Greg Brainos pushed Theo Johnson as a last-round dart, reminding listeners the Giants kept the rookie on the field for 85% of snaps in his very first NFL game before an ankle injury derailed his season. Johnson faces little target competition behind Malik Nabers and Wan’Dale Robinson, and Brainos loves that the Giants play the up-tempo Raiders in Week 17—"if he just grabs two TDs against Vegas, he pays off this pick." Johnson’s 4.57 forty at 259 pounds gives him rare athleticism for a 20th-round tight end, and Brian Daboll historically features athletic TEs in the red zone (46 combined TE targets inside the 10 over his last three play-calling seasons).

Greg Brainos argued that Daniel Jones offers more job security than Anthony Richardson and therefore makes the cleaner QB2 selection in best-ball builds. Brainos’ logic is simple: if Jones starts Week 1 he sees very little path to Jones getting benched, whereas Richardson feels one bad half away from the hook. He added that New York’s offensive line projects better on paper and the Giants quietly assembled one of the league’s more talented receiver rooms, giving Jones enough support to finish the season as a low-end fantasy starter. Brainos isn’t chasing ceiling here—he admits Jones’ upside pales next to Richardson’s—but he values the likelihood of 17 starts when he’s constructing quarterback rooms that need weekly floor.

Greg Brainos called Breece Hall’s current late-Round-2 ADP ‘crazy low,’ arguing that drafters are overreacting to last year’s Jets dysfunction. Hall still posted a 15 % target share, finished second in yards per route run among backs and now gets a full offseason removed from ACL recovery. Brainos thinks Aaron Rodgers’ return plus Olu Fashanu’s first-round arrival will vault New York’s offensive efficiency, meaning Hall’s valuable passing-down work will come in far more scoring situations. Whenever Hall slips past ADP, Brainos views it as a slam-dunk click with legitimate overall RB1 upside during the best-ball playoff weeks.

Greg Brainos said he is happily scooping DJ Giddens in the final rounds because the rookie already looks locked in as Jonathan Taylor’s direct backup. Brainos reminded listeners that Colts brass publicly stated before the draft they wanted a true No. 2 and immediately spent Day-3 capital on Giddens, a sign they were unimpressed with Trey Sermon/Evan Hull. With Indianapolis giving Taylor nearly 20 touches a game but little passing-down work, Brainos expects Shane Steichen to spell the star back more than people assume. A clear RB2 role in an offense that finished fourth in red-zone plays last year gives Giddens ‘pop weeks’ whenever Taylor misses time or the Colts land in positive game scripts. At his current free price, Brainos views him as a perfect best-ball stash who could crack weekly starting lineups in December.

Greg Brainos is bullish on Xavier Legette at his sub-150 ADP, saying the rookie should log "80 percent of the routes from the jump" in Dave Canales’ scheme. Brainos highlighted Panthers beat reports that rave about Legette’s position flexibility and route-running progress both before and after Carolina drafted Tetairoa McMillan. With McMillan occupying X duties, Legette can work closer to the line of scrimmage where his YAC skills shine—exactly how Canales used Chris Godwin in Tampa. Brainos expects Legette to rack up manufactured touches on tunnel screens and jet motion while still winning vertically when Bryce Young extends plays. He projects a rookie-year line similar to 2022 Nico Collins (75-900-5 pace) but with more spike-week potential because the Panthers defense remains shaky, forcing shootouts.

Greg Brainos called Jauan Jennings a screaming value in late Best Ball Mania rounds. Brainos said Kyle Shanahan trusts Jennings on money downs—San Francisco repeatedly turned to him on 3rd-and-medium last season because of his strong hands and bully-ball mentality. With Brandon Ayuk still "hoping" to be ready for Week 1 after shoulder surgery and Deebo Samuel perennially nursing muscle tweaks, Brainos expects Jennings to log heavy snaps out of the gate and possibly pace the Niners in routes until the starters are 100 percent. Even once Ayuk returns, Brainos thinks Jennings’ reliability keeps him on the field in 11-personnel packages, making him the kind of cheap, correlated Week-17 bring-back that can swing best-ball playoff weeks.

Greg Brainos pushed back on the idea that Christian McCaffrey’s price will keep climbing. He doesn’t see drafters letting McCaffrey leapfrog Malik Nabers, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Nico Collins or Puka Nacua, and doubts the consensus will ever rank him above Jahmyr Gibbs. Brainos expects the veteran to settle in the 1.06–1.08 range all summer, meaning there’s minimal closing-line value left at today’s cost.

