Underdog Fantasy best ball drafts began before the Super Bowl, and I jumped into the action immediately. As a result, I’ve selected 23 teams. Twenty teams were in The Little Board, and three were in The Big Board.
Now’s an excellent time to look at the players I’ve drafted the most frequently to this point.
- 2024 Dynasty Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- 2024 NFL Draft Guide
- 2024 Best Ball Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- Free Fantasy Football Mock Draft Simulator
Most-Rostered Best Ball Players (February 2024)
Quarterbacks
Since 2021, Josh Allen has ranked as the QB1 in points per game (24.6), QB3 (24.2) and QB1 (24.2). He's remarkably consistent and has a cathedral-high ceiling because of his excellence as a passer and rusher. In addition, it's easy to stack Allen with his non-Stefon Diggs weapons.
Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson aren't on the table. However, I've drafted each once. It's an appealing time of the offseason to build two QB best ball rosters with one elite signal-caller and a non-top-100 pick as the second quarterback.
There's quarterback uncertainty for approximately 10 teams before free agency and the NFL Draft, albeit in varying degrees. For instance, most pundits project the Bears to select Caleb Williams, and the Giants will likely run it back with Daniel Jones, barring unexpectedly drafting a replacement and turning to that rookie immediately. Still, the fluid quarterback situations make it less appealing to pick three quarterbacks and get left holding the bag with a late-round selection that doesn't start or loses the job during the 2024 campaign.
Thus, even when I haven't picked Allen, Hurts or Jackson, I've prioritized double-tapping the position in the QB4 through QB13 range, evidenced by Jordan Love, Kyler Murray, Anthony Richardson, Justin Herbert and Brock Purdy appearing on the table. I've also selected Joe Burrow (twice), Dak Prescott (twice) and C.J. Stroud (once) a combined five times.
Drake Maye and Will Levis are appealing bargain options on teams headlined at quarterback by Allen, Hurts, Jackson or Patrick Mahomes. I previously explained why Murray and Maye are QB2s with top-five potential in 2024.
Meanwhile, Love was the QB5 in points per game (19.4) among those who played more than five games in 2023. He had fantasy success early despite shakier real-life performances before putting things together and thriving late, earning Pro Football Focus's (PFF's) highest passing grade among quarterbacks with at least 200 dropbacks from Week 10 through the Super Bowl. Love's play in his first season as a starter was all the more impressive because his leading wide receivers and tight ends were rookies or second-year pros. Green Bay's offense is ascending, making Love's ADP among quarterbacks baffling. He's a steal and easy to stack with his pass-catchers.
Running Backs
The percentage of teams I have James Cook on would be irresponsible if 20 of the 23 teams didn't have a three-dollar buy-in, and I didn't intend on scaling back my exposure to him when drafting more $10 teams. Still, the speedy running back had an excellent 2023 campaign and was a stacking option with Allen on many of the teams he was chosen for. Earlier this month, I featured Cook with Aaron Jones and Chase Brown as three must-have running backs. Readers should check out that piece to see why the trio are fantastic picks.
Jaylen Wright and Trey Benson are appealing rookies. The former was on Bruce Feldman's 2022 College Football Freaks List and should light up the NFL Draft Combine's testing. His Average Draft Position (ADP) has already climbed from the 220s to inside the top 200 in the past couple of weeks, and it will continue to rise if he goes nuts at the Combine. NFL Network and Move The Sticks' Daniel Jeremiah recently called Wright one of his favorite running back prospects in this class on his pre-draft media call.
NFL Mock Draft Database projects Benson as the first running back chosen in the draft. He has the requisite size to be a featured, three-down back. FantasyPros' Thor Nystrom is a fan of Benson. He recently discussed Benson on the FantasyPros Dynasty Football Podcast.
Keaton Mitchell is a dreadful selection on fragile-RB best ball rosters. Yet, I've drafted six or seven running backs on my 23 rosters. He's a nifty pick in that construction since Underdog Fantasy's tournament payouts are backloaded, and getting a home-run hitter like Mitchell back during the fantasy playoffs could be game-changing.
Wide Receivers
Rookie wide receivers are littered up and down the wide receivers table. They were comically underrated for the first few weeks after best ball drafts opened, but their ADPs are skyrocketing now. Javon Baker was almost always available in the final round of drafts until approximately a week ago. He had an eye-catching week of practices at the Senior Bowl, and FantasyPros Derek Brown is a believer.
Hello Javon Baker.
People are still sleeping on how good he is. https://t.co/2VGQXeRnVi
- Derek Brown (@DBro_FFB) February 24, 2024
Mike Renner from The Locked On Network and previously from PFF also had high praise for Baker before the Senior Bowl, comparing him to Victor Cruz.
Brian Thomas and Troy Franklin are projected to be first-round picks in our latest NFL consensus mock draft. Additionally, NFL Mock Draft Database projects Keon Coleman in the first round, Adonai Mitchell and Xavier Legette in the top 50 picks, Ja'Lynn Polk and Roman Wilson inside the top 60 selections and Malachi Corley within the top 70.
