2020 Best Ball Guide – Where to Play and Pre-Draft Rankings

Just when we thought the FanDuel acquisition of Draft would be the end of Best Ball, it is back and better than ever for the 2020 NFL season. There are more Best Ball fantasy websites than ever offering players more choices, better promotions, and a better overall Best Ball product than we have ever seen before.

What is Best Ball?

Best Ball is a simplified version of season-long fantasy football. There are no waiver wires, no lineups to set, no trades to make, just draft your team and forget about it. Your optimal lineup is set following each week’s games.

Typically Best Ball on daily fantasy sports websites like DraftKings still features a traditional weekly schedule, playoffs, and a championship game. The payout structure will vary from site-to-site, but generally features a 67% payout to the winner and 33% payout to the runner-up.

The format clearly puts a heavy emphasis on the draft, which should change the way you draft your team. You are drafting 20 players, handcuffing is a must, and avoiding multiple players with the same bye week at the same position is crucial.

Beyond that, with a 20-player roster, set after the games are played consistency is not nearly as important as it would be in your traditional fantasy league. Focus more on high-ceiling players that could potentially win games on their own. Bump up the value to big-play guys like Will Fuller and Marquise Brown, and downgrade slow-and-steady options like Mohamed Sanu and Jamison Crowder

Where You Can Play Best Ball for the 2020 Season?

As we mentioned in the open, there are more options than ever for Best Ball players. For the past five NFL seasons, we have covered Best Ball exclusively on the DRAFT App. FanDuel killed that after the last football season, and the fear around the DFS industry was that the format was dead.

Fast forward to 2020, and in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, came a glimmer of hope from the fantasy community. DraftKings announced they would run Best Ball contests, Drafters hit the ground running essentially as a DRAFT clone, Yahoo posted a lobby full of paid Best Ball contests, and we were flat-out blow away by the quality of the UnderDog Fantasy app.

While we think each of these products is worth a look, it is hard to argue (and far from a surprise) that DraftKings has the best Best Ball product at the moment. The DraftKings Best Ball lobby has more contests, bigger contests, and more players which means drafts go live constantly.

Best Ball FAQ’s

Assuming you have played in a traditional season-long fantasy league, and who hasn’t, Best Ball should feel extremely familiar to you. Come in with a strategy, draft a team, and dominate.

That being said, it is still a new format to most DFS players, and many season-long guys are not familiar with the DFS platforms on which Best Ball exists. Below are answers to the questions we get most often from both groups of players.

How do payouts work with best ball fantasy football?

So, how does the money work with best ball on daily fantasy sports websites? First, you can make a deposit by either credit card or PayPal. Second, leagues are either winner-takes-all or some sort of split between first and second place. Third, when you do win, you can withdraw your winnings through PayPal and deposit them directly into whatever account you choose.

What happens when my players get injured?

The downside of best ball is clearly the fact that you can not make any changes to your roster in-season. If your top RB or WR gets injured, you are just stuck without them for however long they are out. The best thing you can do is draft the handcuff for each of your top players a round early so you ensure you always have the production for that position on that team.

What is the difference between Yahoo and DraftKings?

While there are small differences in the two platforms, the app, scoring, payouts, etc… the biggest difference you will find is in the players. As a general rule, Yahoo caters more towards the casual player, but has far fewer players overall. DraftKings is considerably more competitive but the huge player pool means drafts fill constantly and you can always find a league ready to draft.

What is the scoring format for best ball leagues?

This will vary based on the site you are playing on. Typically, most DFS websites employ a half-point PPR scoring format, but DraftKings currently uses a full-point PPR scoring format. Everything beyond that is standard, but DraftKings does give bonuses for 100+ rushing/receiving yard games as well as 300+ passing yard games.

What about the DRAFT app?

As of early August, there are no signs DRAFT will ever be back, and while FanDuel has promised snake drafts would be back for 2020 that has yet to be seen as well.

Best Ball Player Rankings

The draft is everything when it comes to best ball, and your pre-draft player rankings need to before perfect before you get into the draft room. Starting with solid pre-draft player rankings means you avoid missing out on players that you really want to roster, but are buried on the site’s queue.

Below are our current expert consensus best ball rankings. Simply upload them to DraftKings and Yahoo, or kick it old school and fire up the printer to cross players out as they are drafted.