It’s officially the best time of the year, as NFL Best Ball is back on DraftKings.
This format gives players a chance to draft a fantasy football team for a season-long competition that requires no active in-season management, but still provides a full season of drama and competition.
You can find all the details, scoring and rules for the format in this overview post along with links to the rest of our season preview content.
Below I list my favorite pick in each of the first 12 rounds for 2024 DraftKings NFL Best Ball contests.
Check back throughout draft season for more content to help get you ready for all your Best Ball contests.
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Round 1. Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals
Chase feels like the first rounder with the least amount of risk attached to him. Christian McCaffrey and Tyreek Hill both have slight age concerns, while Justin Jefferson has either Sam Darnold or rookie J.J. McCarthy throwing him the ball, which could limit his ceiling.
If Joe Burrow is healthy, there is no reason why Chase can’t be the WR1 overall in 2024. He‘s only 24 years old and coming off the quietest 100-catch, 1,216-yard season in recent memory. Chase also boasts one of the highest weekly ceilings in all of fantasy, evidenced best by his Week 5 performance last year, where he dropped a 15/192/3 (55.2 DKFP) line on the Cardinals.
The threat of him doing that in the best ball playoffs in 2024 makes him a no-brainer option in the first round of drafts.
Round 2. Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins
I mentioned above about Tyreek Hill’s age concern this season, as he just turned 30 in March. If for whatever reason Hill starts to decline in any way, or miss time due to injury, Waddle would immediately enter WR1 territory. In the lone game Hill missed last year that Waddle played in, the Alabama product went for eight catches, 142 yards and a touchdown, en route to 31.2 DKFP.
Waddle’s contingent value is as big as any WR in the league, and even with Hill healthy, he’s an elite second-round pick on an offense that will likely finish top-five in scoring yet again.
Round 3. Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
This is either going to backfire in a big way or look incredibly silly in a year from now if Kelce posts another overall TE1 season. Taylor Swift’s boyfriend will be 35 in October, and really underperformed in the regular season last year, failing to reach 1,000 receiving yards for the first time since 2015, while catching just five touchdowns.
However, he looked like vintage Travis Kelce during the Chiefs Super Bowl run, posting games of 24.5, 32.1 and 18.3 DKFP in the playoffs. While he’s certainly not getting any younger, this Chiefs offense is set to explode in 2024 after adding Hollywood Brown and Xaiver Worthy to a WR room that already includes Rashee Rice.
Kelce should see a ton of single coverage this year, and should go back to being a monster in the red zone.
Round 4. Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens
Flowers took off after Mark Andrews went down for the season in Week 11, posting 20 or more DKFP in five of the Ravens final seven games. While Andrews will be good to go to start 2024, Flowers should absolutely lead Baltimore in targets in his sophomore campaign.
Last year, the Ravens found themselves so often in blowout situations where they did not need to pass in the second half of games. That could easily regress back to the mean this season, which would send Flowers ceiling through the roof and easily into WR1 territory.
Pretty good for a fourth round pick on a Lamar-Jackson-led offense.
Round 5. Joe Mixon, Houston Texans
The first running back mentioned will be Mixon, who is set to be the unquestioned workhorse for one of the league’s premier offenses in 2024. We saw Dameon Pierce get completely fazed out last season in favor of Devin Singletary, who then signed with the Giants in free-agency.
Mixon was not particularly efficient last season for the Bengals, but he still averaged 15.9 DKFP per game, and caught 52 passes in 17 games played. The Texans might have the best WR room in the NFL, the former Oklahoma product should see a ton of empty boxes this year for a team that could easily lead the NFL in points scored.
Mixon was going in the second or third round of most best ball drafts last season, and you can snag him at pick 55 this year. An absolute steal.
Round 6. Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
There are reports that Godwin will go back to the slot this season, which would really enhance his fantasy value. He played primarily outside last year, and his numbers really dipped because of it, as he finished with two touchdowns.
Now two years removed from his ACL surgery, the 28-year-old Godwin could revert back to his 2019-self, where he posted 1,333 receiving yards and nine scores. Baker Mayfield showed he was more than capable to get his pass catchers the rock last season, and Mike Evans, while still elite, will be 31 in August.
Draft Godwin with confidence.
Round 7. Rhamondre Stevenson, New England Patriots
The prices on some of these running backs are insane. Stevenson was going in the 30’s last season, and his ADP is now sitting at 77.6 as we sit here in July. Injuries did hamper him in 2023, but the Patriots showed full confidence in their RB1, rewarding Stevenson with a massive $36 million extension.
