Roughly ~30 Days to the NFL Draft, but while we are in 2026 Rookie Season, not a whole lot has changed since the NFL Combine. At this point, there is really one thing left for me to do pre-Draft for 2026: Final Positional Rankings & Big Board. But with a few weeks to spare still, this week will take a step back from the 2026 NFL Draft — at the very least for the first post — and focus on my pre-Draft Superflex Start-Up Rankings. This Start-Up Draft Exercise began last show and covered my first 3 Tiers & 2 Rounds. While all of this information is subject to change, it is important to know that more is likely to change the further we get into the draft, including the fact that today’s tiers will see Fernando Mendoza & the top 3 WRs drafted. Start-Up Tiers 4-6 (Rounds 3-5.5) Here are some of the Key Takeaways and pivot points for the first 3 Tiers. The Tiers themselves as well as the Mock Draft can be found linked here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JUkpIfRKHIBqTae-BgjdFz0unFfgzQ4g_dAjQlEGFB8/edit?usp=sharing * As mentioned last week, TIERS are not a perfect science. There is a mixing of quality within each Tier, but the only way to avoid that is to have 20-30 Tiers. The primary idea here is where some of the fall-off points are the biggest or most clear. * Through 5.5 Rounds, this is demonstrated by the fact that my Tiers have been broken exactly ONCE: in the late 2nd Round by a team with Bijan Robinson taking Bo Nix over Omarion Hampton, a second RB and the only player left in Tier 3. * While there are four WRs in Tier 4 in particular, the QBs & Nico Collins seem like the top players within this Tier. De’Von Achane has a strong argument as well that is weighed down by his situation. * Team 7 was in a decent position to get a QB in Round 1, but based on how the Draft broke down, they were in a particularly poor place in Rounds 2 & 3 to get a QB. Round 4 does present opportunity, but none of these players are my favorite, and with the 5 Teams after Team 7 having 7 of their 10 QBs already, Team 7 will wait on their QB1 and target a potential game changing short-term asset in Christian McCaffrey. * There are a number of points in this draft where I pair up a QB+WR stack or a void a QB+RB situation. The Josh Allen & Patrick Mahomes teams took Jonathan Taylor & Breece Hall over James Cook & Kenneth Walker III, who I would probably prefer in a vacuum. Caleb Williams paired with Colston Loveland, Burrow with Higgins, & Jackson with Flowers. * There are also a few points where the right QB falls to the right team. Team 7 taking Jared Goff is a bit rich for ADP, but by my rankings, that is the first time where a QBs price point was convenient for Team 7 within my tiers. Fernando Mendoza is unlikely to last to the mid-5th, but he went to the perfect team to build for the long-term. * In many ways, the first tiers from last show were the “Elite” or “near-Elite.” These tiers today are much more the “Very Good” or the players you still clearly very much want as Dynasty Assets. As we move into the next tier later in the week, the focus will go to the last Dynasty Assets who seem to have some level of clear value prior to the NFL Draft. Slightly behind on the release again for this show, though I do plan on wrapping up this Mock Draft soon and on the next episode. More context as always can be found by listening to the Fantasy For Real podcast. I also very briefly discuss Bryce Lance at the end of this episode. Questions & Comments welcome Thanks, C.J. Get full access to C.J.’s Substack at cjfreel.substack.com/subscribe
