Underdog’s NFL best ball drafts for the 2025 season have been in full swing since just before the Super Bowl. Thus, I’ve already drafted 23 teams in The Little Board ($3 entry fee). It’s a unique time in the NFL calendar. Free agency hasn’t begun, and the NFL Draft is approximately two months away. Furthermore, the NFL Draft Combine hasn’t started. There will be a ton of player movement.
Yet, my experience drafting at all points of the NFL offseason is helpful when navigating Underdog drafts. For instance, as a general rule of thumb, rookies will move up in average draft position (ADP). They won’t all rise, but many will, namely the top performers at the NFL Draft Combine who generate buzz. Many free agents will also climb when it’s clear where they’ll play in 2025. Obviously, some free agents will land in unfavorable spots and fall, but the nature of uncertainty suppresses most free agents. Connecting dots on where free agents will land can be a sneaky way to build stacks at ADPs gamers will be unable to after ADPs adjust to free-agent activity.
Let’s look at the players I’ve drafted at the highest percentage of my rosters. I’ve drafted all the following players at least four times (17% of rosters).
- 2025 NFL Draft Guide
- 2025 NFL Draft Scouting Reports
- 2025 NFL Mock Drafts
- Dynasty Mock Draft Simulator
Most-Rostered Underdog Best Ball Players
Quarterbacks
Josh Allen is the only top-six quarterback in ADP on at least four of my Underdog rosters. Still, that's essentially a product of liking the price of his stacking options, what draft spot I've drawn and some uncertainty about stacking options with the other elite quarterbacks. For instance, Jayden Daniels (38.8 ADP) has Terry McLaurin (25.2 ADP) as a straightforward stacking partner, but Noah Brown, Dyami Brown and Zach Ertz are free agents. So, it's unclear who to stack with Daniels beyond McLaurin, and Washington's No. 1 wideout is going before their stud quarterback. Their ADPs also don't align well, meaning gamers need one to fall beyond ADP or to reach for one of them. Jalen Hurts and Joe Burrow also have their best weapons going before them. Therefore, I typically pick them when I've taken one or more of their stud wide receivers. Regardless, I love the top quarterbacks, and Lamar Jackson, Daniels, Hurts, Burrow and Patrick Mahomes are on seven of my rosters (22%).
Bo Nix had a stellar rookie season, adding value with his legs. Development isn't always linear, but he should benefit from the organization, presumably adding weapons to the underwhelming offense.
Bryce Young is underrated. He responded well to being benched and did his best work after Carolina's bye in Week 11. From Week 12 through the end of the regular season, Young scored 21.2 fantasy points per game. The diminutive signal-caller is ascending, and he's easy to stack with cheap pass-catchers, either his second-year teammates or his savvy veteran safety valve.
According to RotoViz's pace app, the Packers were tied for last in situation-neutral pass rate (47%). Jordan Love was tied for the QB16 in points per game (16.3) among quarterbacks who played more than one game despite the run-heavy play-calling tendencies. If Matt LaFleur allows him to sling it even slightly more, Love should finish as a fringe QB1. J.J. McCarthy has an embarrassment of riches in his pass-catching corps, and Kevin O'Connell has squeezed every ounce out of Kirk Cousins, Joshua Dobbs, Nick Mullens and Sam Darnold. I believe in KOC's and Minnesota's pass-catchers' ability to get the most out of McCarthy. I prefer him in two-QB builds with a stud quarterback or three-QB lineups.
Tight Ends
I have a wide spread of tight ends, with many on only one, two or three teams. I typically attempt to pick a tight end as a stacking option with a quarterback I've already selected. Trey McBride is an excellent unstacked pick while also providing a path to a stack with Kyler Murray if I play the waiting game at quarterback.
Harold Fannin and Colston Loveland are pass-catching-first rookie tight ends. Ben Sinnott was on a milk carton in his rookie campaign. However, he was a second-round pick last year and tested well.
Ben Sinnott was drafted in round 2 pick 53 in the 2024 draft class. He scored a 9.73 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 33 out of 1199 TE from 1987 to 2024. https://t.co/pHPbq2TlBW pic.twitter.com/jYvgn2QFCj
- Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 27, 2024
Sinnott is a viable gamble on athletic traits in three-TE lineup constructions, two-TE builds with an elite TE1 or as a stacking dart throw with Daniels. Finally, sadly, my gamble on Travis Kelce retiring and Noah Gray's ADP surging didn't pan out. Kelce will return next year, so Gray will only be a consideration for me as a TE3 if I've picked Mahomes.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.
