As best ball becomes more and more popular, it becomes more and more obvious that some players are better suited to the format than managed fantasy football leagues. This is particularly true at the wide receiver position, where scoring can be volatile outside of the top-tier talents. Here are four receivers who might make more sense in best ball drafts than in normal managed leagues.
Best Ball Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Targets
It can be hard to fade players on excellent offenses, and make no mistake, that’s what the Ravens are, but Zay Flowers can be a frustrating decision in managed leagues. The Ravens ranked first in offensive DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) in 2024, scoring the third-most points per game and averaging the most yards per game.
As best ball becomes more and more popular, it becomes more and more obvious that some players are better suited to the format than managed fantasy football leagues. This is particularly true at the wide receiver position, where scoring can be volatile outside of the top-tier talents. Here are four receivers who might make more sense in best ball drafts than in normal managed leagues.
Best Ball Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Targets
It can be hard to fade players on excellent offenses, and make no mistake, that’s what the Ravens are, but Zay Flowers can be a frustrating decision in managed leagues. The Ravens ranked first in offensive DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) in 2024, scoring the third-most points per game and averaging the most yards per game.
Where it becomes problematic for Flowers is that the Ravens passed at the second-lowest rate per game, and Flowers had fewer than five catches in seven of his 2024 starts. Flowers’ target share only dropped below 18% on two occasions, but things didn’t always break his way, and he only found the end zone four times in the regular season.
Up until Week 11, Flowers never managed more than two weeks in a row of double-digit PPR points. Those weeks can be a nightmare in managed formats, where you are lured into starting a player who has performed well, only for them to pull the rug out from under your fantasy team with a dud performance. In best ball, that’s never an issue, and Flowers makes plenty of sense as your WR2 or even WR3.
Another player on a fantastic offense who can cause headaches is Khalil Shakir, who has an average draft position (ADP) of 79.3. The Bills ranked second in passing offense DVOA and scored the second-most points per game in 2024. While they led the league in rushing touchdowns, they ranked seventh in passing touchdowns and 26th in pass attempts. Shakir never finished inside the top 10 of wide receivers but had five games over 15 PPR points.
Shakir also had seven games at or below 11 fantasy points. Shakir led the team with a 23% target share, ahead of Amari Cooper (21%), who is no longer with the team, and Keon Coleman (20.2%). Perhaps Shakir could take a step forward and separate himself further from Coleman this year, but Coleman was a promising talent and could also take a leap forward. Perhaps Dalton Kincaid finally pays off the investment the Bills made in him or maybe the Bills just continue to pad Josh Allen‘s stats with tush push touchdowns.
There are many ways this could work out for Shakir, and while he has talent and can earn targets, his middling floor and lack of upside don’t make him all that desirable for redraft. However, he’s a fine pick in best ball.
The Saints are largely a team who might be best avoided in 2025, given the state of their quarterback position and the offensive line, but it’s hard not to be interested in one of the cheaper parts of this offense in Rashid Shaheed. During Weeks 1-6 last season, when both Shaheed and Chris Olave were healthy, Shaheed boasted a 30% target share compared to Olave’s 21.3% rate, with Shaheed the WR10 in this period compared to Olave being the WR46.
In that period, Shaheed had four games over 16 points, one with 8.3 and one with a big, fat zero. Shaheed had the fourth-highest air yards per target among receivers with 10+ targets during those first six weeks, but he was the only player in the top 10 of this stat to turn it into fantasy production, as he was the only receiver ranked in the top 20 in points per game.
Further to this, eight of the players who ranked highly in air yards per target ranked as the WR68 or worse in fantasy points, pointing to the fact that the targets earned deep downfield tend to be volatile and inconsistent. Perhaps Shaheed can earn some easier targets, but we haven’t seen it yet, and the quarterback situation isn’t exactly inspiring.
The Cowboys were desperate for help at the receiver position this year. Despite Jalen Tolbert‘s growth in 2024, it’s fairly clear he’s not a No. 2 WR yet. George Pickens hasn’t had good quarterback play through his time in Pittsburgh and played on poor offenses, but he did have nine games over 16 PPR points in the last two years.
Pickens also had 16 games as the WR43 or worse in that period, with him often non-existent in games where he failed to get involved. The Cowboys ranked in the top three in pass attempts per game last year. The Steelers ranked fourth-lowest. Perhaps this indicates a turn in fortunes for Pickens, who is in a contract year, but we’ve also seen Pickens have attitude issues at times when he fails to get the ball if things aren’t going well for him. Will he be consistent for fantasy? That’s the million-dollar question.
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