We’re not far removed from the Super Bowl, but pre-NFL-Draft Best Ball is already in full swing. With 2026’s fantasy football ADP solidifying before the start of the NFL Combine and free agency, now is a good time to find players to target and those to avoid. Below are four players to target and four players to fade in early Best Ball drafts.
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Players To Target Early Best Ball ADP
WR Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens
- Underdog ADP: 41.3
- DraftKings ADP: 41.0
Zay Flowers is coming off the best season of his career. Last year, he turned 118 targets into 86 receptions, 1,211 receiving yards, and five touchdowns. He finished as the WR7. This performance was even with Lamar Jackson missing five games and not playing like his typical MVP self following his return from a hamstring injury in Week 9.
Flowers at his current ADP is surrounded by other receivers who are either the clear WR2 on their own teams like Jameson Williams (Underdog ADP: 40.45; DraftKings ADP: 43.2) or receivers in ambiguous roles for the upcoming season like Luther Burden III (Underdog ADP: 48.3; DraftKings ADP: 49) and Emeka Egbuka (Underdog ADP: 45.3; DraftKings ADP: 48.6). Flowers stands out as the clear-cut WR1 on his team. Even if the Ravens do add to their receiver room in free agency or the NFL Draft, no one they acquire will challenge Flowers for this role. He is an absolute steal at this ADP.
RB Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams
- Underdog ADP: 94.6
- DraftKings ADP 100.7
Blake Corum started the 2025 season as the clear backup to Kyren Williams on the Rams. However, from Week 7 on, Corum averaged a snap share of 33.2% in the Rams’ backfield. He also saw 20 red-zone carries during this 11-game span. He was an RB2 or better in four out of those 11 weeks.
Corum’s value at ADP this year is two-fold. First, he provides a solid floor of production with potential spike week upside when he is able to score a touchdown in the Rams’ high-powered offense. Second, he is a nice contingency play in the event of a Kyren Williams injury. While the Rams would also likely utilize last year’s fourth-round pick, Jarquez Hunter, if Williams were to miss games, Corum would likely have the first crack at stepping into the lead role. In Best Ball, where you don’t have to guess when to start Corum, he makes for a fine running back selection, especially in a Zero-RB build.
QB Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals (for now)
- Underdog ADP: 140.6
- DraftKings ADP 144.9
Kyler Murray sustained a foot injury in Week 5 last year and was placed on the Injured Reserve. He never played another snap for the Cardinals and was reportedly benched for Jacoby Brissett despite never returning from injury. While Murray had no weekly finishes inside the top 12 at the quarterback position during his five games of play, he has a track record of fantasy success. Setting this past season aside, Murray has finished inside the top 12 quarterbacks in fantasy points per game every year since 2019.
Murray is currently the QB24 in ADP on Underdog and the QB26 in ADP on DraftKings. This will certainly change once his landing spot crystallizes. The Cardinals are expected to release Murray prior to the start of the new league year, and he will instantly become the best free agent quarterback in a league bereft of quality starting options. Murray will be a starter this season, and once he finds a team, his ADP will likely jump several rounds. This makes him a screaming value right now.
TE T.J. Hockenson Minnesota Vikings
- Underdog ADP: 187.5
- DraftKings ADP 188.3
Last year, T.J. Hockenson played nearly a full season for the first time since 2023, when he tore his ACL and MCL. Unfortunately, he had his worst fantasy season since his rookie year, averaging only 7.5 fantasy points per game. This was in large part because of the ineffectiveness of the Vikings’ offense as a whole, attributable to J.J. McCarthy‘s putrid quarterback play. Hockenson’s yards per route run cratered to 1.15 in 2025, down from 2.03 in 2024.
Hockenson has several outs to being a value at this current ADP. First, the Vikings could acquire a veteran quarterback to compete with J.J. McCarthy for the starting spot. Rumors suggest a potential Kirk Cousins return to Minnesota; Hockenson had his best fantasy football seasons with Cousins in 2023 and 2022. Additionally, Hockenson is rumored to be a potential cap casualty for the Vikings. If the Vikings do move on from the veteran TE, he could find a better landing spot to augment his fantasy production.
