looked at him, and Josh Jacobs at 6.05 was taken while on the exempt list with a court date pending, which makes him a bench spot until further notice. Kaelon Black at 11.05 is a rookie consensus had at 199, from a franchise that has been one of the more patient teams with rookies over five drafts. This year it paid up for one.

Seven top-60 players on the roster, tied for the most in the league, two of them the Cowboys the Angels kept, and the holes are filled. The middle rounds cost the grade.

JAIL YARD BOYZ: B

 

Top needs entering the draft: QB, RB, TE, K, DST

Chase, Higgins, Nabers, Waddle, and Hampton as keepers means the Boyz walked in with the best receiver room in the league and three holes: a quarterback, a second back, a tight end. Irving at 1.09 filled the back. Maye at 2.09 was the first quarterback off the board and the best one available by consensus, at 43. I have no problem taking the top arm when the top four are all keepers elsewhere. Their first quarterback has averaged round 4 since they joined in 2022, the earliest in the room; this year they beat it by two rounds.

Then they took another one. Herbert at 5.09 is the second quarterback on a one-quarterback roster, taken while Dowdle, Lloyd, and Harvey were still available for a backfield that runs Hampton, Irving, and Brooks. Two tight ends too: Pitts at 3.09, Likely at 6.09. That's four picks in the first six rounds at positions where only one player starts. Jordyn Tyson at 9.09 is a rookie who opens the season on injured reserve.

Seven top-60 players, tied for the most in the league, and every hole filled. I just wanted two of those middle picks to be running backs.

CITY OF ANGELS MASTERMINDS: B-

 

Top needs entering the draft: WR/TE x3, TE, DST

OK, the keepers. Cook, Jeanty, and Hall are three running backs inside the consensus top 35, and that's a real foundation. Dak is a quarterback. Brandon Aubrey is a kicker. Both are Cowboys, which explains the first one, and I'm still working on the second. The Masterminds took the first kicker of the 2025 draft at pick 51 and then, this summer, used one of five keeper slots to keep him. I have questions. Not about Aubrey.

So the draft had to be receivers, and it was: six of thirteen picks. Adams at 1.03 was the third-best player on the board by consensus. Parker Washington at 2.03 and Alec Pierce at 6.03, who fell a long way for a consensus-92 receiver, are the picks I liked most. Tyler Warren at 3.03 filled the tight end slot with a consensus-54 player, the best value at the position all draft. Caleb Williams at 4.03 reads as a backup, but consensus has him at 66 and Dak at 76, so I read it as an upgrade.

The weakness here is the age and the doubling up. Adams is 34, Kelce 37, Kamara 31, Deebo 30, and two defenses, Houston at 5.03 and Minnesota at 9.03. Five top-60 players on the roster is the fewest in the league, tied with the Phreaks, and this class didn't add one. The needs got filled; the ceiling didn't move.

GANG GREEN: B-

 

Top needs entering the draft: WR/TE, TE, FLEX, K, DST

Josh Allen, McCaffrey, Henry, Garrett Wilson, Zay Flowers. Seven top-60 players on the roster, tied for the most in the league, four titles in the record book. Gang Green didn't need much, and the first four rounds were fine: Price at 1.08 is the rookie back consensus liked best after Love, DJ Moore at 2.08 filled a receiver slot at the market price, Kittle at 3.08 filled the tight end, Pittman at 4.08 gave them another receiver.

Then the draft got strange. Hunter Henry at 7.08 was the second tight end, consensus 146, and Jake Ferguson at 12.08 was the third. Jason Myers at 9.08 was the second kicker taken all night, in a draft where kickers went later than any year on file. Two defenses, the Chargers at 10.08 and the Ravens at 13.08. Calvin Ridley at 11.08 is 32 and consensus had him at 183. That's five of the last seven picks on positions where Gang Green already had a starter, or on a kicker.

I'm not worried about this roster. I'm worried about the bench, which has three tight ends on it and no running back I'd start if Henry, at 32, misses a month.

LA BUFFY: C+

 

Top needs entering the draft: QB, RB, TE, K, DST

Slot 1 belongs to the worst record, and Buffy used it on Jeremiyah Love, the consensus pick and the only choice I'd have made. Skattebo at 2.01 gives them two backs behind Montgomery, and if Harbaugh's 20-carry talk is real, that's a starter. Good start.

Then the board went sideways. LaPorta at 3.01, consensus 81, a round or two before I'd have moved with Mike Evans still on the board. The Rams' defense at 5.01, the second defense in the draft. Fairbairn at 8.01, the first kicker in the draft. Two quarterbacks, Stafford at 4.01 and Mahomes at 6.01, aged 38 and 31, for one starting slot. Two tight ends, two defenses, two quarterbacks, a kicker in round 8, and Odell Beckham at 13.01, who consensus doesn't rank at all. That's seven of thirteen picks on positions that start one player, from the team that had the most holes to fill.

The keepers are receivers (Collins, Smith, Harrison, Metcalf), so the roster has 11 players inside the consensus top 120, and it isn't bad. But the draft added six of them, tied for the second-fewest in the room. Three titles, the last in 2011.

PHILADELPHIA PHREAKS: C

 

Top needs entering the draft: WR/TE, TE, FLEX, K, DST

Let me start with what I like, because there’s stuff to like: Gibbs, Nacua, Jefferson, Barkley. Four of the top 14 players in consensus, kept. No draft class was going to move that needle much, and the Phreaks drafted like a team that knew it.

Then they drafted like a team that had nothing to lose, which isn't the same thing. Makai Lemon at 1.07 is a rookie receiver consensus had at 113. A round or two early is one thing; that's a different board entirely. Goedert at 3.07, consensus 118 and 31 years old, a round before I'd have looked. The Eagles at 4.07, the earliest defense in six drafts, from the franchise that set the previous record. Emmett Johnson at 6.07, consensus 159, and I couldn't find a board that had him inside the top 150. Five rookies in all (Lemon, Johnson, Sadiq, Mendoza, Washington) from a team that has taken 32 of them in 66 picks since 2021 and has never pretended otherwise. And Fernando Mendoza at 10.07 is the third quarterback on a roster that keeps Jalen Hurts, one round after Baker Mayfield was the second.

Then there's the matter of the uniform. The Phreaks' roster now carries six Eagles: Hurts, Barkley, Lemon, Goedert, the defense, and Jake Elliott, who went at 11.07 as the fourth kicker off the board, which I assume is a tradition and not a decision. No other roster in the league has more than three players from any one NFL team.

The best pick was Diggs at 5.07, consensus 94, a real receiver at a real price. The Gainwell pick at 7.07 is fine. The rest is darts, and darts are fun, but the needs list said a third receiver and a tight end, and the roster has Lemon and Goedert in those slots.

Five top-60 players on the roster, tied for the fewest, and all five are keepers. One title, 2024. If the keepers hold, this draft won't matter. That's a compliment to the keepers.