Greg Brainos urged caution on rookie back Audric Estime after Denver made him a healthy scratch in what Brainos called “the most important game of the year” last season at Notre Dame. He considers that a worrisome signal about how Sean Payton might view the rookie’s readiness. Brainos reminded viewers that Payton is notorious for week-specific backfield rotations – he scripts which running backs he ‘needs for this specific game’ – making Estime’s path to a locked-in role even murkier. Until Estime proves he can be part of Payton’s primary game-plan group, Brainos recommends fading him outside of deep, zero-RB builds that can stomach multiple early zeros.

Greg Brainos said Jordan Whittington is one of his favorite last-round swing picks because he functions as direct insurance for Puka Nacua. Brainos noted that Nacua’s ultra-physical style – “plays almost reckless, does not care about giving up his body” – has already led to multiple missed games stretching back to his BYU days and into his rookie season. Whittington’s skill set mirrors Nacua’s as a tough, over-the-middle chain mover, so Brainos believes Sean McVay would slide the rookie right into the same high-volume slot/Z role if Nacua’s durability issues resurface. For drafters who are overweight on Puka shares in Best Ball Mania, tacking on Whittington in the final rounds provides a cheap, correlated outsized payoff path without burning meaningful draft capital.

Greg Brainos argued Deebo Samuel is being unfairly faded into the WR4 range and remains one of the best upside swings on the board. Brainos highlighted new OC Klint Kubiak’s heavy screen usage—Denver’s WR2s averaged 5.8 designed touches per game under him—as an ideal fit for Samuel’s tackle-breaking skill set. He reminded listeners that Samuel averaged 18.6 PPR points in Weeks 1-5 last season before a hamstring strain and a bout with pneumonia that landed him in the hospital. Even while banged up, Samuel’s broken-tackle rate ranked top-three among receivers, and his healthy-game 2.4 yards per route run would have trailed only Tyreek Hill and Amon-Ra St. Brown. With Washington projected to play from behind frequently and lacking an established slot threat, Brainos projected 120 targets plus 30–40 backfield touches, giving Samuel weekly WR2 floors and elite spike-week potential at a discounted ADP.

Greg Brainos said he is smashing George Kittle at his mid-fifth-round Best Ball Mania ADP because the veteran still owns overall TE1 upside. Brainos pointed out that San Francisco just shipped out Deebo Samuel and could open the season with Brandon Aiyuk nursing an injury, leaving Kittle as Brock Purdy’s most established target. Purdy led the league in play-action EPA per attempt last year and consistently hit Kittle on 20-plus-yard seam routes, a connection Brainos expects to grow in year two together. He added that Kyle Shanahan’s scheme forces linebackers to honor Christian McCaffrey on outside-zone looks, creating wide-open middle-of-the-field windows for Kittle, whose career 2.27 yards per route run still ranks second among active tight ends. Because Brainos believes only Kittle, Trey McBride and Brock Bowers offer true difference-making ceilings after Travis Kelce, drafting Kittle lets drafters stick to a 2-TE build and dedicate late picks to other positions without sacrificing weekly upside.

Greg Brainos cautioned that while Kyren Williams remains atop the Rams depth chart, drafters should expect closer to a 70 % snap share instead of last year’s 90 % workhorse usage. He is monitoring Sean McVay’s upcoming press conferences because GM Les Snead’s recent comments differed markedly from last summer’s full-steam endorsement, hinting at a more committee-friendly approach. Williams already ranked 41st out of 49 qualified backs in rush yards over expectation per attempt, so even a modest workload haircut would push him into touchdown-dependent territory. Brainos recommended tempering expectations at Williams’s current late-third ADP until Los Angeles clarifies its backfield plans.

Greg Brainos projected that Travis Hunter will stay in the mid-4th-round, WR24 range because volume questions still linger. Brainos doubts Hunter can climb above proven vets such as Mike Evans and Davante Adams while sharing targets with alpha rookie Brian Thomas Jr. He expects Jacksonville to keep Hunter around 60-70 % of offensive snaps early, using him on defense only in high-leverage spots to manage wear and tear—an approach GM Andrew Berry mentioned during the draft process. That limited route total plus Trevor Lawrence’s uneven efficiency make it hard for Hunter to deliver the weekly spike weeks required to justify a top-30 ADP, so Brainos advised drafters not to reach past the late-fourth in Best Ball Mania or redraft.