Furthermore, Wilson's standout performance at the Senior Bowl has strapped a rocket to his ADP's back, lifting him from the final round in Underdog Fantasy's drafts to a top-170 ADP. In other words, I scooped him up at a bargain before the market jumped onto the bandwagon.
Khalil Shakir is a useful standalone pick. However, the percentage of rosters he was drafted to was inflated by Allen's roster percentage. In addition, Michael Wilson was a cheap stacking choice with Murray.
Nico Collins and Dontayvion Wicks are on the table, and I recently highlighted them as draft values. Moreover, Wicks doubles as a sweet stacking selection with Love. Jayden Reed and Christian Watson are also players to stack with Love, albeit their ADPs are before their rocket-armed quarterback's ADP.
Andrei Iosivas wasn't completely overwhelmed in his rookie season, leaping from the Ivy League to the NFL. He's cheap exposure to Burrow and Cincinnati's offense and has elite physical tools.
Andrei Iosivas is a WR prospect in the 2023 draft class. He scored a 9.96 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 14 out of 3048 WR from 1987 to 2023. https://t.co/X6YqWnv4u7 pic.twitter.com/H6HY22ZS9h
- Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 15, 2023
Tight Ends
The Packers went to the well twice for tight ends in last year's NFL Draft, picking Luke Musgrave 43rd and Tucker Kraft 79th. Musgrave had more yards per route run than Kraft, 1.41 Y/RR versus 1.13 Y/RR. However, running behind Musgrave to open the year depressed Kraft's full-season mark. From Week 12 through the Divisional Round of the playoffs, he had a more palatable 1.31 Y/RR.
Both players could improve in their second years, and it shouldn't be assumed Musgrave will be a lock to sit atop the depth chart. Moreover, there's room in the offense for both to succeed. According to Sumer Sports, Green Bay's 31.6% rate of using 12 personnel was the third-highest mark in the NFL last season. Guessing which week each tight end has a useful fantasy performance might be a headache in managed leagues, but that's not a concern in best ball formats, making them intriguing selections. Love's roster percentage also inflated the percentage of rosters I drafted them to.
Noah Fant's range of outcomes is vast. He's a free agent and, in the worst-case scenario, could be this year's version of 2023 Mike Gesicki. Still, Fant's career marks of 1.47 Y/RR and 5.7 yards after the catch per reception would have ranked 13th and fifth, respectively, among 33 tight ends targeted at least 40 times in the 2023 regular season. The former first-round pick is a post-hype sleeper and would benefit immensely from joining a team that uses him as a full-time starter and has a plan for his strengths in the passing game.
Trey McBride had an underwhelming rookie season in 2022 before erupting in his sophomore campaign. Among tight ends targeted at least 40 times, he was first in yards per route run (2.03 Y/RR).
Allen's roster rate partially inflated Dalton Kincaid's roster percentage. Nevertheless, he's also an exciting standalone pick. He settled into a groove following Buffalo's promotion of Joe Brady to offensive coordinator after they fired Ken Dorsey. As the following table will show, Kincaid's receptions and receiving yards slightly decreased under Brady's guidance.
However, he was targeted on a higher percentage of his routes, had a significantly deeper Average Depth of Target (aDOT) and boosted his yards per route run. The slight dip to his surface stats was because Brady flipped the offense's passing and running tendencies on their heads. According to RotoViz's pace app, the Bills had a 60% situation-neutral pass rate when Dorsey was the offensive coordinator, which plummeted to 50% with Brady.
Brady now has an entire offseason to assemble a playbook that caters to Allen's strengths after inheriting Dorsey's playbook during the 2023 season. Additionally, many pundits are projecting the Bills to pick a wide receiver early in the draft, and adding a field-stretching weapon would theoretically open up the intermediate area for Kincaid. Furthermore, a more consistent vertical option than Gabe Davis would incentivize Brady to crank up the passing attack more often than he did down the stretch last season.
Best Ball Draft Strategy
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- 2024 Best Ball Draft Beginner’s Guide
- Best Ball Roster Construction Strategies & Advice
- Best Ball Introduction
- Hero RB Best Ball Draft Strategy
- Robust RB Best Ball Draft Strategy
- Zero RB Best Ball Draft Strategy
- Late-Round Quarterback Best Ball Draft Strategy
Best Ball Draft Targets & Fades
- Erickson's Early Fantasy Football Rankings, Tiers & Notes: QB | WR
- 3 Overvalued Best Ball Players to Avoid Drafting
- 9 Best Ball Stacks to Draft
- 6 Best Ball Quarterback Pairings to Draft
- 7 Best Ball Running Back Pairings to Draft
- 4 Best Ball Tight End Pairings to Draft
- 12 Best Ball Draft Stacks to Target by Pick
- 7 Fantasy Football Draft Targets: Underrated Handcuffs
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.