Players To Fade Early Best Ball ADP
RB Quinshon Judkins, Cleveland Browns
- Underdog ADP: 54.5
- DraftKings ADP 50.4
Quinshon Judkins had a great rookie season, finishing as the RB26 overall and the RB25 with 80.9 Best Ball Points Added. However, this production was volume-fueled. Judkins wasn’t efficient with his touches, averaging only 2.66 yards created per touch (52nd among qualified running backs). He also sustained a brutal injury to his right leg in Week 16, fracturing his fibula and dislocating his ankle.
While it is anticipated that he will be ready for the start of the NFL season, Judkins returns to a Browns team that has a new offensive system, an uncertain quarterback situation, and none of their 2025 starting offensive line currently under contract. Currently the RB23 on Underdog and the RB22 on DraftKings, Judkins is being drafted above where he finished last season. Unfortunately, there is little to support this climb up the board. The Browns’ offense will likely be just as bad as it was this past season and potentially worse. I’d rather be filling out needs at other positions in the fifth round than selecting Judkins; he is a volume-based play, reeking of an RB dead zone selection.
TE George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers
- Underdog ADP: 120.4
- DraftKings ADP 113.7
Like Judkins, Kittle suffered a season-ending injury last season, tearing his Achilles tendon in the NFL playoffs. Reports have recently surfaced suggesting Kittle may not return until Week 5 at best. Even before his season-ending injury, Kittle only played in 11 games last season. However, when healthy, he was the TE3 in fantasy points per game, averaging 14.7 points per game.
Kittle can be the 49ers’ target hog upon his return to the lineup. However, the 49ers may look to add another receiver in free agency or through the draft who could eat into Kittle’s target share. Even assuming Kittle comes back as himself, his current ADP is bit steep for a player with an unexpected return date. While I’m not avoiding Kittle in drafts, I’m only inclined to take him on select builds and when he slips past ADP. I like to pair him with Brock Purdy or an already selected elite tight end, or pivot to a three-tight-end build with Kittle as the first selection and low-cost veteran types such as David Njoku, Dalton Schultz, and T.J. Hockenson to cover for Kittle’s potential absence early in the season.
WR Tyreek Hill, Free Agent
- Underdog ADP: 145.0
- DraftKings ADP 116.2
Tyreek Hill was released by the Dolphins last week and is currently a free agent. He also sustained a dislocated knee in Week 4 of last year and has no current timetable for his return to action. Entering his age-32 season, Hill is not only battling a severe injury but also Father Time to return to fantasy relevance. He finished as the WR29 in fantasy points per game in 2024 and averaged only 13.4 fantasy points per game last season.
Hill’s knee injury reportedly involved a torn ACL and additional ligament and tendon damage. Hill not returning to play football this season is squarely within the reasonable range of outcomes. His ADP in both formats is rich and assumes not just a return to play this year but a return to fantasy dominance. He is a bit more tenable as a selection on Underdog when he falls; if anyone is willingly clicking him at ADP on DraftKings, they should stack him with a call to a gambling addiction helpline.
WR Travis Hunter, Jacksonville Jaguars
- Underdog ADP: 150.0
- DraftKings ADP 150.4
Travis Hunter crested double-digit fantasy points just once last season, scoring 24.1 fantasy points in Week 7. Then he sustained a knee injury in practice leading up to Week 8 and missed the remainder of the season. Reports this offseason suggest that Hunter will be primarily used on defense when he is healthy to return to action.
With Parker Washington, Brian Thomas Jr. and Jakobi Meyers set to start in three-wide-receiver sets for the Jaguars, Hunter appears to be a sub-package-only player on offense at best this season. A spike week or two for Hunter is not out of the question, even if he sees a limited role on offense. However, if we are expecting this inconsistent production, he should be going about three rounds later than he currently is. I’ll take him if he falls a round in ADP and I have Trevor Lawrence on my roster and am looking to add a stack. Other than that, he is a player I am avoiding.
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