# Pat Fitzmaurice: Fitzmaurice plants their flag on Bucky Irving, Blake Corum and Brock Bowers for 2026, arguing Irving is being wrongly faded, Corum is a cheap high-upside handcuff behind Kyren Williams, and Bowers is worth a late-second-round price. **Claimed:** Sep 4, 2026 **Pundit:** Pat Fitzmaurice — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/pat-fitzmaurice **Outlet:** FantasyPros — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/fantasypros **How it reached us:** published in writing **Original:** https://www.fantasypros.com/2026/09/9-fantasy-football-must-have-picks-flag-plants-for-2026/ 3 checkable claims — 2 sleeper calls and 1 depth chart call — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call. It names 4 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. > It seems like everyone in the fantasy community is fading Bucky Irving, but I'm buying. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Blake Corum to be 2nd on the depth chart** - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams - Verdict: not settled yet - **Blake Corum to outplay his draft cost (his current ADP of RB34 and 96th overall)** - Kind: Sleeper Calls · About: Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams - Verdict: not settled yet - **Brock Bowers to outplay his draft cost (anywhere in the back half of the second round in 12-team drafts)** - Kind: Sleeper Calls · About: Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - Blake Corum — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/blake-corum - Los Angeles Rams — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/rams - Brock Bowers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/brock-bowers - Las Vegas Raiders — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/raiders ## What others said about the same people - Colin Cowherd on Matthew Stafford: Cowherd predicts Matt Stafford stays with the Rams rather than moving on, and says Travis Hunter may underachieve because they're being asked to play both ways — Cowherd doubts they're a No. 1 receiver and would slot them as a No. 2 receiver while being a No. 1 corner. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/005e6ad1-bc95-49da-9db2-3a9da2d5041d (scored 100) - Colin Cowherd on Matthew Stafford: Cowherd believes Matt Stafford's public negotiation posturing means he ultimately stays in Los Angeles, and he flags Travis Hunter as a high draft pick who could underachieve because trying to play both cornerback and receiver full-time will hurt him. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/2c1faeb3-7adb-456d-bd42-275be95269e8 (scored 100) - Pete Prisco on Los Angeles Rams: Prisco gives score predictions for every Week 9 NFL game, picking the Bengals to rout the Falcons in Madrid, the Cowboys to rebound at Indianapolis, and the Jaguars to win in Baltimore without Lamar Jackson. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/dc43909b-bc7f-47aa-b208-5cf7c95844bc (scored 92.86) - Chris Simms on Los Angeles Rams: Simms gave a predicted final score for every Week 9 game, picking the Bengals, Chiefs, Broncos, Lions, Giants, Rams, Cowboys, Saints, 49ers, Patriots, Seahawks, Texans, Bears and Bills, and also said they wouldn't be shocked to see Jacksonville reach the AFC Championship Game. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/17eb747a-90b1-472f-bb6d-e71c0c69133a (scored 92.86) - Connor Rogers on Los Angeles Rams: Rogers picked straight-up winners in every Week 9 game, agreeing with Simms on all of them, and gave a 24-20 Bills score over the Vikings on Monday night. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/11646f69-18dd-4831-a7de-e4115ded875c (scored 100) - Jordan Dajani on Los Angeles Rams: Dajani picked all seven featured Week 9 games with final scores, including a blowout Jaguars win in Baltimore, an Atlanta upset of Cincinnati in Madrid, and a narrow Bills win in Minneapolis. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/103d86e2-5305-4b84-af26-05220db83778 (scored 92.86) ## 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 their own rankings well ahead of ADP for several of them. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/effe2fda-3dcb-489f-a1e1-f8fa5b11ada7 (scored 100) - Tom Strachan on Ricky Pearsall: Tom Strachan backed Xavier Worthy, Jalen Coker, Egbuka, Jalen Waddle, Darnell Mooney, Zay Flowers, George Pickens, DeVonta Smith and Travis Hunter as values at their draft costs, while avoiding Jerry Jeudy and the Cleveland receivers. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/c42eacc5-eb10-4103-a94d-50545a487cbb (scored 100) - Ryan Wormeli on Ricky Pearsall: Host Ryan Warmley endorsed Ricky Pearsall as a bet worth making and put their rookie-receiver capital in Tetairoa McMillan, while fading Zay Flowers at their 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) - Joe Pisapia on Tyreek Hill: Joey P (Joe Pisapia) played draft-or-pass on 2025 fantasy values: they 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 their 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=pat-fitzmaurice