Analysis

5/24/23

5 min read

2023 Best Ball: Everything You Need To Play, Win

DraftKings and Underdog Fantasy have each released multiple best ball tournaments, including their flagship offerings with eight-figure prize pools. This is a compilation of all of our team’s best ball resources, which will be regularly updated until opening day.

Best Ball Resources

Rankings

Underdog Fantasy Best Ball Rankings 2.0 (Josh Larky, Ryan Reynolds)

Instead of ranking players in the traditional sense, Larky and Reynolds use current ADP with a 1 to 5 rating next to each player. That rating indicates our collective interest in that player at their current cost. Best Ball Mania II winner Liam Murphy influences our rankings, which will be updated multiple times each month.

DraftKings Best Ball Rankings (Larky, Reynolds)

Strategy

Best Ball 101 (Reynolds)

Reynolds provides explanations and basic strategies for new best ball players.

Podcast: Best Ball Mania II Winner Liam Murphy (Larky, Reynolds, Murphy)

Larky and Reynolds discuss strategies, player analysis and more with Best Ball Mania II winner and The 33rd Team contributor Liam Murphy.

Podcast: Best Ball Mania III Winner Pat Kerrane (Larky, Reynolds, Pat Kerrane)

Larky and Reynolds discuss strategies, player analysis and more with Best Ball Mania III winner Pat Kerrane.

10 Best Ball Value Options on Underdog Fantasy (Reynolds)

Reynolds uses the sports betting strategy of line shopping to identify value options on Underdog.

10 Best Ball Value Options on DraftKings (Reynolds)

Reynolds uses the sports betting strategy of line shopping to identify value options on DraftKings.

WR & TE Matchups Guide Part 1: NFL Secondary Rankings (Jordan Vanek, Mark Garcia)

Vanek and Garcia begin their three-part series by ranking and tiering each of the league’s secondaries.

Actionable Game Theory in Best Ball (Larky)

Larky explores a number of decision points in best ball through game theory.

Optimizing for Best Ball Mania IV's Regular Season Prizes (Daniel Racz)

Racz, who has a Rookies and Sophomores tournament win on his resume, discusses Best Ball Mania IV strategy, focusing on the tournament’s regular season prize pool.

Liam Murphy Breaks Down Tournament Wins

Murphy is one of the top best ball players in the world, winning an astonishing three tournaments for a total of $1.3 million. In this series, Murphy discusses each of his three winning teams, including his Best Ball Mania II takedown where he brought home $1 million. In part 3 of this series, Murphy also discusses the similarities between his three tournament-winning teams.

Part 1: Liam Wins 250K on DraftKings (Murphy)

Part 2: Liam Wins 50K on DraftKings (Murphy)

Part 3: Liam Wins Best Ball Mania II for $1 Million on Underdog Fantasy (Murphy)

Playoffs Weeks 15-17

Favorite Week 17 Games to Stack (Murphy)

Best Ball Mania II winner Liam Murphy returns to discuss Week 17 game stacks that you should target this summer.

Preparing for the Playoffs (Reynolds)

Reynolds begins his Preparing for the Playoffs series with a best ball-centric deep dive on Weeks 15-17.

Treating Week 17 as a DFS Slate (Jordan Vanek)

Jordan Vanek has made six figures in DFS tournament winnings. Jordan uses his unique blend of film and data analysis to attack best ball’s championship slate from a DFS perspective.

Wide Receiver-Cornerback Matchups to Target in Week 17 (Nic Bodiford)

Nic Bodiford breaks down his five favorite wide receiver matchups on the Week 17 slate.

Tight End Matchups to Target in Week 17 (Bodiford)

Nic Bodiford breaks down his three favorite tight end matchups on the Week 17 slate.

Week 17 Leverage (Reynolds)

Reynolds identifies several contrarian options on the Week 17 slate through the DFS concept of leverage.

Drafts

Podcast: Schedule Release Underdog Draft with Liam Murphy (Larky)

Youtube: Big Board Draft with Ian Hartitz (Larky/ Reynolds)

Ambiguity in Best Ball Series

Mark “Hilow” Garcia looks for undervalued best ball options in this player-specific series.

Introduction (Garcia)

Dolphins' Backfield (Garcia)

Treylon Burks (Garcia)

DeAndre Hopkins (Garcia)

Jameson Williams (Garcia)

Kadarius Toney (Garcia)

Ravens' Pass Catchers (Garcia)

Player, Position-Specific Analysis

Biggest QB Mistakes in Best Ball (Larky)

Larky analyzes the downside of drafting two quarterbacks early in your draft.

History of Rookie Quarterbacks' Fantasy Production (Ben Wolby)

Ben takes an analytical deep dive into rookie quarterbacks of the past. He then applies his findings to this year’s quarterback class.

Fade Anthony Richardson in 2023 (Larky)

Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson is a historic athlete with tremendous upside, but what’s the downside in his rookie season? Josh Larky explores.

Analyzing Trey Lance (Reynolds

Reynolds pairs his own process with insights from Mike Martz to analyze Trey Lance’s fantasy football prospects for the 2023 season.

Analyzing Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb (Wolby)

Data scientist Ben Wolby pairs his own process with insights from Martz to analyze the impact interceptions had on Prescott’s 2022 fantasy production.

Analyzing DJ Moore (Wolby)

Now that Moore has a new team, and a new quarterback, Ben Wolby compares Moore to other high-caliber wide receivers that have changed teams in recent years.

Rookie Draft Guide (Larky, Reynolds, Ian Miller, Dalton Kates, Vanek, Patrick H.)

In this downloadable PDF, our team provides a concise, impactful analysis to familiarize you with over 50 fantasy-relevant prospects. Patrick H. does the same for his top 20 IDP defensive players.