Greg Brainos framed Jordan Whittington as a perfect final-round parachute for managers who already have heavy exposure to Puka Nacua. Brainos reminded listeners that Nacua’s bruising, after-contact style invites more injury volatility than the typical boundary wideout. If Nacua misses time, Brainos expects the rookie Whittington—who ran 59% of his college routes from the slot and posted a 73% catch rate at Texas—to inherit the high-percentage, middle-of-the-field snaps that power Sean McVay’s offense. Unlike Tutu Atwell, Whittington has the bulk (6-1, 205) to survive underneath traffic and can replicate the quick-hitting RPO glance concepts the Rams spammed for Nacua last year. Because he is almost never drafted before the final two rounds, Brainos views Whittington as a cheap insurance policy that lets best-ball drafters diversify without abandoning Nacua’s elite ceiling.

Greg Brainos grabbed Rachaad White in the middle rounds and explained why he still views the Buccaneers back as a weekly starter. New OC Josh Grizzard told reporters the 2024 backfield will look ‘pretty much how it ended last season,’ a direct endorsement of White’s 74-percent snap share and every third-down rep. Brainos added that White’s pass-protection grade ranked top-10 among qualified backs, locking him into two-minute and hurry-up packages even if rookie Bucky Irving siphons some early-down work. White quietly averaged 13.0 PPR points per game after Irving took over inside carries and now benefits from a best-ball friendly playoff slate against the Panthers, Dolphins and Falcons—three defenses that finished bottom-eight in RB reception yards. Stacked with Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans, White delivers correlation upside while offering a high-floor RB2 profile for half-PPR formats.

Greg Brainos labeled Travis Etienne a "10-foot-pole pick" despite his second-round best-ball ADP. Brainos highlighted new OC Liam Cohen’s public admiration for rookie Bhayshul Tuten and holdover Tank Bigsby—both downhill runners who better fit Cohen’s desired power scheme than Etienne’s slash-and-dash style. Fumble concerns further threaten Etienne’s grip on high-value touches, and Bloom added that if none of the backs separate, the Jaguars could devolve into a frustrating committee similar to last year’s Colts. Given the uncertainty, Brainos prefers dart throws on Tuten or Bigsby 10 rounds later and is passing on Etienne entirely unless his price tag drops into the late third.

Greg Brainos preferred Darnell Mooney over Jakobi Myers at the same draft cost because spike-week upside matters more than reception volume in Underdog’s 0.5-PPR scoring. Brainos argued that Myers’ eight-catch games are still outscored by a single 60-yard Mooney touchdown. Atlanta gave Mooney a three-year, $33 million deal and drafted deep-ball gunslinger Michael Penix Jr., setting Mooney up for a dedicated field-stretching role opposite Drake London with 90-plus percent route participation. The floor will be volatile, but the explosive profile provides the three-to-four week winning performances required to advance in best-ball playoff pods, making Mooney the superior tournament pick despite Myers’ safer weekly target share.

Greg Brainos said Kenneth Walker is the clear ceiling play when choosing among mid-round backs like Joe Mixon and Chuba Hubbard. Brainos expects Seattle’s backfield volume to spike because Mike Macdonald fired pass-heavy OC Ryan Grubb and imported Clint Kubiak, whose Saints offenses ran 21- or 12-personnel on 50 % of snaps last year and publicly vowed to "run the ball" and pound the rock in the red zone. That dovetails with Walker’s strengths: outside-zone burst and breakaway speed that produced seven carries of 20-plus yards in 2023. Brainos acknowledged Zach Charbonnet might poach some goal-line work—Macdonald called him a "hammer"—yet emphasized Walker’s 35 receptions last year prove he can stay on the field for passing downs. With a friendlier scheme, more carries, and big-play juice, Walker owns the highest week-winning ceiling in half-PPR best-ball tournaments.

Greg Brainos raved about Tampa Bay selecting Emeka Egbuka, calling him a "pick for the future but also for the present." Brainos highlighted general manager Jason Licht’s post-draft praise—Egbuka can play all three receiver spots, is a quick study, and carries pro-ready maturity. The Buccaneers spent stretches of 2023 using Cade Otten as their top passing option, underscoring the need for a reliable WR3. Brainos expects Egbuka to log heavy snaps in 11 personnel right away, benefiting from Mike Evans’ red-zone gravity and Baker Mayfield’s willingness to feed slot routes. Dynasty, best-ball, and late-round season-long drafters should view Egbuka as a plug-and-play upside pick in one of the league’s ascending offenses.