The 2025 NFL Combine is over. But the 2025 NFL Draft is still about a month away. Us fantasy football sickos need something to hold us over until then, right? We can’t just sit here and NOT obsess over fantasy football for a whole month, right? 

Luckily for us, there is a solution. It’s called Best Ball. Platforms like Underdog Fantasy have already opened their pre-draft contests like The Big Board. And that contest includes the rookie prospects. So, you can draft teams early to your heart's content and capitalize on all your wild rookie takes NOW before the NFL Draft!

 

 

 

What Is Best Ball Fantasy Football?

The beauty of Best Ball is that you draft your team and that’s it - no maintenance. We have a full explanation of how it works here but the short and sweet is that there are no waivers, no trades, and no lineups. You draft your team and then an algorithm automatically slots in the highest scoring players each week. That allows you to enjoy the best part of fantasy football (the draft) without having to worry about micromanaging 100 lineups.

Today, we’re going to discuss STRATEGY for the early best ball contest known as The Big Board on Underdog. This article is to help give you a feel for the landscape based on early drafts I have done to help you build your team. If you take these tips plus best ball rankings, you can be confident you’re fielding competitive teams!

 

 

 

Download Your 2025 Best Ball Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet PDF!

Be the best player in your best ball games and dominate your fantasy football drafts all year long with the 2025 Fantasy Football Best Ball Cheat Sheet!

Whether you’re new to best ball, simply want to play fantasy football year-round, or you have aspirations to win every league you join, this Cheat Sheet is your one-stop ticket to the top. 

Combining the latest best ball rankings and ADP information in an easy-to-use “Draft Grid” format, the cheat sheet is the only thing you’ll need in front of you during your best ball fantasy football drafts.

The Draft Grid combines our expert rankings with the most current Best Ball ADP information to give you a round-by-round breakdown of where players should be drafted. There are 20 Rounds of tiered picks so you always know who to draft and when, including which players to wait on and which to reach for.

Access to the Cheat Sheet is included with your All-Pro subscription. So, ff you’re not a member of the #FAmily, now is definitely the time you want to join!

Get your Best Ball Cheat Sheet now!

 

 

 

Early Best Ball Quarterback Strategy

Based on early best ball ADP, I’m not taking the first quarterback off the board. Not that Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson won’t be the top quarterback in 2025. I just don’t feel the need to pay the top price. There is nothing worse than drafting the first QB then watching the others fall rounds and rounds. 

Not to mention, last year Josh Allen became only the third QB to run 100+ times at the age of 28 or older. He joins Michael Vick and Cam Newton. Lamar Jackson is 28 and will attempt to join them this year. These guys might just be “built different” but they will need to transition at some point.

If I’m taking an early QB, it will be Jayden Daniels or Jalen Hurts after the top two rushing QBs go. I don’t find myself taking the next group of pocket passers in Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, or Baker Mayfield, but I will consider guys like Bo Nix, Kyler Murray, or Drake Maye in this rounds for their rushing upside. After that is where I will consider pocket passers - I think guys like Justin Herbert or Trevor Lawrence are plenty capable of doing what Baker Mayfield does, especially if they add weapons in the draft.

Later on I’m looking for discrepancies in ADP. Ja'Marr Chase (round 1) and Tee Higgins (round 3-4) go very early. Joe Burrow goes at pick 51. Puka Nacua (round 1) and Davante Adams (round 3-4) also go very early. Matthew Stafford goes literally 100 picks later at pick 151. I’m not saying he will be Joe Burrow but, if the WRs are worth those ADPs, he’s a value. On the best ball rankings, you can figure out fairly easily who we like late.

There is one last key piece of advice for this contest specifically. After the NFL Draft, contests are 18 rounds. Given the uncertainty drafting BEFORE the draft, The Big Board is 20 rounds. That makes it MUCH easier to draft three quarterbacks. And drafting a QB with one of your last picks seems much more viable than the garbage left at WR at that point.

 

 

 

Early Best Ball Running Back Strategy

Running back in best ball is all about “pockets”. The most famous pocket is one that folks refer to as the Running Back Dead Zone. Whether you believe it exists or not depends on your own rankings to be honest but the idea is that, every year, there is a section of RBs towards the middle rounds that are pushed up by folks that feel they “need” a running back.

