Best Ball Strategy: 15 Late-Round Fantasy Football Gems

This article is a report on 15 potential fantasy targets who go in the 15th round or later in Underdog Best Ball drafts.

Each of these players carries significant risk and often times have limited ceilings, so keeping your exposure contained is advised in each case. Injuries and general chaos are often what determines the 'Correct' answers in this range of the draft, so it helps to remain agnostic and diversify even when otherwise targeting these players.

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Dyami Brown, WR, JAC (191.4 ADP)

The first four entries in this article are something of a disclosure notice about my investments, because I have a ton of exposure to each player. That's particularly true about Brown, who's on the vast majority of my teams at the moment.

I've been hammering Trevor Lawrence stacks and Brown has been a component of almost each one. It makes sense to me if Lawrence and Brown see their prices rise over training camp, but I have to pretty much cut myself off for the time being.

That would be easier said than done. Brown is a good candidate to log the second-most snaps among Jacksonville wide receivers, and he should run with the highest ADOT among Jacksonville wide receivers in 2025. Brown is liable to get stuck with the most decoy work and therefore will also likely the most boom-or-bust among the top three Jacksonville receivers, but in best ball that's not a concern, especially at a price this cheap.

Brown is almost exclusively a boundary and downfield receiver. Brian Thomas is locked into the WR1 role, and neither of Travis Hunter nor Parker Washington are otherwise candidates to rank ahead of Brown for the distance-oriented perimeter routes. This should keep Brown's snap count above 40 most or all weeks.

Calvin Austin, WR, PIT (194.0 ADP)

Austin is unlikely to play a true three-down role at around 5-foot-7, 170 pounds, but when he is on the field he should see steady from-scrimmage opportunity and offer floor-based best ball value when the price is right.

Austin provided three 0.5PPR games of 12.9 or more points last year, and six games of 8.5 or more.

Austin is unlikely to provide much upside unless he claims a three-down role, but he might establish himself as Pittsburgh's WR2 as long as they don't add a free agent or trade target like Amari Cooper, Allen Lazard, etc.

Darius Slayton, WR, NYG (195.7 ADP)

Slayton is quite simply a solid starting NFL wide receiver who never gets the credit for it. He's annually one of the best cheap best ball wideout targets due to his standout deep-ball game and the spike weeks it invites even on meager target volume.

Slayton was quietly one of the league's best deep threats even with quarterbacks like Daniel Jones throwing to him. Russell Wilson isn't exactly a great overall alternative at this point, but throwing the sideline vertical route is one of Wilson's clear remaining strengths. It was always a weakness for Jones.

Chig Okonkwo, TE, TEN (198.4 ADP)

Okonkwo has reportedly done well in offseason practices, which isn't shocking given the positive indications in his prospect profile.

Although Okonkwo has yet to truly break out at the NFL level, he has shown flashes that might portend a breakout, especially with Cam Ward expected to provide Tennessee with a quarterback upgrade relative to Okonkwo's previous passers.

MarShawn Lloyd, RB, GB (199.0 ADP)

Lloyd is not a threat to take work from Josh Jacobs, but Lloyd is a good bet to claim the RB2 role in Green Bay after missing nearly all of the 2024 season with various ailments.

Lloyd has the explosiveness to offer startable weeks in best ball even without dislodging Jacobs – Lloyd clearly has the most long-range ability of the Green Bay runners – and if Jacobs were to miss any time Lloyd would be a good candidate to start.

Emanuel Wilson is the primary competition for Lloyd and is far from a pushover, but if Lloyd plays to the fullest of his abilities then the second-year pro might be able to claim the top backup role behind Jacobs.

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Tyler Lockett, WR, TEN (205.6 ADP)

I don't have many Lockett shares at this point but probably need to consider adding some to dilute my Brown/Austin exposure.

Lockett's one-year, $4 million contract is negligible and guarantees him very little, but the Tennessee wide receiver depth chart is one of the worst in the league. Lockett could be some version of Not Good and still log more than 800 snaps in 2025.

Former first-round pick Treylon Burks (knee) would ideally claim the WR2 or even WR1 role for the Titans, but he has only earned negative reviews in his NFL career, and the Week 6 ACL tear from 2024 probably won't aid Burks' development any.

Tyler Shough, QB, NO (209.0 ADP)

I probably don't have the guts to draft Shough as a QB2 and I don't often draft a third quarterback in Underdog's 18-round formats, but taking the risk could pay off for Shough investors.

Shough should play a lot of snaps for the Saints in 2025. He'll be 26 soon and the Saints need to evaluate him immediately so they know how to manage the 2026 offseason.

Shough offers some rushing upside to offset what will likely be an inconsistent if not ugly showing in real football terms. Even if Shough is bad in real life, he could be a fantasy boon at price as long as he doesn't get benched. The Saints really don't have anything better to do.

Jerome Ford, RB, CLE (211.3 ADP)

Ford is probably the cheapest viable RB5 target in the ADP yet often goes undrafted. Just as he did in 2023 and 2024, Ford will likely be Cleveland's primary passing-down back in 2025. Plenty of those passing-down reps will entail blitz pickup rather than valuable targets, but particularly if Joe Flacco starts most of the year Ford might push for 50 receptions.

Rookie second-round pick Quinshon Judkins will be the primary ballcarrier for Cleveland and might gain reps on passing downs as the season progresses, but after Ford and Judkins the Browns have no running backs viable for passing downs.

