# Tom Strachan: In a guide to drafting from pick 1.08, Strachan targets Jonathan Taylor, CeeDee Lamb and James Cook (plus Amon-Ra St. Brown), arguing Taylor and Cook have top-two RB upside and St. Brown could finish as the overall WR1, while warning against taking elite tight ends Brock Bowers or Trey McBride or Ashton Jeanty that early.

**Claimed:** Aug 23, 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-approach-pick-1-08-2026-advice/

7 checkable claims — 3 fantasy bust calls, 3 positional finishes and 1 sleeper call — 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 3 unsettled calls enough other pundits have weighed in on, this one lands below the rest of the room on every one.

> There's a very real world where Taylor is a top-two back this season.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **Trey McBride to fall short of his draft cost (1.08)**
  - Kind: Fantasy Bust Calls · About: Trey McBride, Arizona Cardinals
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Amon-Ra St. Brown to finish top 1 at his position, by fantasy points**
  - Kind: Positional Finishes · About: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **CeeDee Lamb to outplay his draft cost (1.08)**
  - Kind: Sleeper Calls · About: CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **James Cook to finish top 2 at his position, by fantasy points**
  - Kind: Positional Finishes · About: James Cook, Buffalo Bills
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Ashton Jeanty to fall short of his draft cost (1.08)**
  - Kind: Fantasy Bust Calls · About: Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Jonathan Taylor to finish top 2 at his position, by fantasy points**
  - Kind: Positional Finishes · About: Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Brock Bowers to fall short of his draft cost (1.08)**
  - Kind: Fantasy Bust Calls · About: Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders
  - Verdict: not settled yet

## Who this take is about

- Trey McBride — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/trey-mcbride
- Arizona Cardinals — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/cardinals
- Amon-Ra St. Brown — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/amon-ra-st-brown
- Detroit Lions — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/lions
- CeeDee Lamb — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/ceedee-lamb
- Dallas Cowboys — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/cowboys
- James Cook — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/james-cook
- Buffalo Bills — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/bills
- Ashton Jeanty — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/ashton-jeanty
- Las Vegas Raiders — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/raiders
- Jonathan Taylor — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/jonathan-taylor
- Indianapolis Colts — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/colts
- 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)
- Steven Ruiz on Las Vegas Raiders: 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)
- 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)
- Nate Tice on Dallas Cowboys: Tice picked the Bengals over the Texans in a low-scoring game, the Jaguars at Denver, the Bears over the Vikings, the Patriots over the Steelers and the Rams to edge the Giants, and his Hail Mary was the Cowboys scoring 40 on Washington. He also floated Abdul Carter as a possible All-Pro. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b6211c80-3d1c-46b8-8a0c-151fc0ba92de (scored 100)

## More fantasy bust calls

The same kind of call, about other players and teams.

- Ryan Wormeli on Zay Flowers: 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 0)
- Derek Brown on Zay Flowers: 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 0)
- Chris Welsh on Austin Ekeler: 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 Rashee Rice: 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)
- Pat Fitzmaurice on Breece Hall: 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)
- Derek Brown on Chuba Hubbard: Derek Brown ("Deebro") names three busts to avoid in 2025 fantasy drafts: Kyren Williams at an RB1 price, Chuba Hubbard as a top-20 RB, and Xavier Worthy as his ultimate bust, arguing Rashee Rice is the clear No. 1 receiver in Kansas City. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/9cc5c06e-e0c5-45bd-8b93-fa089f8673a8 (scored 100)

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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.

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