Why the Detroit Lions Should Draft Figment.
The Disney NFL Draft is now underway! During the four-day Fanatics Fest, some of the biggest-name characters were drafted to join pro football teams. This takes a look at the first half of the first round picks, plus why the Detroit Lions should flip the script and draft Figment.
While very little is known about the 2026 Disney NFL Draft, if we give it the seriousness it deserves, it is safe to assume that the event will mirror the actual 91st NFL Draft held in Pittsburgh in April 2026. It would only be fair if the Disney Draft followed the same order as the real one.
During the actual NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders held the first overall pick and, as widely expected, selected Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza. For those who are unfamiliar with football but have opted to read this post for some reason, Mendoza is the clean-cut, humble and hungry Hoosier (non-derogatory). He’s the archetype pocket passer, drawing favorable comparisons to Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff.
With the first pick in the Disney NFL Draft, the Raiders will stick to that playbook and pick Mickey Mouse. He checks all of the same boxes, and gives them a quarterback with many of the same strengths. Even if the Raiders didn’t need help in the passing department, Mickey Mouse is the type of team leader and locker room presence that you just can’t pass up. He’s very obviously the consensus #1 pick.
As it turns out, the 2026 Disney Fan Draft was not at all what I was expecting…
Post-Draft Update
Instead of evaluating character talent and the needs of each NFL franchise, the 2026 Disney Fan Draft has, thus far, done things differently. Basically, it’s a merchandise play. Disney, NFL, Champion, and Fanatics have unveiled a new collection at this year’s Fanatics Fest that pairs iconic Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, and Avengers characters with NFL teams in a way that feels like a perfect match.
The first eight Disney Fan Draft picks include:
- Buffalo Bills I Disney’s Beast
- Raw strength and duality — intensity with a loyal edge
- Dallas Cowboys I Disney and Pixar’s Woody
- Character, confidence, and timeless appeal – rooted in classic cowboy iconography
- Las Vegas Raiders I Star Wars’ Darth Vader
- Edge and mystique — a natural alignment of legacy power and presence
- New England Patriots | Avengers’ Captain America
- Heritage and heroism — a modern take on an enduring symbol of leadership and patriotism
- New York Giants I Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph
- Big, bold, and unstoppable — strength balanced with heart
- New York Jets I Disney and Pixar’s Buzz Lightyear
- Speed, flight, and confidence — anchored in aviation roots
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers I Disney’s Captain Hook
- Pirate legacy with attitude — expressive and unmistakable
- Washington Commanders I Disney and Pixar’s Hamm
- Grounded strength — a tribute to “The Hogs”
Honestly, my initial reaction to these picks as a groan. Of course it’s all about the merchandising. Then, like any good sports fan, I called up my local a.m. sports radio station and ranted about the selections.
Then I read this interview with Bret Healey, Director of Graphic Design at Disney Consumer Products. After that, I’ve gotta admit to Mr. Healey: I Owe You an Apology. I Wasn’t Really Familiar With Your Game. (Hamm to the Commanders is flat-out brilliant and a deep cut that I didn’t even clock at first.)
Nevertheless, the Detroit Lions still haven’t drafted. While a selection of Simba makes the most sense, I’m still holding out hope that the Lions will draft Figment. After all, with the power of imagination, there’s nothing that he can’t be–including a lion! So here’s my original pitch for the pick…
There are a lot of other picks before we get to the Detroit Lions at #17, but who cares about those.
Most of the picks further up the board are straightforward, anyway. Goofy, Pluto, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Oswald are all gone. And you better believe the Browns are grabbing Jar Jar Binks at #9. Meanwhile, we’re hearing rumors that the Jets have interest in trading up to snatch Forky. Although some conflicting reports suggest they’ll try to draft Dino-Rama, which isn’t a character at all and no longer exists, but hey, it’s the Jets! (Word is that they’ll try to use their second rounder on Fast & Furious Supercharged.)
Teams with competent front offices will also pick earlier, so it’s safe to say that a lot of the top talent they’d be targeting is gone by the 17th selection. Detroit mostly needs help on the o-line and secondary, but the Lions aren’t getting Beast, Genie, Chernabog, Baymax, or Hercules in that spot. Jack Jack might still be on the board, but I’m not sure that he’s a good culture fit. (There are character concerns…I’ll just leave it at that.)