Rookie fourth-round pick Dylan Sampson is not likely to play much if Ford and Judkins stay healthy in 2025. Sampson can't match Judkins as a runner or passing-down back, and Sampson is far behind Ford as a passing-down back.

Amari Cooper, WR, FA (213.6 ADP)

No matter where it might be, Cooper should still be useful enough at 31 years old to make some roster and push for 500 snaps in 2025.

Cooper's 2024 season looks awful at a glance -- just 44 catches for 547 yards and four touchdowns on 85 targets -- but those 85 targets occurred on just 548 snaps. Decline in efficiency is one thing, but Cooper's usage rate stayed high in 2024, and he would project for potential starting roles on a number of prospective team destinations.

Curtis Samuel, WR, BUF (215.7 ADP)

Samuel carries a $9 million cap hit in 2025, and if the Bills cut him they'd eat $12.09 million on the spot. The Bills clearly envisioned a substantial role for Samuel when they signed him last year.

That Samuel barely played in 2024 is almost certainly an indication that he wasn't fully healthy, making it difficult for offensive coordinator Joe Brady to get Samuel acclimated to Buffalo's very particular scheme.

Samuel has always been injury prone and the Bills might well be disenchanted already after his quiet Buffalo debut, but Brady has a positive history with Samuel from their Carolina days. If Samuel disappointed in 2024 due to injury and if he stays healthier in 2025 then he should be a harmless pick this late, even if he only plays something like 550 snaps for Buffalo.

Emanuel Wilson, RB, GB (215.9 ADP)

Wilson could very well lose the RB2 role to MarShawn Lloyd but (1) that's far from guaranteed, (2) Lloyd's durability will be an ongoing concern even if he claims the RB2 role, and (3) Wilson might be a candidate to get traded to another team during training camp or at final cutdowns.

In addition to potentially being overqualified as an RB3, Wilson's one-year contract is very cheap and wouldn't carry any cap penalty to trade. Wilson is a proven NFL-caliber pure runner as a big-play capable power back, but on passing downs he remains untested. A team like Chicago, Dallas, Indianapolis or the Jets could have a use for a capable power runner like Wilson, and more teams could join that list depending on training camp injuries.

Parker Washington, WR, JAC (215.9 ADP)

The fantasy football community generally assumes Travis Hunter will be a full-time receiver in 2025. I don't. I think Brown and Washington are headed for more playing time than the ADP assumes.

The Jaguars are not sure what they'll do with Hunter, but in the meantime the outright false claim that Jacksonville decided to primarily use him at receiver was eagerly gobbled up by the fantasy public. Hunter initially worked at wide receiver in practices specifically because he was behind at receiver relative to corner, yet the resulting public narrative was that the Jaguars were using Hunter at receiver because they prefer him there. That's objectively not what happened.

What we know is that Hunter is farther along at cornerback than receiver, and the Jaguars want him to play both ways to some extent. The trade cost to acquire Hunter wouldn't be nearly worth it if he were only playing wide receiver. It's plausible or likely even that the playing time between receiver and corner would be subject to situational details and/or the injury situation at either of the two positions. In-season injuries at receiver could force Hunter to play more there, while the same rule would apply at cornerback.

If Hunter isn't on the field, then Washington is Jacksonville's primary slot receiver. The Jacksonville tight ends are not really the route-running sort, so we can additionally suspect that the Jaguars might allocate a lower share of their targets to the tight end position than most other offenses.

Isaiah Davis, RB, NYJ (215.9 ADP)

The prior Jets regime badly wanted Braelon Allen to be central part of the 2024 offense, but Allen's play didn't justify that.

That regime saw Davis as the less shiny toy between himself and Allen, but Aaron Glenn likely isn't interested in prior narratives as he evaluates the Jets roster. Whoever plays better from here is the likely RB2 behind Breece Hall, and there's reason to think Davis will (continue to) outplay Allen.

Audric Estime, RB, DEN (216.0 ADP)

Estime needs to stop fumbling but if he does then he still should have a promising future in the NFL. He's a true bruiser in terms of raw power but offers unusual balance and elusiveness for a hulking runner. Estime's 4.7 speed is an ongoing concern, but his 10-yard split (1.58 seconds) is actually slightly above average and his jumps were both excellent (38-inch vertical, 125-inch broad jump).

You can believe RJ Harvey and J.K. Dobbins are both excellent running backs (I do) and still like Estime this late, especially since he's the clear power specialist of the three. Sean Payton likes to have a designated guy for each role if possible, and while Estime will be the general RB3 he might be the RB1 in some situational subpackages.

Of course, Dobbins' durability challenges are a long and dreary story, and at 5-foot-8, 205 pounds Harvey can probably only take so much of a beating himself. It would be a common story if various circumstances led Denver to lean on Estime at some point in 2025, and his talent projection grants reason to think he'd thrive with any opportunity that might occur.

Antonio Gibson, RB, NE (216.0 ADP)

Gibson isn't a good processor between the tackles and doesn't run with as much power as he should at nearly 230 pounds, but he's still worth at least 400 snaps per season if only for his big-play and pass-catching ability.

Gibson is a dangerous receiver both on fundamental and ambitious route designs, and if the Patriots don't have room to use him accordingly then another team might. If Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson both make it through training camp healthy then a variety of teams should have interest in Gibson as a pass-catching specialist if nothing else.

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