The only threat to Stevenson’s workload this year will be Antonio Gibson, who likely won’t take any rushing attempts or goal-line work away from the former fourth round pick. Stevenson remains just 26 years old, and will likely be the pillar for this new-look Patriots offense under head coach Jerod Mayo.
The fact that you can start your best ball team with six non-RBs and then take Stevenson in the seventh round is a luxury that should not be taken for granted. It would surprise no one if Stevenson finished the 2024 season as an RB1, like he did in 2022.
Round 8. Jaylen Warren, Pittsburgh Steelers
Warren was one of the most efficient running backs in all of football last season, ranking second in the league in yards per carry (among RBs) behind only Christian McCaffrey. This year his outlook appears even stronger, as the Steelers brought in notorious boomer Arthur Smith to be their new offensive coordinator.
Smith’s philosophy is to run the ball on literally every play if he could, and Warren is far more talented, and way more efficient than incumbent starter Najee Harris. Warren is a massive threat in the passing game, and could be a league-winner in 2024 if Harris were to miss any time.
Round 9. Curtis Samuel, Buffalo Bills
The Bills traded Stefon Diggs and did very little to replace him, signing Samuel and drafting Florida State’s Keon Coleman with the 33rd overall pick. Coleman was not a great college prospect, and does not profile as a real target hog, meaning Samuel could be the de facto WR1 for one of the NFL’s best offenses.
Obviously Buffalo still has TE Dalton Kincaid, who should lead the team in targets in his second season, but Samuel could be a sneaky threat to catch 90+ balls in 2024. He flashed a real ceiling playing with Sam Howell last year in Washington, going for 18.2 or more DKFP four times, including two games over 21.
I would expect Buffalo to pass a bit more than they did down the stretch last year, and with no Diggs to deal with, this offense could run quite a bit smoother in Josh Allen’s seventh NFL campaign.
Round 10. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
There are two quarterbacks who are egregiously underpriced in 2024, and Lawrence is first on this list. He was going in the sixth round of drafts last season, and while he underwhelmed considerably, this Jacksonville offense is one that you’re going to want to invest in this season.
Pretty much all of the Jags’ skill players are going before pick 87, yet Lawrence has an ADP of 119 on DraftKings right now. Both things cannot be correct, so either all of Christian Kirk, Travis Etienne Jr., Brian Thomas Jr. and Evan Engram are overpriced, or Lawrence is severely underpriced. I am going to go with the latter, as I firmly expect the former No. 1 overall pick to cut down a bit on the 14 interceptions he threw last season, as well as pass for more than 21 touchdowns.
We saw significant rushing upside from Lawrence last season as well, where he ran for a career-high 339 yards and posted four touchdowns on the ground. With the new additions of rookie-phenom Thomas Jr. and field stretcher Gabe Davis, Lawrence should easily outproduce this ADP, and is a steal in the 10th round of drafts.
Round 11. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
Continuing with the theme of underpriced quarterbacks, Herbert is next on the list. There’s no way to sugarcoat it, he was bad last season, posting career-lows in passing yards, touchdowns and passer rating. However, we also can’t simply discount the three seasons he had prior to 2023, where he posted seasons of 31 and 38 touchdown passes, while throwing for no fewer than 4,336 yards.
The Chargers brought in Jim Harbauagh as their new HC and hired Greg Roman to be offensive coordinator, so the narrative is that they’re going to be ultra run heavy in 2024. That’s all fine and dandy until you look at their RB room, which consists of the underwhelming Gus Edwards, oft-injured J.K. Dobbins and sixth-round rookie Kimani Vidal.
Los Angeles also drafted stud WR Ladd McConkey from Georgia, who will bookend veteran Josh Palmer. All of this to say, Herbert could easily post a bounce back campaign in 2024 for a team that may need to throw a bit more than it would like.
Round 12. Josh Downs, Indianapolis Colts
Downs was on his way to a fantastic rookie season in 2023, posting 13 or more DKFP in five of his first eight games, including a Week 7 performance against the Browns where he went for seven catches, 125 yards and a touchdown — en route to 26.5 DKFP.
Things would halt for the UNC product shortly thereafter, as he sustained a knee injury in Week 9 vs. the Panthers and was never the same. Downs’ ADP would be easily be three-to-four rounds more expensive this year had he not gotten injured, and the fact you can get him at pick 144 right now is literally stealing.
With Anthony Richardson set to return from his shoulder injury, this Colts offense could be a beast in 2024, and Downs is locked in as the WR2 behind Michael Pittman Jr. If you miss out on the WR avalanche in the early rounds, look to Downs in the 12th to get you back on track.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Lan1228) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.