In a the Picks You Must Make article, we identified some of the best early round draft picks in Underdog Fantasy’s “Big Board” best ball tournament. While the early rounds often produce the best players, it is usually the later rounds of the draft that determine how far you go in the contest at large. Let’s continue on in our gallivant through the streets of the Big Board and find some value. And, just maybe, win $250,000 in the process.
Round 11
The 11th round features a lot of intriguing selections that are valuable. If you need a QB, all three in this round are smashes at ADP. But there’s a glaringly low name on the board that needs to be your target every time: Hollywood Brown.
Brown is cheap purely because of last year’s injury, which he will be fully healthy from by the time 2025 kicks off. He is an unrestricted free agent, and might arguably be one of the better receivers on the market.
There’s a world he runs it back with Kansas City as their WR2 behind Worthy. Or, he could go somewhere with even less target competition at the moment, perhaps a New England or Carolina. He’d also fit fantastically in Washington with his old play caller Kliff Kingsbury. Brown is a sixth or seventh round -level wide receiver going in the 11th for honestly no conceivable reason. Grab him every time if you can, even if you “reach” in the 10th for him.
Round 12
Anthony Richardson simply has too much upside to be consistently fading him in the Big Board, especially at a depressed price like this in the 12th round. Yes, he has a lot of risk baked in. But that’s the key point. It’s baked into the cost already.
If we were drafting him in the fifth round like you had to last year, that’s a different story. But compared to any other QB in this range, or frankly for the rest of the draft, ARich is the only one left with Top 5 overall QB potential in his range of outcomes.
He falls into the category of being the type of player that you will have needed if he does happen to smash. And with a 20 round draft where taking at least three QBs is common practice, ARich as your QB3 or last ditch QB2 is a high upside, high reward selection. Even if he only hits a handful of weeks all season, those weeks will still be very valuable in the quest for $250k.
(Honorable mention to all the Tight Ends in this round, they are all good values for where you’re getting them.)
Round 13
There is legitimately no good reason for Colston Loveland to be going almost five rounds later than Tyler Warren in the Big Board. None. They have almost identical expected NFL draft capital at this stage. Loveland, if anything, is actually a better receiver prospect than Warren is.
And perhaps most importantly, he provides late-season upside as he grows more comfortable with the NFL game. A rookie peaking right as the money rounds hit in a massive best ball tournament is exactly what you’re looking for in later rounds of the draft, and a tight end with either first or early second round draft capital is always a good bet to make to score fantasy points in this day and age.
(Lots of honorable mentions the later that we go. Some coaches and staff at Texas claim that Isaiah Bond is faster than Xavier Worthy, the all-time NFL combine 40 yard dash time record holder. If that ends up being true, or even close to true, Bond’s ADP is going to skyrocket, as is his expected NFL draft capital.)
Round 14
You may think this is a boring pick. And perhaps it is. But Tyler Allgeier is still arguably the best handcuff running back in the NFL as it currently stands.
Not only that, he still has the occasional stand-alone value a couple games a year, even if Bijan stays fully healthy all season.
And if Bijan gets hurt for any stretch of games… Allgeier will again be a fantastic injection of points at the RB position for your team, especially if you’ve gone Zero or Hero RB and are relying on some luck and chaos in order to be able to patch together solid RB production on a weekly basis.
Allgeier is simply going too late. The rookie hope has pushed players like Cam Skattebo, Dylan Sampson, and Ollie Gordon in front of him. And while it’s certainly possible some of those backs are day one starters, it’s more likely that they are also backups to a team with an entrenched starter, and now you’ve paid a premium for those players compared to where you can get Allgeier, who’s proven he can and will score fantasy points when given the opportunity.
Round 15
I’ll give you a bonus here in Big Board Round 15. Two RBs and one WR stand out here.
Adam Thielen still looks good from a metrics standpoint, even as he gets older and is coming off injury in the middle of 2024. There is certainly some risk to him. The Panthers could draft someone and possibly relegate him to the WR3 on the team, maybe even WR4 if Jalen Coker breaks out. And at his age, he also could regress to the point of just not being an effective football player anymore.