Accordingly, here’s my pitch for the Detroit Lions reaching a bit and making a bold pick: Figment.
Figment doesn’t have the name cachet as some of the big name players. He doesn’t have a film franchise, streaming show, or even a high-quality theme park attraction. Despite all of this, he’s a high-ceiling player with potential to be the sleeper of the draft even as the 17th selection.
I’ll admit that none of the mock drafts have Figment coming off the board this early. But that’s only because there inexplicably aren’t any mock drafts for the Disney NFL Draft. (You’re slipping, Mel Kiper.)
If the analysts at ESPN or WalterFootball or whatever were not asleep on the job…and if they knew who Figment was in the first place…I am confident that they’d have him at the top of their rankings.
Figment is the prototypical two-way talent. The obvious comparison is Travis Hunter, the wide receiver and cornerback who the Jacksonville Jaguars traded up to select second in last year’s NFL draft. The Jags sent a ton of draft capital to the Browns to get their guy, making Figment at #17 look like a comparative steal.
Frankly, comparing Figment to Travis Hunter is a failure of imagination. No offense to Hunter, who has tremendous upside, but Figment is more like the Shohei Ohtani of football. Even that is an understatement.
As is evident from the end of his attraction(s), Figment has worn a lot of hats. He’s highly adaptable to any situation and adept at everything; he’s fueled by imagination and powered by the idea bag.
Figment is perhaps best compared to a QB with the accuracy of Drew Brees, arm strength of Josh Allen, and mobility of Randall Cunningham. He also has the wide receiving talent of Calvin “Megatron” Johnson, and moves of Barry Sanders.
That’s just on the offensive side of the ball, which isn’t really where the Lions need help in the first place. (Although some of us skeptics wouldn’t mind having depth behind Goff.) At the same time, the number of injuries the Lions have suffered in the last couple of years would make a plug-and-play athlete like Figment invaluable.
Admittedly, Figment won’t help shore up the offensive line, so the Lions will have to address that elsewhere in the draft. I’m fairly confident Winnie the Pooh will still be there in the second, and he has deceptive athleticism. If not, Pete or Stinky Pete should both be there, and are good fits despite their ages. (Which is fine. The Lions are in win-now mode!)
Figment will be immensely valuable on defense since he can, uh, fly.
Good luck with the air attack with Figment floating around back there as safety. Detroit’s secondary is in an even worse position than it was back in April, thanks to the whole Terrion Arnold, ahem, incident. Even before that, I’m not convinced the Lions did enough this off-season to address deficiencies in their defense.
This brings us to another important point, which is that Figment is a great fit for the Lions.
Dan Campbell often stresses culture guys and grit, and Figment has both in spades. His sense of childlike-wonder and innocence would make him a great addition to the locker room, especially since one of their now ex-players is likely guilty of kidnapping and robbery. Drafting Figment would be a good course correction on that whole debacle.
There’s also the unassailable fact that Figment is the type of pick that’s catnip for Brad Holmes. While I respect him playing it a bit safer in this year’s actual NFL draft, if you ask me, Holmes was a little too conservative, overcorrecting from his previous aggressive approach to go with several safe picks that probably would’ve been available later.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Blake “The Tank” Miller (not his actual nickname, but it should be) and appreciate that he’s the exact opposite of injury-prone. At the same time, we didn’t see much boldness from Brad this year. Picking Figment would fix that, as a quintessential “let him cook” pick.
If all of that isn’t enough to convince the Detroit Lions that Figment is their clear-cut choice with the 17th selection, how about this: merchandising potential.
Figment fans are fervent. Most NFL executives would salivate at the prospect of a player who could move as many jerseys as Messi or MJ or Mahomes. Those are rookie numbers.
Figment commanded an 8-hour line for a popcorn bucket, and recently sold out a bunch of $45 bubble wands. Has any NFL player, past or present, ever accomplished that?! Didn’t think so.
Suffice to say, Figment is a generational talent who is a day-one starter with transformational power (literal and figurative) for whichever team selects him. Most teams will overlook him due to the lack of studio synergy and underwhelming attraction, but the sky’s the limit on his future prospects.
