DraftKings NFL Early Bird Best Ball: Play for $1M in Total Prizes

DraftKings NFL Early Bird Best Ball is here! Fantasy football in March? The action never stops at DraftKings, and early bird best ball is back with $1 million dollars in total prizes. DraftKings keeps the football action alive all year long.

There is still time to draft your first (or another) early bird best ball team at DraftKings, as drafts will be live until the start of Day 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft. Put your prognostication skills to work and draft a team to fight for your share of $1M in total prizes.

Play DraftKings NFL Best Ball for $1M!!

DraftKings NFL Early Bird Best Ball: Play for $1M in Total Prizes

Best ball is quickly becoming the preferred format for many fantasy managers. A growing number of fantasy managers now like to draft both weekly and best ball teams. Participating in multiple leagues is a divisive topic for some, but with the help of DraftKings best ball, it doesn’t have to be.

Best ball requires you to draft once and enjoy the season. No management whatsoever. No waiver wires, no lineup tinkering, no weekly grind. DraftKings automatically puts your highest-scoring producers for that week in your starting slots. Best ball rosters are larger than your typical redraft weekly league, which helps when the inevitable injuries strike.

Strategy is key in best ball, and while there is no method that has consistently proven to be better than others. Finding the right positional composition will be clutch. As will some injury luck. Rookies and breakout players are often pivotal in moving teams up or down the standings. Hit on the right ones? You could find yourself contending atop the leaderboard. Swing and miss on too many, and your team will be sunk.

Here is the ADP of some of the more noteworthy rookies that are expected to have an impact this season. ADP will change after the NFL Draft, but part of the beauty of these early bird drafts is that you are only competing against other early bird teams. Let’s take a look at the rookies being drafted within the first 200 picks at DraftKings NFL Early Bird Best Ball draft rooms:

Jeremiyah Love (RB) – ADP 19.06

It should come as no surprise that Love is the first rookie off the board in DraftKings best ball drafts. Projected to land in one of the worst possible spots in the league, drafters are undeterred and are drafting Jeremiyah as an RB1 (RB11 ADP). He is going off the board ahead of names like Derrick Henry, Chase Brown, Travis Etienne, Josh Jacobs, and Bucky Irving.

Carnell Tate (WR) – ADP 62.97

Much like with Love being the first running back off the board, it should come as little surprise that Tate is the first wide receiver off the board in best ball drafts. He’s widely expected to be the first receiver taken on draft day and has a high floor in both real life and in fantasy. The rookie receiver is projected to be handed a WR3 role at a minimum, for fantasy purposes, and should push for WR2 numbers if his red zone chops translate in his first year.

Makai Lemon (WR) – ADP 72.49

Lemon is going off the board, on average, just eight picks behind Carnell Tate. He is already being drafted ahead of names like Courtland Sutton, DK Metcalf, and Brian Thomas Jr., which should tell us all we need to know regarding the expectations fantasy gamers have for the rookie receiver. Ticketed for a slot role, on the right depth chart, Lemon could threaten 100 targets in year one.

Jordyn Tyson (WR) – ADP 82.17

Tyson comes off the board roughly 10 spots after Lemon, but that could very well change after Day 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft. Now bandied heavily as a potential pick at 10th overall by the New York Giants, some drafters will gravitate towards the draft capital. Arguably the most talented receiver in the draft class, Tyson’s landing spot and health will be critical elements for him to see enough first year success to live up to his ADP of going before players like Wan’Dale Robinson, Chris Godwin, Ricky Pearsall, Romeo Doubs, Jordan Addison, and Jakobi Meyers.

Jadarian Price (RB) – ADP 112.5

There is a big gap between the players seen as being in a tier of their own at their position and the rest of the class, who are lumped into one or two lower tiers with a significant amount of other players. Price is viewed as the second best running back in this class, and his DraftKings ADP reflects that. He is likely to land in a committee but should be able to emerge as the lead back on most of the teams that would spend capital on a Day 1 or early Day 2 runner. Being drafted ahead of names like Zach Charbonnet, Kenneth Gainwell, and Rachaad White, it is clear there is room for massive ADP growth.

