2023 Best Ball Fantasy Football Rankings & Top-200 Big Board

Updated 8/13 - Preseason Week 1

Welcome to The Wolf's first-ever 2023 Best Ball Fantasy Football Rankings & Top-200 Big Board!

If you haven't played Best Ball Fantasy Football yet, you're missing out on my new favorite way to play fantasy. That's because all that matters is everyone's favorite part: the draft.

I dive into far more detail in my Best Ball Fantasy Football Primer: Where, How, and Why (coming soon). 

However, the general basic premise: you draft a team, and the computer automatically calculates your highest-scoring lineup each week. By the end of the season, the team with the highest total points wins (or advances into another round of a tournament).

That means no in-season roster moves or adjustments. No Sit/Start dilemmas. No Waiver Wire pickups. Your sole focus is drafting the best team that will last over the course of a full season. 

If that's not enough, Best Ball Fantasy offers HUGE potential winnings. Like, $3,000,000 (for $25 buy-in) huge.

That's right. Underdog, our favorite place to play, has a 2023 Best Ball Mania IV tournament with $15M total in prizes ($3M to first), for just a $25 entry fee. If that's too spicy, they often roll out $5 Puppy tournaments with $1M+ prize pools and $150,000+ grand prizes. If you haven't joined in the Underdog fun (addiction) yet, click this link or use Code RSJ to get up to $100 Matched for FREE -- it also supports your boys here at RSJ. 

"But Wolf, can't I just use your 2023 Redraft Fantasy Football Rankings and Big Board? And dominate like I normally do on Yahoo or ESPN?"

Not quite. Although the positional rankings are largely the same, the Overall 2023 Best Ball Big Board is quite a bit different. That's because of two main differences:

1) The Market - WRs & QBs Bumped Up: On Underdog, WRs & QBs FLY off the board. I always have been (and always will be) an RB-Hoarder. In redraft leagues, I still prioritize the position. However, in Best Ball with WRs at such a premium, and elite RBs like Tony Pollard and Derrick Henry falling to late Round 2, you'll notice the big bump I gave pass-catchers. Also, an elite QB can provide a huge edge, so I am much more willing to use an early pick at the position in Best Ball vs. Redraft.

2) Volatility = Easier to Stomach: While I like steady, week-to-week consistency in redraft, volatile players "boom-bust" come with far less risk in Best Ball. Guys like Mike Williams, Gabriel Davis, MVS, and even Taysom Hill can be phenomenal assets -- as they won't be in your lineup for the low-floor outings, but will give your team significant point boosts when they smash. Consistent performers still are important, but big "splash" worthy players (especially for later round picks) have significantly more value in Best Ball.

Alright, enough of the blabber that you probably skipped anyways. Below, find my first-ever set of 2023 Best Ball Fantasy Football Rankings and Big Board. 

Scoring: Underdog is Half-PPR with a starting lineup of 1 QB, 2 RBs, 3 WRs, 1 Flex, 1 TE (no D/ST or K). I rank with those scoring settings in mind. DraftKings' Full-PPR Best Ball games also fit these WR-heavy rankings, too.

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