# Tom Strachan: Strachan lays out draft strategy from the 1.09 pick, arguing Amon-Ra St. Brown, James Cook, CeeDee Lamb and Saquon Barkley are values there, while calling elite tight ends Brock Bowers and Trey McBride, plus Omarion Hampton, players to avoid at that spot. He also expects the first five picks of drafts to be Robinson, Gibbs, Chase, Nacua and Smith-Njigba. **Claimed:** Aug 26, 2026 **Pundit:** Tom Strachan — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/tom-strachan **Outlet:** FantasyPros — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/fantasypros **How it reached us:** published in writing **Original:** https://www.fantasypros.com/2026/08/fantasy-football-mock-draft-how-to-approach-pick-1-09-2026-strategy-advice/ 9 checkable claims — 4 sleeper calls, 3 fantasy bust calls, 1 depth chart call and 1 fantasy ranking — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet. It names 13 players and teams, each linked to their own record. None of them have settled yet — they grade once their results are in. Of the 1 unsettled call enough other pundits have weighed in on, this one lands below the rest of the room. > While the passing offense will be spread out, Cook remains the safest and strongest bet outside of Josh Allen. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **James Cook to outplay his draft cost (1.09)** - Kind: Sleeper Calls · About: James Cook, Buffalo Bills - Verdict: not settled yet - **Saquon Barkley to be 1st on the depth chart** - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles - Verdict: not settled yet - **Amon-Ra St. Brown to outplay his draft cost (ahead of Jaxon Smith-Njigba)** - Kind: Sleeper Calls · About: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions - Verdict: not settled yet - **Omarion Hampton to fall short of his draft cost (1.09)** - Kind: Fantasy Bust Calls · About: Omarion Hampton, Los Angeles Chargers - Verdict: not settled yet - **The top of the draft will start with Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs and Ja'Marr Chase likely as the first three picks off the board. After that, Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba usually go next before things open up slightly.** - Kind: Fantasy Rankings - Verdict: not settled yet - **Saquon Barkley to outplay his draft cost (1.09)** - Kind: Sleeper Calls · About: Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles - Verdict: not settled yet - **CeeDee Lamb to outplay his draft cost (1.09)** - Kind: Sleeper Calls · About: CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys - Verdict: not settled yet - **Trey McBride to fall short of his draft cost (1.09)** - Kind: Fantasy Bust Calls · About: Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals - Verdict: not settled yet - **Brock Bowers to fall short of his draft cost (1.09)** - Kind: Fantasy Bust Calls · About: Brock Bowers - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - James Cook — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/james-cook - Buffalo Bills — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/bills - Saquon Barkley — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/saquon-barkley - Philadelphia Eagles — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/eagles - Amon-Ra St. Brown — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/amon-ra-st-brown - Detroit Lions — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/lions - Omarion Hampton — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/omarion-hampton - Los Angeles Chargers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/chargers - CeeDee Lamb — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/ceedee-lamb - Dallas Cowboys — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/cowboys - Trey McBride — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/trey-mcbride - Arizona Cardinals — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/cardinals - Brock Bowers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/brock-bowers ## What others said about the same people - Connor Rogers on Detroit Lions: Rogers picked Detroit, Houston, Carolina, Kansas City, Seattle and the Giants to win their Week 3 games, saying the Chiefs win by two touchdowns and the Giants by a field goal. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/83d1e88b-95a0-45ba-83d3-f86297170c6c (scored 100) - Chris Simms on Buffalo Bills: Simms went through the entire Week 3 slate with straight-up winners and predicted final scores, taking Jacksonville, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Carolina, Kansas City, Seattle, the Giants, Baltimore, New Orleans, Minnesota, San Francisco, Denver and Philadelphia. He also expected Zay Flowers and Puka Nacua to sit, Kyler Murray to play, and said Marvin Harrison Jr. projects as no better than a good No. 2 or high-end No. 3 receiver. