Generally speaking, your best ball roster should be fairly set by the last round of the draft. Most of the time, your roster will already have at least two quarterbacks, four running backs, six wide receivers, and two tight ends. That means that you want pure upside for your last-round picks, usually a running back, wide receiver, or tight end who could contribute spike weeks throughout the season and ideally in Week 17 as well. After all, you play to win, so you want a true difference-maker who can contribute a high-ceiling outcome for the championship week.
Tyjae Spears, Jerome Ford, Justyn Ross, Richie James, DeVante Parker, and Hunter Henry are all players who I think are undervalued and have upside in the late rounds, but for the purposes of this article, we’ll only be examining true last-round picks who are currently being drafted outside of the top-200 overall picks based on Underdog ADP. Here are my favorite last-round picks in 2023 best ball drafts who could win you $3 million in Best Ball Mania 4.
Favorite Last-Round Picks in 2023 Best Ball Drafts
Joshua Kelley
Austin Ekeler requested a trade this offseason but eventually settled for a revised contract to stay with the Chargers. Still, it’s possible that this could be his final year in Los Angeles. And with Ekeler being 28 years old this season and having logged over 300 touches last year, there are two scenarios that could vault Joshua Kelley into fantasy relevance this year. The first is that Ekeler is utilized heavily by the Chargers prior to both sides moving on, which could lead to injury. In that case, Kelley could have weekly RB2 potential in Ekeler’s absence. The other scenario is that Los Angeles chooses to reduce Ekeler’s workload to conserve him for a potential playoff run, in which case Kelley could see more complementary work on a weekly basis. Kelley profiles similarly to Damien Harris, and he could see a role akin to the one Harris saw last year alongside Rhamondre Stevenson. Monitor the Chargers’ depth chart as preseason continues in case Isaiah Spiller makes a leap, but for now, Kelley seems to be the preferred No. 2 running back with the start and most carries in their first preseason game.
Jordan Mason
Elijah Mitchell has been nursing an adductor injury since early August, which is the latest in a series of injuries. Since he entered the league in 2021, Mitchell has missed 18 out of 34 possible games. Even if Christian McCaffrey were to miss time in 2023, I’d have little faith that Mitchell could handle a full workload or stay on the field for the duration of the season. I wrote about Jordan Mason as a deep sleeper back in June for this very reason, and since then, he’s built upon a strong training camp. It was recently reported that “Mason appears to be taking the lead” over Tyrion Davis-Price on the depth chart, as Mason is “a more fluid runner” and has “looked much better in pass protection”. A few things need to go right, but as with Kelley above, there’s an RB2 ceiling for Mason behind a 27-year-old McCaffrey and an oft-injured Mitchell in an efficient 49ers offense and run scheme.
Chase Claypool
It’s not encouraging that the Steelers traded Chase Claypool away last year and that he missed most of the 2022 season with an injury, but the athletic upside is still there. And again, potential ceiling outcomes are what we want from our last-round picks in best ball (and in all fantasy formats). Despite a disappointing 2022 campaign, Claypool still has that week-winning upside, which he demonstrated as a rookie by scoring three touchdowns in one game against the Eagles. Claypool has been nursing a hamstring injury recently, but prior to that, he’d been targeted heavily in the red zone by Justin Fields in training camp practices. If he can command a significant red-zone role in 2023, it won’t matter if the Bears again project for below-average pass volume because Claypool can still have multi-touchdown upside each and every week.
Josh Downs
There are concerns about Josh Downs producing as a rookie. After all, he’s just 171 lbs., and Anthony Richardson is expected to have growing pains as a passer in Year 1. And yet, the upside is tantalizing. Downs grades decently as a prospect with Day 2 draft capital as a third-round pick, a 97th percentile college target share, and an 87th percentile breakout age. Recent reports also indicate that Downs and Richardson have started to ramp up their chemistry as of late. Lack of target volume alongside Michael Pittman and Alec Pierce will likely keep Downs’s weekly production inconsistent, but he still has big play upside with his speed. Oh, and did I mention that the Colts play the Raiders in Week 17? Las Vegas’s secondary ranks 30th per Pro Football Focus (PFF) heading into the season, so Downs could be a big factor in the fantasy championships.
Michael Mayer
Speaking of the Raiders, their second-round rookie tight end seems to be flying completely off the radar. Michael Mayer was commonly touted as the best tight end prospect in this draft class back in April, but he’s now often going undrafted altogether simply because Dalton Kincaid and Sam LaPorta were selected before him in the NFL Draft. Mayer projects to be the starter over Austin Hooper to open the season in a Las Vegas offense that fed Darren Waller in 2022, and Jimmy Garoppolo‘s affinity for short and intermediate throws is a perfect fit. Don’t sleep on the 6’5, 249 lb. rookie with a 95th percentile college dominator rating. He should be drafted not too far behind where LaPorta is going a few rounds earlier. And remember how the Raiders’ secondary ranks 30th? The Colts’ secondary ranks 31st heading into 2023, so their Week 17 matchup could be a shootout with plenty of fantasy production to go around. A Downs stack with Richardson makes Mayer a perfect bring-back, and he’s a great third tight end for teams that waited at the position.
Zach Ertz
The 32-year-old tight end might be the least sexy name among these last-round picks, but hear me out. Prior to his ACL/MCL tear in Week 9, Zach Ertz was the TE3 in 0.5 PPR and the TE7 in 0.5 PPR points per game (PPG), and he’s currently on track to start Week 1. The fact that he’s often going undrafted is insane. Yes, the Cardinals are expected to be awful in 2023, and it’s still uncertain when Kyler Murray will return from his own ACL injury. That being said, Arizona’s secondary ranks 29th in the league, so this is an offense that will be forced into a lot of shootouts and catch-up game scripts even if the Cardinals decide to tank for the No. 1 overall pick in 2024. I like Marquise Brown at his ADP for the exact same reason: lots and lots of projected target volume even if the touchdowns won’t necessarily be there. If Brown is too risky of a pick for you, then at least take a shot on Ertz, who carries a similar upside due to volume but is completely free. He’s one of the best last-round picks if you want upside at tight end, as Ertz has top-10 fantasy tight end potential once again this coming season.
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