For me this year I will take Saquon Barkley, Bijan Robinson, and Jahmyr Gibbs early in the first round as well as rookie phenom Ashton Jeanty at the end of the first. As we wrote about in our rookie pre-draft RB rankings, this might be the best rookie RB class since 2017 so I LOVE taking stabs on rookies this year. A lot of my early drafts are combinations or rookies and vets that are being undervalued at ADP like Christian McCaffrey, Joe Mixon, Kenneth Walker, and Alvin Kamara. 

In my opinion, there is a pretty steep drop-off at RB after guys like Tyrone Tracy and Najee Harris get picked at RB25-26. As you’ll see in the rankings, there are a couple of guys I’m higher than consensus on after that but it’s a lot of split backfields and deeper rookies that could fall in the draft. I feel best about the RB position if I can get at least three of them from the top 26.

 

 

 

Early Best Ball Wide Receiver Strategy

Best Ball has always been an “early and often” game at wide receiver. Last year running backs had a rare year where guys stayed healthy and carried teams but a lot of the Zero RB mentality spills over to wide receiver. So I’m never opposed to taking a wide receiver at any point in the draft (especially at 1.01 if I can get Ja'Marr Chase). But WR values have been steamed up so you really need to ask yourself with your early picks - does this guy have WR1 overall upside?

Stacking your wide receivers with your quarterbacks in big tournaments like this can also pay off in a big way. If you reach too far then you negate some of that value but I certainly use it as a tight breaker. The guy that won Best Ball Mania V had Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins who went on a tear down the stretch. 

Unlike running back, this year’s rookie wide receiver class is not as highly touted. If I’m going to take stabs on guys, I’m going to try to avoid the pure slot guys like Xavier Restrepo and go for either speedy field stretchers or big split ends. You have to remember that you don’t have to set a lineup so boom/bust guys aren’t as bad in this format. In our Rookie Wide Receiver Preview, we did our best to predict what the future roles would be. 

My last note is a simple rule of thumb. And that’s to look for guys who are a top two target on their team. The best WR last year that was third on his team in targets per PFF was Rashod Bateman. He was WR40. 

With mid-to-later round guys, ask yourself where these guys are in the target pecking order. I’m surprised a guy like Jalen McMillan goes as high as he does given that Chris Godwin is back. But some teams, like the Patriots, don’t have high end WRs at the top so there is some potential value to be had.

 

 

 

Early Best Ball Tight End Strategy

This position is my bread and butter. So I often wait and try to derive value from later rounds. I finished top 300 in Best Ball Mania last year with Hunter Henry and Pat Freiermuth as my tight ends. So you don’t have to go crazy. I won’t fault anyone for taking Brock Bowers, Trey McBride, or George Kittle if you get a good value though - you need to draft 2-3 guys anyway.

Like quarterback, my suggestion for this contest is to draft three. With 20 rounds, you basically get two more guys than you would in Best Ball Mania. And the QB and TE values late are pretty good. You just need to know what you are looking for.

We ideally want guys who are top two targets on their team. The vast majority of difference-making tight ends are top two on their team. If that isn’t clear, we want target consolidation. Teams that use a fullback like the 49ers, Dolphins, and Ravens often have the targets consolidated among two WRs and a TE. 

Klint Kubiak is supposedly bringing the fullback to Seattle. We always want athleticism - especially speed. It’s very rare for guys that run a 4.7 40 yard dash to break off 40+ yard plays and guys that run a 4.8 virtually never do it. There is a reason George Kittle, who ran a 4.52, breaks off 50, 60, 70-yard plays at times.

 

 

 

Get Signed Up With Underdog Fantasy Best Ball!

In order to play and take advantage of these tips, you’ll need to first get signed up with Underdog Fantasy. If you use Underdog promo code ALARM as a first-time user, they will match your first deposit up to $1,000! 

With the best ball drafts and the pick’em contests, you're likely to utilize those funds at some point so make sure you take advantage!