The Fantasy Footballers: Mock Draft Mayhem Podcast Recap
With less than 20 days until the regular season kicks off, real drafts and mocks alike are happening around the clock. Mocks are fun, and they give you a lay of the land before you actually draft. Jason even told us to “Mock It Like It’s Hot” in the recent 10 Tips and Tricks to win your league episode.
But real drafts rarely go as planned. You get panic picks, players who are out for the season somehow getting drafted, massive reaches, and everything in between. So, to practice for the unexpected, the Ballers dove headfirst into the first Mock Draft Mayhem of the season.
The goal is simple: cause mayhem, but not so much that someone ends up drafting Jimmy Graham or C.J. Ham.
Rather than dominate the draft himself, Andy took the reins as the Mayhem Overlord, wreaking havoc on the draft board as he saw fit. Mike and Jason could plead their cases, but ultimately, they had to ask Andy for permission before making their selections. Jason drew the 1.07, while Mike landed on the turn at 1.12. Each Mayhem Power can be used once on each team.
As a reminder, the Ballers are back to shows five days a week now that we are in August! Make sure to find The Fantasy Footballers Podcast on all of your devices to stay in tune!
The Mayhem Powers:
- Andy’s Choice – Andy makes the pick for their team.
- Opponent’s Choice – Andy temporarily relinquishes his powers and allows Jason to make Mike’s pick, or vice versa.
- Reach for a Player – Mike or Jason must draft a player 20 spots lower in ADP.
Scoring and Roster Settings: 12 teams, 0.5 PPR, 1QB, 2RB, 2WR, 1TE, 1FLEX, and 4 bench spots.
Round 1
Jason (1.07) – Malik Nabers (WR, NYG)
Mike (1.12) – Kenneth Walker (RB, KC)
I said Mike and Jason could make their cases for who they wanted to draft, and normally, that is how it goes. But in a mayhem draft, anything can happen. Andy wasn’t afraid to call an audible and cause chaos from the jump. Jason was eyeing Amon-Ra St. Brown or CMC when Andy forced him to reach for a player, and that is why Jason took Malik Nabers at the 1.07. Without health concerns, Nabers would probably be a first-round pick, just as he was in 2025.
At the turn, sometimes you have to take a player a little earlier than you normally would. Mike has Ken Bone Walker as his RB6, so getting him as the RB6 off the board did not feel bad at all.
Can’t say the same for his second-round pick…
Round 2
Mike (2.01) – DK Metcalf (WR, PIT)
Jason (2.06) – A.J. Brown (WR, NE)
Mayhem strikes again, and this time Mike is the victim.
Andy gave Jason permission to make Mike’s pick, but did he really? Jason initially floated Brock Bowers. Not a bad pick, just a little ahead of ADP. Andy quickly reminded him that this was “MAYHEM,” not “mayhem.”
Feeling the pressure, Jason went nuclear and gave Mike DK Metcalf to start the second round. That is much, much earlier than his 76th overall ADP. It was likely one of the most egregious mayhem picks in Ballers history and a dangerous move considering Mike still had his Opponent’s Choice mayhem power waiting for Jason later in the draft. Jason landed his WR6, A.J. Brown, as the WR9 off the board. While it’s not his preferred strategy to start WR-WR, that is exactly what mocks are for.
Round 3
Jason (3.07) – Javonte Williams (RB, DAL)
Mike (3.12) – Rashee Rice (WR, KC)
Jason felt a little cornered into taking an RB. His decision came down to Breece Hall or his eventual selection, Javonte Williams. After some deliberation, Mike snagged another Chief in Rashee Rice at the end of the third. Andy pointed out that Rice is a classic “Facts versus Feelings” player. His offseason was littered with bad publicity, and then he returned to the practice field looking slow.
However, Patrick Mahomes is still his QB, and the next two receiving options are probably Travis Kelce, who turns 37 in a couple of months, and fifth-round rookie WR Cyrus Allen. That combo makes Rice look a little more intriguing.
Round 4
Mike (4.01) – Bhayshul Tuten (RB, JAX)
Jason (4.06) – Breece Hall (RB, NYJ)
Looking for a mayhem-filled round? Look no further.
Thanks to Andy, Mike had to reach at least 20 spots past ADP and decided to chase some unknown upside with Bhayshul Tuten. All three Ballers have Tuten ranked as a low-end RB2, and after four rounds and two mayhem picks, that is exactly the role he was filling on Mike’s roster. Andy was practically rubbing his hands together like Mr. Burns from The Simpsons when he gave Mike the power to make Jason’s fourth-round pick. After some giggling (and Andy helpfully suggesting Rhamondre Stevenson), Mike decided to do the unthinkable.
Remember how Jason was deciding between Javonte Williams and Breece Hall one round earlier?
Mike gave him Breece Hall.
Mind games or taking the high road?
