You NEED to Listen to This Mock Draft Ahead of Your Own artwork

You NEED to Listen to This Mock Draft Ahead of Your Own

Fantasy Focus Football

September 3, 2026

Welcome back to Facts vs. Feelings! Liz Loza and Daniel Dopp do a 12-team PPR mock draft ahead of Labor Day weekend. Can you justify taking Bijan Robinson over Jahmyr Gibbs? Where does the RB dead zone currently hit? How early is too early to draft Josh Allen?
Speakers: Liz Loza, Daniel Dopp

Topics: Sports

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
In ESPN's wild world of college football, every Saturday begins with a ritual. And then, the migration turns to mayhem. Predators hunt, territories are defended, rivals clash. In this wild world, legends are unleashed on Saturdays. No one brings you closer to the wild than ESPN.
College football and ESPN continues Labor Day weekend. Witness the wild in ABC, ESPN and the ESPN app.

**Liz Loza** (0:30)
I'm Liz Loza. This is Facts vs. Feelings. And today's fact is that it's never too late to try something new.
Daniel Dopp, that hot sauce episode went so well that the powers that be put us both back in tiny boxes. What do you think about that?

**Daniel Dopp** (0:49)
I think we either did so well that they were like, we can't ever do that again. Or they're like, we need to find something else to help recapture what they did. Which is why you're in a little box, I'm in a little box, and I think we're here to do a mock in a box?

**Liz Loza** (1:02)
We are doing a mock in a box. It is a 12 team, one point PPR. We're only drafting three bench spots because we want to keep things moving and feel like that gives folks enough of an idea of depth. But last time you guys liked the mocks, so we brought it back. And because you called the voicemail line with such a plum, we got so many voicemails. We're going to do a special bonus episode where we answer a ton of your voicemails. That'll be out later, but right now we wanted to just focus on the mock and make sure you keep an eye out for the bonus mailbag episode, which was totally inspired and produced just for our listeners.

**Daniel Dopp** (1:43)
Absolutely. Cannot wait for that episode, Liz. It's going to be a very good one.
Excited about that, but let's get into our mock draft here today. Who are we kicking off with in this mock draft? Do we know who's in this thing, Liz?

**Liz Loza** (1:54)
We do know. There's 12 people. In fact, Kyle Sapi is going to kick us off.
He did indeed do that with, who is it? Bijan Robinson.

**Daniel Dopp** (2:06)
Bijan Robinson.
Yeah, Bijan, Jahmyr, Jamar Chase. Then you're on the clock here with the fourth overall pick. Literally chalk. This is the way that every draft has gone so far. Which direction are you going?

**Liz Loza** (2:19)
I went with Jackson Smith and Jigba.
I would have taken Jamar Chase, but our guy focus chat expert, Eric Moody picked Jamar Chase. You and I both talked about how we have JSN just a little bit above Pooka because we don't know if any disciplinary action is going to come Pooka's way.

**Daniel Dopp** (2:40)
Very interested to see. Wow. James Cook comes off the board before Jonathan Taylor and Christian McCaffrey, which is actually where I have him ranked as RB3.
Are you in on that, Liz?

**Liz Loza** (2:52)
Absolutely. You and I have him in the same spot. We both talked about it. I don't think that CMC or Jonathan Taylor is going to finish the season. If James Cook gets hurt, maybe some bad luck. But if CMC or Jonathan Taylor were to miss time, well, I should have seen that coming.

**Daniel Dopp** (3:09)
I think the same thing. I'm on the clock right now and I've got Christian McCaffrey and Aman Ra, St. Brown staring me in the face and I have been preaching it all season. I'm going to continue to pass on CMC and go with the super steady score of Aman Ra, St. Brown. That's right, girl. Now we got three picks until we get to the end of the turn. CD. Lamb comes off the board to our buddy Kevin Pulsifer.
Now I'm going to be in a spot after taking Aman Ra, St. Brown, Liz, where I'm probably going to look at going with a running back here. Has anything changed with the way that you've been approaching your mock drafts over the last little bit as we get to the final push of draft season?

**Liz Loza** (3:45)
I have found myself more willing to draft Saquon Barkley. I think in a year that the Eagles are dealing with a passing game transition, there might be more emphasis on the ground game and even though Barkley disappointed based on his ADP in 2025, he did still finish inside the top 15 overall fantasy producers at the position. So I think that he offers a nice floor.

**Daniel Dopp** (4:09)
Yeah, I'm with you on that. All right, Liz, we're through the first round. I'm going to read it off. Let me know if there's anything here that stands out to you. Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, Jamar Chase, JSN, Pooka, James Cook, Jonathan Taylor, Amon Ross St. Brown, CD. Lamb, Christian McCaffrey, Justin Jefferson, and Chase Brown at the 12th spot. That is your first round. Anything stand out to you about that while I make my pick here in the second?

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