With Dynasty leagues and Best Ball tournaments, fantasy football is truly a year-round activity now. Underdog and DraftKings both have best ball tournaments that are open up until the NFL Draft. After the NFL Draft, the flagship best ball contests will launch and the next summer of drafting will be off to the races.

You definitely don't need to draft all year long, but I do believe that staying up to date on player values in best ball tournaments will benefit every type of fantasy football that you play. Understanding how player values shift throughout the offseason can be very helpful for crafting dynasty trades, and knowing the ADP landscape like the back of your hand is immensely valuable when redraft season rolls around.

Whether or not you've drafted your first 2026 best ball team yet …

Best Ball Draft Strategy Prior to the NFL Draft

The macro strategy for early best ball drafts isn't too different from tournaments closer to the start of the season.

Roster construction is still extremely important, and we are still trying to build teams that get stronger as the season progresses. Both Underdog and DraftKings run 20-round drafts right now so you have the flexibility to try out different builds. Taking four late QBs is absolutely on the table if you do it smartly. Don't be afraid to push the boundaries of conventional wisdom. Ask yourself questions like what if Mac Jones, Derek Carr and Kirk Cousins are all Week 1 starters, and think through how that impacts the fantasy landscape.

The biggest difference with early drafting is that there is way more uncertainty at this time of year than there will be six months from now. If you are going to draft this early, you can't be scared of it. Embracing uncertainty is an important part of drafting this early. The goal in top-heavy best ball tournaments is to build super teams. The only way to do that is to find players who return significantly more value than their ADP cost. In other words, we have to be willing to take risks on players with unclear roles, including those who don't currently have teams.

Throwing rookie darts is another important part of drafting early. We don't have draft capital or landing spots yet which are the two most important factors for projecting rookie-year production. At this time last year, some people thought Shedeur Sanders was going to be a first-round pick and many drafters had never heard the name Jacory Croskey-Merritt. Lean into that and take guys who aren't generating a ton of buzz right now because they might end up being tremendous value picks when compared to an August draft board.

You don't need to have fully formed opinions on all the rookies to sprinkle a few of them onto each team you draft, either. If you just let ADP and the Rookie Super Model guide which players you are taking, you'll be doing better than most of your competition.

Player Targets in Early Best Ball Drafts

I'm going to split this section into two groups: veteran targets and rookie targets. A lot of the rookies are underpriced so this list would be about 80% rookies if I didn't separate them.

For reference, I am including each player's ADP on Underdog so you can see where they are currently going.

Veteran Targets for Best Ball Draft

T.J. Hockenson TE | MIN | ADP 189.6

Yes, the Minnesota offense imploded last season and T.J. Hockenson posted career-worst numbers in several important efficiency metrics. However, the Vikings seem very likely to upgrade their QB play this offseason and Hock is only entering his age-29 season. I'm willing to bet most of the falloff last season was due to the environment rather than a decline in ability.

With an ADP in the 16th round, the opportunity cost is very low to add a talented player as your TE2 or TE3 and bet on a resurgence in Minnesota leading to solid fantasy scoring for their starting TE.

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David Montgomery RB | HOU | ADP 109

The market has not fully adjusted to the David Montgomery trade. Sure, the Texans offense is not going to score nearly as many points as the Detroit offense did, but Montgomery looks set to be a workhorse in Houston. I think he needs to move up about a full round from where he currently goes.

Brock Purdy QB | SF | ADP 97.9

Brock Purdy set the world on fire down the stretch and won a lot of people fantasy championships in 2025. He was the QB6 in fantasy points per game last season, but he is currently the QB11 off the board. The 49ers should remain a high-powered offense in 2026 and they have already upgraded the WR room (see below) to give their signal-caller another weapon. Purdy has proven he has an elite weekly ceiling and is a clear value at his current cost in drafts.

Tyler Allgeier RB | ARI | ADP 102.7

The Falcons had a big win in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft when they took Tyler Allgeier. He rushed for more than 1,000 yards as a rookie and then Atlanta immediately buried him behind Bijan Robinson. As a result, Allgeier has mostly been a fantasy afterthought who pops up occasionally with a TD to frustrate managers starting Robinson.

Allgeier hit free agency and landed in what could be deemed a dreaded three-headed backfield. James Conner and Trey Benson are both returning to the Cardinals, though both players finished the season on IR with season-ending injuries. Conner will be 31 this upcoming season and has an extensive injury history. Allgeier has missed just one game in his four-year NFL career, so he could be a wild card pick who emerges as the lone healthy member of the trio and get a heavy workload at some point this season.

Travis Hunter WR | JAX | ADP 150.3

The best example of embracing uncertainty in best ball is Travis Hunter. We have no idea how many offensive snaps he is going to play or if he is going to be able to stay healthy if he does play both ways.

That being said, I am confident that he can be a high-impact player when on the field. I still believe in the talent, and as long as he is going in the double-digit rounds I am willing to take a shot on him in a format that rewards outlier performances.

Mike Evans WR | SF | ADP 70

Mike Evans' time in Tampa Bay has come to a close. The WR has had an awesome career and is almost certainly past his prime—he turns 33 in August—but that doesn't mean he won't have one or two more strong fantasy seasons. His physical play style should age reasonably well, and his status as a premier end-zone target will allow him to remain relevant even as his overall volume declines.

In best ball, multi-TD games in the right week are often the difference between a profitable year and a losing year. Evans still offers massive TD upside, especially after signing with the 49ers.  As of now his only competition for targets is the oft-injured Ricky Pearsall, and Purdy has proven himself a playmaker whose style should mesh well with a deep threat who’s also a threat on jump balls in the red zone..

Rookie Best Ball Targets

Eli Stowers TE | ADP NA

Stowers absolutely crushed the NFL Combine and probably made himself a lot of money by improving his draft stock. The main red flag on his prospect profile is his age, but he switched positions in college and still managed to put up good production as a TE, which has me intrigued.

We've seen rookie TEs produce in the NFL in recent seasons, and Stowers is going far too late for his talent and projected draft capital.

Chris Bell WR | ADP NA

I really, really like Chris Bell. He looks like a special athlete who was more refined on tape than I was expecting when I started watching him. Unfortunately, a late-season ACL tear means he didn't participate at the NFL Scouting Combine and is effectively guaranteed a slow start to his rookie season. The history of rookies who miss the offseason isn't great, but as long as he is free in drafts I will continue drafting a player whom I believe has huge upside in the second half of the season.

Omar Cooper Jr. WR | ADP NA

Cooper was the star WR for the National Champion Indiana Hoosiers, and tested well enough at the NFL Combine to relieve concerns about his athleticism. He is currently projected as pick No. 21 to the Steelers in the NFL Draft, and he could still continue to rise throughout the pre-draft process. He doesn't project to be a target-dominant wideout at the next level, but he could be an above-average No. 2 on a good team and see plenty of volume due to his ability to play in the slot or outside. He is a good value pick at the end of drafts with room to rise.

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