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Round 5
Jason (5.07) – Tyler Warren (TE, IND)
Mike (5.12) – Woody Marks (RB, HOU)
Entering the fifth round, only two mayhem powers remained, both Andy’s Choice. Tyler Warren fell to Jason at the 5.07, well after Colston Loveland, who many have in the same tier, went at the 3.01.
Then it was Mike’s turn.
Andy and Jason could have just taken him behind the shed and been done with it. Instead, they ambushed him like Sonny Corleone in The Godfather. In the most stoic fashion possible, Mike remained unfazed as Andy used his final mayhem power against him to select Woody Marks at the end of the fifth.
Marks’ ADP is 139th overall…
Round 6
Mike (6.01) – Christian Watson (WR, GB)
Jason (6.06) – Rome Odunze (WR, CHI)
With Andy officially powerless against him, Mike wasted no time locking in Christian Watson. Technically, Watson is his WR3. Realistically, he is probably Mike’s WR2 considering his second-round pick is DK Metcalf.
Jason was tempted to grab a QB, but couldn’t bring himself to double up on onesie positions through six rounds. Instead, Jason snagged Rome Odunze, who was the WR3 through the first four weeks of 2025.
Round 7
Jason (7.07) – Alec Pierce (WR, IND)
Mike (7.12) – Jordan Mason (RB, MIN)
This had already been a weird Mock Draft Mayhem, but Jason decided to make it weirder.
If you have watched the show for a while, you know Jason loves playing mind games with Andy and Mike. In previous iterations of Mock Draft Mayhem, one of the mayhem powers was a veto, which essentially allowed Andy to say, “Nope, you can’t have him. Pick someone else.”
In this draft, Andy’s final remaining power was Andy’s Choice.
Jason, apparently believing he could outsmart Andy, announced that he wanted Alec Pierce. But his maniacal goblin snickering made it abundantly clear that he did not want Alec Pierce. Andy called his bluff, and with the final mayhem power of the draft, Andy forced Jason to take the player he had pretended to want all along. Mike continued trying to piece his roster back together after being forced into drafting Metcalf and Marks in the second and fifth. He grabbed his real RB3 in training camp standout Jordan Mason.
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Round 8
Mike (8.01) – George Kittle (TE, SF)
Jason (8.06) – Blake Corum (RB, LAR)
Mike only briefly mentioned it, but his mindset with George Kittle in the eighth was clear: after everything that had happened to his roster, he needed a difference-maker at a onesie position to give himself a chance.
Jason had only two RBs through seven rounds, so he added Blake Corum. Corum carries massive upside if Kyren Williams misses any time and could even work his way into FLEX consideration in the right matchups.
Round 9
Jason (9.07) – Kenneth Gainwell (RB, TB)
Mike (9.12) – Stefon Diggs (WR, WAS)
After debating between Corum and Gainwell in the eighth, surprise, surprise: Jason still got Gainwell one round later. Gainwell led the Steelers in receptions in 2025. This really does not feel like a mayhem draft for Jason, does it?
At the end of the ninth, Mike drafted the newest Washington Commander, Stefon Diggs. Nothing is written in stone, but the volume should be there for Diggs as the WR2 for Jayden Daniels.
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Round 10
Mike (10.01) – Jaxson Dart (QB, NYG)
Jason (10.06) – Matthew Golden (WR, GB)
After basically handing Breece Hall to Jason in the fourth, Mike may have hurt him more by taking Jaxson Dart in the 10th. Dart would have stacked perfectly with Jason’s first-round pick, Malik Nabers. It is incredible value on a young, rushing QB who performed well as a rookie despite spending basically the whole season without his top weapon.
Questioning whether he should roll the dice on a first-round WR from the 2026 draft, Jason passed on Omar Cooper Jr. and instead stuck with a first-rounder from the year prior, Matthew Golden. A lot of receiving options are gone or returning from injury for the Packers, so perhaps Jason strikes gold in the 10th round.
Round 11
Jason (11.07) – Bo Nix (QB, DEN)
Mike (11.12) – Jordan Addison (WR, MIN)
After waiting until the end of the draft, Jason finally got his QB.
Bo Nix is being wildly disrespected in ADP, if you ask me. Denver added Jaylen Waddle this offseason, giving Nix another weapon after he strung together back-to-back QB7 finishes. Yet somehow, he’s still sliding down draft boards.
Mike wrapped up his draft with Jordan Addison. A new QB on the Minnesota Vikings might be exactly what Addison needed.
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Jason’s Team
QB: Bo Nix
RB: Javonte Williams, Breece Hall, Blake Corum, Kenneth Gainwell
WR: Malik Nabers, A.J. Brown, Rome Odunze, Alec Pierce, Matthew Golden
TE: Tyler Warren
Mike’s Team
QB: Jaxson Dart
RB: Kenneth Walker, Bhayshul Tuten, Woody Marks, Jordan Mason
WR: DK Metcalf, Rashee Rice, Christian Watson, Stefon Diggs, Jordan Addison
TE: George Kittle
Draft Board
