Mike Clay's top 5 must-draft fantasy football picks in 2025 after ESPN's latest marathon mock ft. Bijan Robinson

NFL insider Mike Clay was part of a 10-team mock draft conducted by ESPN on Wednesday. He had the second pick of the first round, but the snake format allowed him to pick with a small gap between his picks from the second round, and he ended up with a few interesting duos for his fantasy football team.

Check out some of the must-draft picks made by Clay during the mock draft.

Top 5 must-draft picks by Mike Clay in ESPN mock draft

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#1 - Bijan Robinson, RB, Atlanta Falcons

As expected, for the second overall pick, Clay went with Robinson, widely considered RB1 for the 2025 fantasy football season. His ADP, according to Fantasy Pros, is exactly at #2, behind only Ja'Marr Chase from the Cincinnati Bengals. A solid, can't-miss pick to start.

#2 - Brian Thomas, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars

Finding a steal in the second round isn't exactly easy, but the reporter managed to do so with his selection of Brian Thomas Jr. with the penultimate pick of the second round. His average ADP is #14, but he was the #19 overall pick, representing great value at the end of the second round.

#3 - Josh Jacobs, RB, Green Bay Packers

Another steal came early in the third round at #22, when Clay got RB10, Jacobs, a player whose value was around the end of the second round with an ADP of #18. The reporter was able to get his starter running backs early in the draft, making for an excellent start.

#4 - Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Seattle Seahawks

At pick #39, he continued his trend of going with number one players for their teams, now with Smith-Njigba and his ADP of #30 for his third straight steal. Smith-Njigba was WR13 for Fantasy Pros, but Mike got him as WR16 to improve his team.

#5 - Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Arizona Cardinals

He doubled with wide receivers later, trusting Marvin Harrison Jr. in a breakout year with the Arizona Cardinals at pick #42. For the fourth straight time, it ended up being a steal, with Harrison holding an ADP of #39. It was an extremely solid start to the draft for the ESPN reporter..

About the author

Henrique Bulio is an NFL and College Football journalist at Sportskeeda and the Editor-in-Chief of Pro Football Brasil. He has a total 13 years of experience working in American Football, and playing quarterback at an amateur level in Brazil has given him a unique perspective of the game.

Henrique follows the Philadelphia Eagles closely due to Michael Vick's historic performance on MNF against the Washington Commanders in 2010. His all-time favorite player is Ed Reed; he believes that Reed is the greatest safety to ever play the game. Bill Belichick gets the nod as Henrique's favorite coach for coaching the Patriots to glory over two decades.

If Henrique were to be able to go back in time and watch one game, it would be Super Bowl XLIX, where the Patriots and the Seahawks played a complete, back-and-forth game that concluded with one of the biggest talking points in NFL history.

Technical deep dives are Henrique’s specialty, and he ensures never to use misleading words in his articles, since he himself consumes a lot of information off the web. He has had the privilege of interviewing Cairo Santos, Lamar Jackson, Jim Harbaugh, Sean McDermott, Bruce Arians, Matt LaFleur, among others.

Aside from football, Henrique likes to play poker and Counter-Strike.

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Edited by Henrique Bulio