Since the NFL Draft, I've been drafting nonstop. I'm currently 115 drafts deep on Underdog, including 44 entries in the flagship Best Ball Mania VI contest with a $2M top prize.

And while I don't have the answers to the test—if I did, I certainly wouldn't be here pecking away at my computer in the early morning–but I have learned a lot along the way. In this piece, I'm going to share five major insights I've gleaned from drafting a significant number of teams.

Consider this a quick and dirty guide to getting caught up to speed on the current best ball meta and strategies you can apply in your drafts to stay one step ahead of the competition.

Unlock Superteams With Late-Round QB & Late-Round TE

Most casual players approach a draft by making one pick at a time and then making subsequent decisions based on those early picks. Sharp drafters, however, know the entire board inside and out and will use their knowledge of what's available later in drafts to inform what they do in the early rounds.

If you take the former approach, you'll end up with a lot of Elite TE (Brock Bowers and Trey McBride) and Elite QB (Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, and Jalen Hurts). This isn't bad per se—they are legitimately elite assets at the onesie positions—but those selections prevent you from taking full advantage of the value pockets in 2025 drafts.

And this year, there are two extreme late-round value pockets for both the QB position and the TE position:

  • Round 10-13 QBs
  • Round 11-15 TEs

Those two pockets of the draft offer a significant amount of upside options who are discounted greatly compared to previous years.

My favorite teams load up on RBs and WRs through nine rounds and then hammer QBs and TEs from Rounds 10-15.

Here's a recent team I drafted in Best Ball Mania (on stream during Best Ball Breakfast) where I drafted my first QB at pick 124 and my first TE at pick 148:

Review your teams via our free Best Ball Hub tool.

You can quickly see how it's possible to build monster teams at RB/WR if you are willing to be patient at QB/TE.

Further reading: Why Building Around 3 QB/TE The Skeleton Key

Don't Be Afraid Of Ambiguous Backfields

Year after year, we see a handful of backfields go largely overlooked because drafters are worried about ambiguity and potential timeshares, but this continues to be a major mistake. These ambiguous backfields are where league winners are found. 

Remember how murky the Bengals backfield was heading into last year between Chase Brown and Zack Moss? How about the three-headed Dolphins backfield in 2023 that featured Raheem Mostert, De'Von Achane, and Jeff Wilson? It seems laughable in hindsight, but all of those names were going after pick 100 in drafts because of the ambiguity.

Here are my favorite ambiguous backfields to target in 2025, as well as my current exposure percentages for each player in the backfield:

Jags: Bhayshul Tuten (26.1%), Travis Etienne (7.8%), and Tank Bigsby (1.7%).

This trio reminds me of that Dolphins trio from 2023, with Tuten as Achane, Etienne Jr. as Mostert, and Bigsby as Wilson Jr. And sure, that's an overly optimistic comp, but there is going to be a huge winner from this backfield. While I do love Tuten, I'd like to get some more Etienne and Bigsby going forward and exercise some humility.

Cowboys: Jaydon Blue (14.8%), Javonte Williams (5.2%), and Miles Sanders (5.2%)

I need to up my exposure to this backfield, specifically Blue and Sanders. The gap between Williams and Sanders right now–75 picks–makes very little sense, especially considering the recent updates from minicamp. Regardless, we know this revamped offense is going to score points and that there will be plenty of goal-line opportunities. Rico Dowdle emerged from a similarly murky Dallas backfield last year to provide plenty of fantasy points.

Giants: Cam Skattebo (13.9%), Tyrone Tracy (6.1%)

This is a classic head-to-head battle. Both backs are very intriguing, but I'm tilting my bets to the rookie who excels in short yardage and in the passing game.

I'll give the Bears and the Chiefs an honorable mention, although I haven't been aggressively targeting either yet. With J.K. Dobbins now signed, I should be more comfortable grabbing shares of D'Andre Swift and Isiah Pacheco.

Rookies Remain Are Best Shot At Hitting A Home Run

You'll notice a theme from those ambiguous backfields is that they all featured a rookie.

Along with targeting ambiguous backfields, aggressively targeting rookies remains one of the skeleton keys to building juggernaut best ball teams.

There are two simple reasons for this:

  1. Rookies can outperform their ADP more than any other player cohort. The market has a hard time pricing rookies because of their wide range of outcomes. Some will be zeros (think Blake Corum last year), while others will turn into best ball heroes (sup, Bucky Irving). This is a feature, not a bug.
     
