Five late-round players to target in 2022 best ball fantasy leagues

Best ball is a beautiful fantasy football format that takes out the weekly stressors of the season. A glorified mock draft, best ball leagues have you draft a team and then do not allow waivers or trades. You also don’t have to set a lineup, as your roster will be automatically calculated for you. A website takes your roster, sees who scored at each position, and generates the best lineup possible for you each week.

In case you are worried about having enough players, no need for concern! Typical best ball formats have you starting 1QB/2 RB/3 WR/1 TE/1 FLEX, and then you are given 10 bench spots to fill with whomever you wish.

Here are five late-round players to target in 2022 best ball fantasy leagues, assuming the format is half-PPR and a 12-team league.

QB Jared Goff, Detroit Lions

Congrats, you found an article where someone recommends using a draft pick on Goff! When it comes to best ball, you don’t have to have weekly dominant performances from players that you are drafting this late. Goff will likely have a handful of games this season where he has multiple touchdowns and either one or no interceptions. He has value as long as he has some weeks he could finish among the top-12 quarterbacks, even at the backend. Goff is being drafted 183rd overall in the 16th round out of 18, so you could do worse.

RB Jeff Wilson Jr., San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers' crowded backfield is a perfect example of the advantage of best ball. It doesn’t matter if you put the right guy in your lineup, as long as he has a good game, he will be in there. Elijah Mitchell is expected to be the starter so if you draft him early, take a look at Wilson at the end of the draft. Wilson is going undrafted in best ball leagues, but again without waivers, you can’t snag him later. If you want him on your roster for those weeks that Kyle Shanahan makes him the hot hand or the target in the offense, draft him with your final pick.

WR KJ Hamler, Denver Broncos

Hamler is the beneficiary of teammate Tim Patrick’s season-ending injury. Hamler is being drafted in the 17th round. He does sit behind Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton on the depth chart, but that shouldn’t hinder him from having fantasy-relevant games throughout the year. New quarterback Russell Wilson has been known to support three pass-catchers in an offense, and even if Jeudy or Sutton are locked down one week, Wilson could be looking for Hamler to be his safety valve.

TE Logan Thomas, Washington Commanders

Thomas has recovered from the injury that sidelined him a year ago and looks to get back to the status that he had pre-injury. He will do so with a new quarterback in Carson Wentz. The various offenses that Wentz has been a part of have used their tight ends differently. When he was in Philadelphia, Dallas Goedert and Zach Ertz were fantasy relevant, although that trend didn’t continue with the Indianapolis Colts a season ago. Wentz lacks a surplus of dominant pass-catchers in Washington and could look to lean on Thomas this year more than expected. Thomas is nearly free being selected in the 17th round.

WR Sterling Shepard, New York Giants

The Giants have been pretty bad these last two seasons. Daniel Jones doesn’t look like the answer, and they seem to be missing Odell Beckham Jr. on the outside way more than he is missing them. Despite Jones’ struggles, he has had success when targeting Shepard. He played in only seven games last season and still caught 36 passes for 366 yards and a touchdown. Not crazy numbers, but Shepard has value when he is active in this offense. He is still rehabbing his torn achilles that ended his year early in 2021, but the benefit of the deep bench in best ball means that he can recover, miss a few games and still be an asset for your team.