Kenyon Sadiq (TE) – ADP 124.12

Sadiq can block and provide some after-the-catch juice. He still needs work on his route running chops, but the blocking and yac ability should get him on the field early and often on most teams. He may experience some growing pains, but we have been spoiled by the rookie season heroics of players like Kyle Pitts, Brock Bowers, Harold Fannin, and Tyler Warren. Kenyon is being drafted ahead of players such as Dallas Goedert, Travis Kelce, Jake Ferguson, Isaiah Likely, and Brenton Strange.

K.C. Concepcion (WR) – ADP 136.93

There are over 50 picks separating the third and fourth rookie receivers in early bird best ball drafts at DraftKings. This gap is likely to close significantly, and is part of the reason many like to draft before the NFL Draft changes player values dramatically. Concepcion is being selected ahead of Jauan Jennings, Stefon Diggs, Rashid Shaheed, and Tyreek Hill. Concepcion, despite his drop issues in college, is likely ticketed for a rookie season role with WR3 level volume for fantasy purposes and should be going well ahead of three unsigned receivers and Shaheed, who is perennially slept on, once his landing spot is set.

Mike Washington (RB) – ADP 139.56

Mike Washington is next in rookie ADP. Washington being higher than some of the receivers listed below may surprise some, but this is fantasy football where the position premium comes into play. The backs going directly after him are Chris Rodriguez and Aaron Jones, two backs projected as starters but that the fantasy community likely sees as backups to Bhayshul Tuten and Jordan Mason, respectively. This ADP makes sense because Washington likely emerges if he lands in Jacksonville or Minnesota.

Fernando Mendoza (QB) – ADP 147.29

Mendoza already going before Cam Ward may provide some sticker shock, but pre NFL Draft, he certainly has more to work with by way of weapons and offensive line. He is also going ahead of the player he replaces, in Geno Smith. Other signal callers still on the board include Jacoby Brissett, Tua Tagovailoa, and Shedeur Sanders.

Jonah Coleman (RB) – ADP 147.43

Coleman, much like Washington above, is worth the dart throw at this point. He could be drafted to start on Day 2 or could land on a depth chart that ensures he has no standalone fantasy value as a rookie. The rookie is being drafted ahead of players like Woody Marks, Tyrone Tracy, James Conner, Jonathan Brooks, Keaton Mitchell, Isiah Pacheco, Emmanuel Wilson, and Tyjae Spears.

Denzel Boston (WR) – ADP 152.98

Boston being drafted ahead of Cooper is not all that surprising, given that the casual likely does not know much about the Indiana product outside of seeing him play in the National Championship. Boston, reportedly the number two receiver on some NFL teams’ draft boards, could prove to be a major value here and is one of the reasons self-anointed sharps absolutely love to partake in early bird best ball drafts at DraftKings. Boston is going ahead of Travis Hunter, Brandon Aiyuk, and the next name on this list.

Omar Cooper Jr. (WR) – ADP 161.04

Cooper should see his ADP rise once draft capital meets pre-draft hype. Still, the names he is being drafted ahead of still serve to illuminate his upside. Jerry Jeudy, Kayshon Boutte, Deebo Samuel, Tank Dell, Calvin Ridley, Jalen Nailor, and Christian Kirk are all being drafted behind the rookie with no home. Nailor may pass him by August, but the rest of these names should remain behind him.

Emmett Johnson (RB) – ADP 175.94

EJ is being selected ahead of names like Alvin Kamara, Dylan Sampson, Trey Benson, and Braelon Allen. His ADP does reflect his dropping stock in the fantasy community since a poor NFL Combine performance, but could jump to the 95-115 range if he lands in a favorable situation, depth chart wise.

Eli Stowers (TE) – ADP 185.52

Eli Stowers, the reigning John Mackey award winner for the nation’s best tight end, is expected to be a priority Day 2 pick. He is far from a plus blocker (which is not a surprise for someone recruited as a QB), but the receiving chops and functional blocking skills should let him dominate snaps on whatever depth chart he lands on. Whatever team drafts him will know they are drafting a move tight end and not an in-line blocker. Names Stowers is already going ahead of include David Njoku, Colby Parkinson, Cade Otton, Mason Taylor, and Pat Freiermuth.

Play DraftKings NFL Best Ball for $1M!!

Raju Byfield is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Raju, check out his profile and follow him @FantasyContext.