Welcome to our comprehensive guide on Best Ball Draft Strategy: Fantasy Football Late-Round Value! In best ball leagues, finding late-round value is crucial for building a winning roster.
In this article, we’ll explore key strategies to identify and draft high-upside players in the later rounds. We’ll cover essential tips, player analysis, and tactics to maximize your draft’s potential. Whether you’re a seasoned best ball player or new to the format, our expert insights will help you uncover hidden gems and dominate your league. Get ready to enhance your draft strategy and secure late-round steals!
Best Ball Draft Strategy: Maximizing Late-Round Value in Fantasy Football
Best ball has been a rising fantasy football format over the last several years. In this article, I’ll take a look at several players to target in the later rounds of your best ball fantasy football drafts. The average draft position (ADP) for this article will be pulled from the Underdog Fantasy platform. Underdog Fantasy is one of the most popular sites to use for best ball fantasy football leagues. All the players mentioned in the article are drafted later than pick 158 and round 13. Good luck with your drafts this year!
Geno Smith – Quarterback, Seattle Seahawks
QB23 | ADP 170.3
Smith entered his 2023 season fresh off a career year that resulted in a new lucrative contract. However, Smith took a step back in 2023 having a disappointing campaign. That certainly was not entirely his fault though. The Seahawks offensive line struggled severely allowing 223 pressures on Smith’s 553 dropbacks. In games where Smith was sacked one time or less, he averaged 2.16 passing touchdowns and 294 passing yards per game.
This season Smith will benefit from an upgraded offensive line. Furthermore, with the Seahawks moving on from Pete Carroll, the offense will change and should be much more explosive. Similarly to Ryan Grubbs’s offense at Washington, Seattle has three very talented receivers at his disposal. Grubbs is very good at designing and calling plays to create mismatches all over the field. Those route concepts are going to translate very well to the NFL due to the personnel being very similar. Smith should cook this season, and there is no reason to believe with these weapons that he won’t produce several QB1 weeks throughout the season.
Ray Davis – Buffalo Bills, Running Back
RB49 | ADP 158.8
The Buffalo Bills have made it very obvious that they don’t want James Cook banging it out between the tackles in the red zone. More importantly, they can’t continue to allow Josh Allen to take all the big hits on the goal line. They continued to sign bigger veteran running backs giving them every opportunity to be the featured goal line back last season. Cook saw 237 carries last season, and only 29 of those were in the red zone. Meanwhile, all the other running backs combined saw only 144 carries but 35 of those were in the red zone.
Insert Ray Davis into the backfield, who the Bills drafted in the fourth round back in April. Davis scored a career-high 14 rushing touchdowns for the Kentucky Wildcats last season.
Furthermore, it’s not out of the question that Davis continues to eat into Cook’s overall workload as the season progresses. Cook got benched at least once last season for the entire first half after an early fumble. Moreover, with Cook’s size and frame, the Bills want to keep him fresh throughout the season. If Cook happens to open the door for Davis, he is prime to capitalize on the opportunity, unlike Latavius Murray, who was able to do so last season.
Antonio Gibson – New England Patriots, Running Back
RB50 | ADP 159.1
Gibson has had ups and downs throughout his entire career thus far. At points, many were calling him the next Christian McCaffrey, at least for fantasy purposes. At other points, he’s been a complete afterthought in drafts. However, the past is in the past, and Gibson will be starting fresh this season. He moved on from Washington, where he was drafted in 2020, signing a three-year contract with the New England Patriots.
The Patriots have struggled to find a receiving running back the last couple of seasons. Ezekiel Elliott and Rhamondre Stevenson have been the two running backs in the last couple of seasons who have been able to catch passes out of the Patriots’ backfield. Last year they saw over 100 combined targets. Both those backs are certainly not the greatest receiving threats which ultimately led to the Patriots going out and signing Gibson. He is a much better option, especially on a team that figures to be trailing this season. Gibson should be in line for a lot of receiving work and it wouldn’t be out of his range of outcomes to catch 80+ passes.
Troy Franklin – Denver Broncos, Wide Receiver
WR75 | ADP 169.9
Franklin was thought to be a day 2 pick by many draft analysts heading into the 2024 NFL Draft. He began to slip and was still on the board as the draft went into day 3. However, his slip did not last very long into day 3 as the Denver Broncos sent multiple picks to move up 19 spots for Franklin. He will now reunite with his former Oregon quarterback Bo Nix in Denver. Most importantly, they join an offense that lacks weapons, so there will be opportunities for Franklin to become the “guy.”
The Broncos’ defense last season gave up an average of 23.2 points per game which was the sixth worst in the NFL. They project to be in a similar boat this year which will more than likely cause them to be playing from behind. That will leave Franklin plenty of opportunities for targets even if it is in garbage time.
Furthermore, with the two college teammates reuniting that will give them an early jumpstart on their chemistry which goes a long way with rookies. At his ADP you get a potential wide receiver one on his respective offense.
Tyler Conklin – New York Jets, Tight End
TE22 | ADP 177.2
Conklin is a great late-round target to pair with a tight end like TJ Hockenson. Hockenson will likely miss several weeks to begin the season so you’ll need another tight end to hold down the fort for the first half of the year. While Conklin might not light up the scoreboard he will provide reliable consistency and get you solid points throughout much of the season. Each of Conklin’s last three seasons, he has put up a minimum of 552 receiving yards, hauling in a minimum of 58 passes.
Those numbers have been with some bottom-of-the-league quarterback play, especially in the last couple of seasons with the New York Jets. Now he will see a massive upgrade with Aaron Rodgers as long as he can stay healthy. Rodgers could only play three plays last season for the Jets before his injury. One of those three plays was a pass to Conklin that resulted in a five-yard defensive penalty. This duo seems to have good chemistry already after several reports out of camps this year and last year, which have been positive.
Finally, Rodgers has given boosts to several tight ends throughout his career, and Conklin could be the benefactor of that this season. Look for him to have a career year in 2024. More importantly, he can be a solid value in the late rounds of your best ball leagues this year.
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