But, if we assume he maintains close to his current level of play for 2025, there’s a pretty solid chance that Thielen provides multiple usable weeks in fantasy, especially if Bryce Young continues to improve and doesn’t revert back into a pumpkin.
And at RB, Isaac Guerendo and Braelon Allen are two more premier handcuffs to two of the better backs in football. Each carries some risk of not being valuable all season, but every handcuff carries that risk. But this late, it is unquestionably valuable to draft backs who would most likely be the workhorse for the team if given the opportunity. Guerendo and Allen have decent draft capital attached to them, and sit behind more fragile than you would think backfields. If they survive the draft without getting any real rookie competition, wheels up for both of them.
Round 16
Honestly, the 16th round might be the worst collection of 12 players in the entire draft. A lot of old farts who have fallen off, or floor play players who provide very little potential for ceiling and not even that much potential for floor.
However, there is one wide receiver who is particularly interesting here, and his name is Jayden Higgins.
Higgins is a rookie out of Iowa State with an intriguing profile heading into the NFL combine and draft. What sets him apart at this price is his expected NFL draft capital, even compared to fellow rookie receiver Jalen Royals. Higgins seems to be hovering around the early to mid second round of multiple mock drafts, while Royals seems more likely to be a third or fourth round selection.
If Higgins gets good draft capital and a decent landing spot, he is worth the upside selection here in the 16th. Adding a few rookies to your draft is always tempting this early on, so it’s important to pick your spots and pick your player bets carefully.
Round 17
You know, I just said that Round 16 was the worst round, but boy howdy does 17 also suck buttermilk. This is about the time where I think that ADP largely doesn’t matter anymore, but it’s still good to pay some attention to what the market is doing in these spots.
He’s not sexy, but Michael Wilson had a solid 2024 campaign in Arizona. He was drafted by the current regime and has steadily improved (albeit slowly), so he’s unlikely to be flat out replaced or benched.
It’s possible the Cardinals draft or sign a receiver in the off-season for sure, but they also have plenty of other needs. If Wilson goes into 2025 again as the WR2, he stands to have the potential to be valuable any given week, especially if Kyler Murray remembers how to throw touchdowns and deep passes down the field.
Round 18
It sounds bizarre to say, but Jalen Tolbert did technically break out last year. He wasn’t flashy, he didn’t dominate. But he did come into his own as an NFL-level wide receiver.
Most of that came with Cooper Rush as his QB, meaning that there’s a possibility he can be even better with a healthy Dak Prescott returning.
Now sure, the Cowboys might (and frankly should) bring someone else in to be the WR2 for the team. But we’re talking about Jerry Jones here. Expecting good roster construction is your first crucial mistake. If the Cowboys make the baffling decision to only bring in a Day 3 rookie or crusty vet, Tolbert is an absolute steal here.
And even if he drops down the totem pole to the WR3, he still offers upside in what we hope is once again a good offenses that scores a lot of points. It’s never a bad idea to take players on teams that score a lot of points, especially if they have proven they have talent.
Round 19
At this point in the draft, every single selection is arguably a coin flip as to whether they’ll ever score a point for your team. Keeping that in mind, there are two rookie RBs here that are very much worth that flip of the coin.
Damien Martinez and Brashard Smith each have unique skill sets, even between the two of them. But, they both offer something that most other players don’t at this stage. Upside.
Both backs have a draft range anywhere from the late third to possibly undrafted. But, in a deep RB class with lots of teams ripe for competition at running back, one or both players could find themselves in a position to contribute right away. With a little luck, maybe you’ll even get a starter (just don’t count on it).
Round 20
Now at this point, the world’s your oyster. You’re not beholden to the ADP anymore, you have hundreds of players left over to choose from.
Take some risks, draft players who you truly believe have a legitimate chance to help your best ball team in 2025.
The rookie TE class is deeper than most people give it credit for. As is the RB class. There’s plenty of rookie gems out there, and what’s important is shooting your shot on whoever you feel gives you the best chance for the roster you’ve constructed.
You’re not playing this game to advance a team. You’re playing to win it all. Draft like it!
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