The final wildcard here that Figment brings with him is his fans. Just like the Lions faithful who have stuck around since the dark days of Rod Marinelli, Matt Millen, a revolving door of quarterbacks and an 0-16 season, we Figment fans are a different breed. A rabid breed. We will go to the ends of the earth to support wherever Figment calls home, whether it be one of the worst-rated attractions at EPCOT or Ford Field.
Never has there been something more obvious than the Detroit Lions drafting Figment with the 17th pick at the Disney NFL Draft. Well, there has been one thing: Josh D’Amaro and Neil Patrick Harris announcing a new Journey Into Imagination with Figment and Dreamfinder at the 2026 D23 Expo.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Where do you think Figment will go in the Disney NFL Draft? Is he a steal for the Lions at #17? Should he go earlier, or fall later given the current state of his attraction? If Figment isn’t a first-rounder, is this another sign that Disney needs to reimagine Journey Into Imagination? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing from you is half the fun, so please share your thoughts in the comments!
Wow, I somehow missed this post – good stuff! I’m an Eagles fan and I saw Google had Dr. Doom projected to go to them. He’s powerful and wears green, so okay. But how could you pass up Sam Eagle for him?
I don’t know too much about football, but this was a delight to read! I especially enjoyed your replies to the comments. As always. Mickey 1928 is terrific.
Thank you JulieW. I hope this doesn’t ruin my manly image but I actually blushed when I read your kind words.
PS Your check is in the mail
AFC East:
Bills land Buff. So much potential, but not going anywhere.
Miami picks Orange Bird. Always looking for new fans, er, I mean friends.
Patriots take the GOAT from Big Thunder Mtn.
Jets trade all their picks to move up and draft….Sport Goofy. We know how that will turn out.
The Vikings would take the usual strategy of trading down into oblivion… Hercules would be available, the front office would panic, decide the ‘analytical value’ isn’t there and trade the pick to a divisional round. Then, drop all the way to the end of the first round, watch their rivals draft a Hall of Famer, and use their new hoard of mid-round picks on selections like Cinderella (great footwork but terrible game clock awareness), Kronk (powerhouse but keeps accidently scoring touchdowns for the opposing team), and Jack Skellington (towering target but shatters his entire skeletal structure the first time he is tackled). Then they go 9-8 in the regular season, get blown out in the wild card, and call the season a success.
Amanda for the win!!!
“Cinderella – great footwork, but terrible game clock awareness”. Best line ever.
Tom, this is one of your best posts ever. I read every word and was chuckling the entire way. We already knew you had top 10 Disney knowledge, but your ball knowledge is right on point as well.
Now I’m going to spend the rest of the workday thinking about (a) who the Cowboys should draft and (b) which schools each of the Disney characters would have attended.
Is Figment really the Travis Hunter of this draft? I think his comp is Aaron Rogers. An absolute first ballot Hall of Fame player who is still hanging on and is in desperate need of either retiring or a complete physical overhaul. (Let the hate come. I’m ready!)
Whoo boy, I dunno. Figment is incredibly likable and beloved by billons. Aaron Rodgers is…not….and is hated by his own family.
If this comparison must be made, I would propose Philip Rivers.
Or maybe Lebron or Messi (although I don’t know soccer–could be a poor comp).
Phillip Rivers!!! Perfect!
Uhh, this is the first I’m hearing about an NFL Disney draft. As a Packers fan, I’m a little concerned about not having a first-round pick since we traded this year’s pick for Maui (who just tore his fish hook, but hopefully will be back early next season).
Tom just increased traffic to his site by about a factor of 4-10 because the algorithms latching onto this post (ROTFL)
As a lifelong Lions fan, I have to say that Figment is kind of duplicative to Amon Ra St Brown– small, shfity, able to get into and out of small pockets but magically get bigger when needed. Nor sure we can justify the pick with the salary cap justifications. But hear me out, there might be a better pick just hovering around the edges….
The Lions should select the Hitchhiking Ghosts. They need help in the pass rush and who better to provide that than the trio that can avoid any blocking scheme and still get into your Doom Buggy right next to you. As a seasoned football fan, you know that you don’t need to make contact with the QB all the time, just put pressure on them by breaking the pocket and getting next to them.
“Tom just increased traffic to his site by about a factor of 4-10 because the algorithms latching onto this post (ROTFL)”
If you mean a factor of 4-10 people, that’s about right! 😉
Hitchhiking Ghosts would also be a great pick for one reason every Lions fan should appreciate: the dead can’t get injured.
