Late-round fantasy football targets and dart throws can come in all sizes and archetypes, as evidenced by the following four players with Underdog average draft positions (ADP) after 150. A third-year quarterback, a veteran tight end, a veteran running back on a new team and a speedy rookie wide receiver are entirely different types of players. Yet, they all fall under the umbrella of desirable late-round targets and dart throws. Here are a few of my favorite fantasy football late-round draft picks to target in best ball formats.
Late-round fantasy football targets and dart throws can come in all sizes and archetypes, as evidenced by the following four players with Underdog average draft positions (ADP) after 150. A third-year quarterback, a veteran tight end, a veteran running back on a new team and a speedy rookie wide receiver are entirely different types of players. Yet, they all fall under the umbrella of desirable late-round targets and dart throws. Here are a few of my favorite fantasy football late-round draft picks to target in best ball formats.
Best Ball Late-Round Targets & Fantasy Football Dart Throws
Bryce Young’s sophomore campaign got off to a nightmarish start, resulting in a benching for Andy Dalton. The Red Rifle started from Week 3 through Week 7 for the Panthers, and Young was re-inserted as the starter from Week 8 through the remainder of the season. The soft reset via a benching seems to have turned things around for Young.
Young was Pro Football Focus’s (PFF’s) sixth-ranked passer among 37 quarterbacks with at least 150 dropbacks from Week 8 through Week 18. Young was also first in big-time throw rate (7.6 BTT%) during that period. He flashed intriguing ability to close out the year, and his real-life production translated to useful fantasy production, too. Young was the QB15 in fantasy points per game (18.6) among quarterbacks who started more than one game from Week 8 through Week 18.
According to the data suite at Fantasy Points, Young had the following stats during that 10-game period (the Panthers had their bye in Week 11).
- 210.4 passing yards per game
- 9.2-yard average depth of target (aDOT)
- 5.84 adjusted net yards per attempt (ANY/A)
- 15 passing touchdowns
- Six interceptions
- 5.9 sack%
- 37 rush attempts
- 22.3 rushing yards per game
- 6.03 yards per carry
- Five rushing touchdowns
Obviously, excluding the beginning of Young’s 2024 season is cherry picking. Still, according to StatHead, six second-year quarterbacks had at least 200 passing yards per game, 5.75 adjusted net yards per attempt, a 6.0 sack% or lower and 20 rushing yards per game since 2015. For those who didn’t click the link to the table, Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts, Carson Wentz, Mitchell Trubisky and Marcus Mariota were the six quarterbacks. It’s a mixed bag, but it provides reasons for optimism about Young’s fantasy outlook in 2025, and the club’s usage of their first-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft on big-bodied wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan is another reason to believe Young can build on his late-season momentum this season.
Drake Maye led New England’s quarterbacks in snaps in Week 6 through Week 7 and Week 9 through Week 17. In that 10-game stretch, Hunter Henry led the team in target share (18.1%), first-read rate (21.1%), receptions (45) and receiving yards per game (44.9). He also had 0.21 targets per route run, a team-high four end-zone targets and two receiving touchdowns. As a result, the data suite at Fantasy Points credited Henry with 10.5 expected half-PPR points per game in the 10 games in which Maye played the most snaps at quarterback for the Patriots.
The Patriots signed Stefon Diggs in free agency, but didn’t spend a draft pick on a wide receiver until picking Kyle Williams in the third round. New England selected speedy running back TreVeyon Henderson in the second round, and he has pass-catching chops. Nevertheless, Henry should still have a prominent role in New England’s pass-catching hierarchy, and he already has rapport with Maye. Henry doesn’t have a game-changing ceiling, barring a flukey touchdown output, but he’s undervalued. Gamers who believe Maye will take a step forward in his sophomore campaign should invest in his top weapon from his rookie season.
The Cowboys have an ambiguous backfield after investing minimal resources in the position in 2023 as well. Jerry Jones dove into the dumpster to fish out Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders in free agency this offseason before spending a fifth-round pick on diminutive speedster Jaydon Blue and a seventh-round pick on big bruiser Phil Mafah. According to Over the Cap, Williams’ one-year deal is worth $3 million, with $2 million guaranteed, and Sanders’ one-year contract is worth $1.34 million, with approximately $1.2 million guaranteed. The Cowboys didn’t allocate significant resources to running backs, and the gap in contract values for Williams and Sanders might be smaller than many readers recognize, based on the gap in their ADPs in Underdog drafts.
Both players had underwhelming campaigns in 2023 and 2024. Yet, Williams’s lackluster numbers were after coming back from reconstructive knee surgery for a multi-ligament ACL tear, and Sanders simply played poorly in two seasons with the Panthers. While gamers seem to be holding out hope for Williams bouncing back, Sanders isn’t getting the same change-of-scenery benefit of the doubt. Sanders is three years older than Williams. However, the elder is on the right side of 30, at 28 years old, and he hasn’t exceeded 1,000 rush attempts in his career. So, Sanders might have tread left on the tire. Additionally, Sanders has better career statistics than Williams, as shown in the following table, which includes their stats via PFF.
If both Williams and Sanders bounce back from two down seasons, Sanders was better before they faceplanted. He’s not the sexiest pick, but Sanders could be the goal line back and leader in carries for the Cowboys, with undersized Blue handling the change-of-pace role as a home-run hitting runner and pass-catching weapon. Sanders is a worthy dart throw in the 180s, and later, while Dallas’s backfield situation remains murky.
Dont’e Thornton is a breath of fresh air to close out this piece as a relative-athletic-score freak show rookie wide receiver.
Thornton has elite size and speed, and he’s a vastly different archetype of pass-catcher than Las Vegas’s other weapons. Thornton played in what Yahoo analyst Matt Harmon frequently refers to as a “Mickey Mouse” offense, but Thornton’s speed was actualized in chunk gains at Tennessee. Among 170 FBS wide receivers in this year’s NFL Draft class with at least 30 targets in 2024, Thornton was first in yards per reception (25.5), ninth in average depth of target (16.5), third in yards per route run (3.72), first in yards after the catch per reception (10.7) and tied for 25th in PFF’s receiving grade. Again, Thornton’s speed and athleticism resulted in big plays in his final collegiate season.
His ability to stretch the field meshes well with Geno Smith‘s ability to spin it deep. The following table has Smith’s deep passing numbers in the previous three seasons via PFF’s data.
Thornton is unlikely to have a high enough target volume to consistently contribute in managed leagues. However, his vertical usage makes him an attractive pick for gamers who’ve selected some steady Eddies at wide receiver and could use some volatile spiked-week potential at the position at the end of their drafts.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.