  2. Rookie production peaks in the fantasy playoffs, when it matters most for our teams. It's almost too perfect how rookie production perfectly coincides with how these best ball tournaments are structured, with all of the money being won in the final weeks. 

Every single team that has won the flagship Best Ball Mania contest the past five years has included at least one rookie WR. Last year, Ricky Pearsall, who did very little throughout much of the season, paid off his ADP (and much more) with a well-timed spike in Week 17 for 24.7 points.

As you can see below via the Best Ball Hub, 6 of my 8 most drafted players are all rookies. Not all of them will hit, but the ones that do will hit in a massive way. 

 

Further reading: WR Sleepers For 2025: Late-Round Rookies To Target in Best Ball

Don't Forget About Week 16

Speaking of Week 17, we know that we should be thinking about correlation in Week 17. Week 17 is the most important week of the best ball calendar. Not only are the majority of the prizes paid out in Week 17, but the finals feature a large collection of teams (539 for BBM).

Because of this, Week 17 essentially becomes a single-week DFS tournament. This requires us to approach our drafts in these large, top-heavy tournaments with a similar mindset as we would a DFS contest (stacking, bring backs, correlation, etc.).

And while all of what I said remains true, the field is increasingly hip to this strategy and might be too laser-focused on Week 17 compared to Week 16. To get to Week 17, you'll need to finish first in a Week 16 pod with 15 other teams:

 

Because of this, I think it's sharp to mix in some Week 16 correlations in your drafts. For example, everyone is hip to the Bengals/Cardinals game in Week 17. I've seen countless teams from the 1.01 stack up Ja'Marr Chase with Trey McBride or Marvin Harrison, but you will rarely see teams pair Chase with a player on the Dolphins, whom they play in Week 16.

That's exactly what I did in a recent draft with Madison Parkhill, a best ball sharp who is also focused on Week 16 correlation this year:

 

I use the Draft Caddy to overlay the matchups for me on desktop, but you can easily pull up a 2025 schedule grid alongside your draft for a similar effect.

You don't need to go overboard chasing Week 16 stacks, but it's an easy way to build in a sharp correlation that will likely be underutilized by the field while simultaneously pushing you to some more unique combos and builds than those anchored to ADP.

Further reading: Ranking Every Week 17 Game For Best Ball 2025: A Divisional Dome Game Up Top

Let Your Goals (& Bankroll) Dictate Contest Selection

I've mainly been focusing on strategy for the large-field, top-heavy contests in this piece, but it's important to know what you are trying to accomplish. Depending on your goals and bankroll, there is likely a perfect contest for you …

If you want a chance to win millions of dollars … draft in Best Ball Mania. Just know that it costs $3,750 to max the contest and that an average drafter will get a single team to the finals once every 8 or so years. I know, sobering, but no one said winning life-changing money drafting fantasy football would be easy.

If you want to just vibe, draft for fun, and get some reps before season-long drafts … take advantage of the $3 20-max contests like The Schnauzer 2 (currently live) and The Puppy ($5 contests).

If you want to increase your chances of winning … focus on the smaller contests with fewer entries and slightly higher buy-ins. The Greyhound ($35 single entry, $30K to first) is probably my favorite contest that Underdog has dropped this summer. Look at how the advance structure compares to BBM:

  • The Greyhound Round Advancement: 2/12 - 1/5 - 1/4 - 53-Seat Final
  • Best Ball Mania Round Advancement: 2/12 - 1/13 - 1/16 - 539-Seat Final

That is an extremely realistic path to a final in comparison to the big contests.

If you want to get an edge on the competition, focus on the niche contests … There are a handful of alternative contests in the lobby right now—I wrote about a brief strategy guide for each of them here—and all of them present opportunities for savvy drafters. The truth is that there is not a ton of content being created about these new formats, so there is a big edge for anyone who wants to become a Superflex, Weekly Winners, or Eliminator expert.

If you have a tight bankroll … Be patient, focus on the low-dollar contests, and keep some powder on the sidelines for August. The contests will be flowing non-stop, and you'll be able to build higher quality teams later in the summer when we have more information.

Further reading: Best Ball Contest Guide: Five Strategies for Five Contests on Underdog