Tom. Tom, Tom Tom. I don’t know if the Venn overlap is big enough to make it worth it the time you spent writing it for us, but I’m deeply appreciative that you did.
That 1-2 punch Jets double punchline was *Swedish Chef’s kiss*
“I don’t know if the Venn overlap is big enough to make it worth it the time you spent writing it for us, but I’m deeply appreciative that you did.”
Oh, it definitely isn’t. This was most definitely a post that’s “for me” with very very reader interest. More so than even the TDR ones. It’ll be one of this year’s least popular posts.
But I had fun with it, and hope others enjoyed. Thanks for sharing that you were one of the few who did!
Tom you clearly don’t know the Jets. We’ll be using our first three draft picks to move up one spot to pick our new running back Flash Slothmore.
Seriously Tom, some funny stuff.
Final thought on reading this….Dude you are so lucky she said yes.
Maybe she’s the lucky one?! I regale her with the same ball knowledge year after year, and she somehow never seems to retain anything!
Flash is very much a Jets pick.
Tom, Detroit drafting Figment might create some familial tension after your daughter finds out she’s now (nick)named after your 2nd favorite Lion.
But it doesn’t matter anyway because Chicago is going to use all 7 rounds to grab Henry, Big Al, Trixie, Wendell, Liver Lips McGrowl, Ernest the Dude, and Romeo McGrowl — then cap things off with a flurry of UDFA (Undrafted Disney Fur Animal) signings including Zeke and Zeb and Ted and Fred and a Chicago Bear named Tennessee. We’ll happily invite Figment and your Lions to our Soldier Field jamboree.
No way is Romeo falling that far. The lines will snatch him in the 5th at the latest. Too much athleticism and poise.
Also not sure of the rules, but I don’t think the Bears can draft the same character twice. 😉
No no no, what I want to be hearing is (assuming it goes in the order of this years draft), with the 21st pick in the 2026 Disney NFL draft, the PIttsburgh Steelers select Mickey Mouse, quarter back from MM University!!!
I’ve already got a greetings from Pittsburgh tshirt with Mickey on it from their popup store!!!
If Mickey falls to 21, it’ll be the shocker of the draft. Teams will have found some character concerns in his pre-draft interviews.
I had no clue this was even a thing, so just seeing the headline I burst out laughing. Naturally I just assumed after years of disappointment on Figment announcements for DisneyWorld that you had given up and were trying to navigate a path for him to the NFL. While I would have been fine with that too, this whole draft thing sounds like a ton of fun!
Personally I’d go all-in on the O-line and (Beast, Baymax) and then take Sully as a running back in the 3rd round and just focus on the ground game. Running backs always drop, and I think Lions fans would love hearing Sully announced as “from MU”
Loved this article as a fellow Lions fan. Another underrated pick would be Doc McStuffins or Doctor Strange or anyone with any medical knowledge. Or Mr. Incredible to rush the passer. Goff is top 7 QB, and far better than Caleb Williams, the NFL version of Crush’s Coaster. I got the inspiration for that metaphor from your recent article, Tom. Personally I would substitute Tron in, but that might be a bit more controversial.
The Detroit Lions can capitalize on the NFL’s push to globalize the game by selecting Duffy. The Detroit Lions can become Japan’s No. 1 football team. Unfortunately, Duffy is that former lovable walk-on who blossomed into a scrappy leader as an undersized safety in college but has a low ceiling. He’s not worth a first or second rounder. I would look at Duffy in the fourth round but might trade up to get him late in the third round for the right price.
This is brilliant. Duffy & Friends and Zootopia characters to cater to those international markets.
My goodness. This is fantastic. As a recovering Browns fan, the Jar Jar joke (?) really landed. Anyway, no notes. Fantastic, fun piece. Thank you!
I actually think the Browns had a pretty good draft and are finally positioned well for the future. Trading Garrett had to have been a tough decision, but it sets them up well for the future!
The Browns and the Jets are just low-hanging fruit that make me, as a Lions fan, feel slightly better. Honestly, though, I wouldn’t mind both franchises turning things around. Just not at the expense of the Lions! 😉
The Lions need a Fairy Godmother with her magic wand.
Good second round snag. Or Baymax, if he’s still around.