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
Wide Receivers
I recently wrote about Courtland Sutton, Khalil Shakir and Jalen Coker as must-have wide receivers. Sutton barely missed the cut for this piece, but Shakir and Coker are among my highest-rostered wideouts. Shakir also got a boost from pairing him with Allen on most or all of my squads with the reigning NFL MVP.
Keon Coleman also got a bump in roster percentage from pairing him with Allen. Yet, I've also frequently picked him unstacked. The big-bodied wideout is firmly in Buffalo's plans, and he flashed his potential before he hurt his wrist in Week 9 and missed four consecutive contests. According to the data suite at Fantasy Points, Coleman had the following stats from Week 1 through Week 9.
- 68.9% route participation
- 12.8-yard average depth of target (aDOT)
- 23.7% air yards share
- 13.6% target share
- 0.17 targets per route run
- 19.4% first-read percentage
- five end zone targets
- 22 receptions (2.4 per game)
- 417 receiving yards (46.3 per game)
- 2.02 yards per route run (Y/RR)
- 11.58 yards per target
- 18.95 yards per reception
- three receiving touchdowns
- 8.1 half-point per reception (half PPR) points per game
- 9.3 expected half PPR points per game
Coleman must take a step forward to provide value commensurate with his ADP. Still, his vertical and end-zone usage provides him with spike-week potential.
Jalen Royals, Matthew Golden, Tre Harris, Jack Bech and Jayden Higgins are appealing rookies at their respective ADPs. As I stated in the intro, rookies tend to rise in ADP closer to the draft and after the NFL Draft Combine, so I'm boosting my roster percentages on a handful I believe will climb. I don't need to elaborate on Puka Nacua, Nico Collins, Ladd McConkey and Mike Evans. They're top-shelf wideouts.
Darius Slayton might be a shocking inclusion among my most-rostered wide receivers. He's precisely the type of player who skyrockets in ADP if he lands in a favorable situation, and Slayton has played well at times with suboptimal quarterback play. The field-stretching veteran has had at least 8.0 expected half PPR points per game in three of the previous four years, and his vertical usage is tailor-made for rounding out best ball wide receiver corps.
Marvin Mims might never emerge as a full-time player. Still, he's dynamic, and Sean Payton schemes the ball for him at a high rate with his snaps. Mims also efficiently makes the most of his opportunities. In his sophomore campaign, he had a blistering 0.27 targets per route run and 2.58 yards per route run, and Payton even creatively used Mims in the backfield. Mims could sacrifice efficiency if he ran more routes in 2025. Nonetheless, he's a big-play weapon whose volatility fits best ball better than managed leagues.
Jordan Whittington was also a target earner and efficient in his limited opportunities in 2024, tallying 0.25 targets per route run and 2.58 yards per route run on a 19.8% route participation rate. The Rams are moving on from Cooper Kupp, and Demarcus Robinson and Tutu Atwell are also free agents. The runway is clear for Whittington to start in 2025.
Jordan Addison was the WR20 in half PPR points per game (12.1) among wide receivers who played at least five games in 2024. He's also recorded precisely 12.8 expected half PPR points per game in each of his first two professional campaigns, but he's only the WR29 in ADP. I disagree with the disconnect between his professional production and his 2025 ADP and will continue scooping him up at what I view as a discounted ADP.
Adam Thielen would be on even more of my rosters if there weren't questions about him playing in 2025 when the best ball contests first opened. He's since declared his intention to play in 2025. According to Pro Football Reference, in 27 games for the Panthers, Thielen has had 5.6 receptions per game, 60.3 receiving yards per game and nine touchdowns.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.
