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Jalen Johnson is a top-ten pick in points leagues and a second-rounder in 9-cat

All ten analysts' points boards have Jalen Johnson 7th or 8th, but his 3.3 turnovers a night drop him to 21st on our 9-cat board, and only ESPN's turnover-free categories format keeps him near the first round.

By · 4 min read

Jalen Johnson is the same player in every league and a different pick depending on the format. In points leagues he is as safe a top-ten pick as there is: all ten analysts' points boards on our panel have him 7th or 8th, the points consensus has him 8th, and our points board ranks him 8th under Yahoo's default scoring and 11th under ESPN's. In 9-cat leagues the picture splits. The analysts' 9-cat consensus has him 17th, our 9-cat board has him 21st, and ESPN's own categories rankings had him 6th in early October, when ESPN drafters were taking him around eighth or ninth.

Ranks from our projections board and the analysts' consensus, updated nightly.

One number explains almost all of it. We project 3.3 turnovers a night, which costs him a category in 9-cat, costs him little in points, and costs him nothing at all in ESPN's standard categories league, which does not count turnovers. This piece puts his ranks side by side, explains each with the arithmetic behind it, and says where to take him in each kind of league.

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All stories in the NewsroomOctober 16, 2026

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