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/662b7ba3-1bf6-4ad0-9f93-9f2ab83143fd (scored 100) - Chris Long on Buffalo Bills: Long liked the Rams over the Broncos on Sunday night even without Puka Nacua, and expected the Bills to beat the winless Chargers in Buffalo. He also backed the Bengals over the Steelers, expected an angry Detroit team to handle the Jets, and still thought both the Lions and Vikings could win the NFC North. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/3df9ea25-e57f-4fd7-b20c-c910a1c3633a (scored 100) - Nate Tice on Detroit Lions: Tice matched his guest on every Week 3 game, picking the Ravens over the Cowboys, the Jaguars over the Patriots in a close game, the Broncos to upset the Rams, the Raiders over the Saints, the Eagles over the Bears and the Lions over the Jets. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b8378e16-ea5c-4107-a883-28aaf0e71134 (scored 100) - Steven Ruiz on Detroit Lions: Previewing Week 3, Ruiz picked the Ravens to beat the Cowboys in Brazil, Jacksonville over New England in a low-scoring game, an upset by the Broncos over the Rams, the Raiders over the Saints, the Eagles over the Bears, the Lions over the Jets, and his Hail Mary that Houston beats Indianapolis by two touchdowns. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/a30ff469-4972-4c48-855b-ba984e4de9d0 (scored 100) - Sam Monson on Los Angeles Chargers: Monson picked the Chargers to beat the Bills outright (jokingly crediting Buffalo's gray 'Nickel City' jerseys), took the Vikings to win outright in Tampa, and said Seattle would destroy Washington. He also reiterated his Super Bowl pick of Denver over the Rams, called the Dolphins destined for the No. 1 overall pick, and said the Saints are a worst-to-first candidate in the NFC South. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/0b810ffd-fd93-4ea2-a208-b1353dea5fb0 (scored 0) ## More sleeper calls The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Derek Brown on Travis Hunter: Derek Brown ("Debro") laid out a slate of wide receiver breakouts — Ricky Pearsall, Jalen Coker, Egbuka, Jalen Waddle, Joshua Palmer, George Pickens, DeVonta Smith and Travis Hunter — while fading Xavier Worthy, Tyreek Hill and the cheap Cleveland/late-round types, and gave his own rankings well ahead of ADP for several of them. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/effe2fda-3dcb-489f-a1e1-f8fa5b11ada7 (scored 100) - Ryan Wormeli on Ricky Pearsall: Host Ryan Warmley endorsed Ricky Pearsall as a bet worth making and put his rookie-receiver capital in Tetairoa McMillan, while fading Zay Flowers at his cost and opting out of Marvin Harrison Jr. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/192d6e67-2e0e-49b3-bc82-4c8a77bd5950 (scored 100) - Chris Welsh on Tyler Warren: Welsh drafted Christian McCaffrey, Breece Hall, RJ Harvey, Tetairoa McMillan, Travis Hunter, the Rams and Saints receivers, Justin Fields (a top-10 QB), Drake Maye (QB10-14), Travis Kelce and Tyler Warren, while passing on Joe Mixon, the Commanders backfield, Tyreek Hill, Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/9f0f2132-f3b8-4813-b2b1-374b827d86a8 (scored 100) - Pat Fitzmaurice on Rashee Rice: Pat Fitzmaurice gave draft-or-pass calls: reluctant drafts on Christian McCaffrey, RJ Harvey, Tetairoa McMillan (his WR16), Rashee Rice at a ninth-round price, Austin Ekeler, Chris Rodriguez, Chris Olave, Drake Maye (his QB8) and Tyler Warren, with passes on Breece Hall, Joe Mixon, Croskey-Merritt, Tyreek Hill, Travis Hunter, the Rams receivers and Justin Fields. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e36f1287-466c-4889-a7ea-c9d86f4b5182 (scored 0) - Joe Pisapia on Tyreek Hill: Joey P (Joe Pisapia) played draft-or-pass on 2025 fantasy values: he passed on Christian McCaffrey at pick 7, Breece Hall, Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Travis Hunter and Chris Olave, while drafting RJ Harvey, Tyreek Hill, Tetairoa McMillan, Puka Nacua, Tyler Warren and a late-round Joe Mixon. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/c3c95c1c-64a4-42b6-9389-58d5fb5b27d1 (scored 0) - Ryan Wormeli on Tetairoa McMillan: Hosting the segment, Warmley backed Bryce Young to finish better than his QB22 consensus ranking, endorsed Cedric Tillman as a late-round target, and said Tetairoa McMillan will be a top-15 fantasy receiver this season. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/2c695b79-bc5e-4d3f-8136-6705656267a2 (scored 100) --- Accuracy is 0-100 against what actually happened. The naive guess is what a strategy requiring no knowledge would have scored on the same call — the difference is the skill, and it is what the MissedTakes Score averages. Full method: https://missedtakes.co/methodology We summarize what a pundit said and quote a short span for attribution; we never republish their article. If this is wrong, tell us: https://missedtakes.co/corrections?pundit=tom-strachan