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DraftKings Best Ball: 10 Players to Fade
Jun 20, 2026Chris CashThe Fantasy Footballers
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Player mentions
Dalton Kincaid
TE · BUF · #general
...tasyfootballers.com/fantasy/dalton-kincaid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dalton Kincaid (TE, BUF) ADP: 114 Blended Rank...
Jake Moody
K · WAS · #general
...efantasyfootballers.com/fantasy/jake-moody" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jake Moody ). The 49ers have a history of pulling players up the board earlier tha...
Caleb Williams
QB · CHI · #general
...tasyfootballers.com/fantasy/caleb-williams" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Caleb Williams is at 69. If you...
Jonathon Brooks
RB · CAR · #general
...asyfootballers.com/fantasy/jonathon-brooks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jonathon Brooks (RB, CAR) ADP: 103 Blended Rank...
Theo Johnson
TE · NYG · #breakoutcandidate
...antasyfootballers.com/fantasy/theo-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Theo Johnson co-exist? At this price, we are paying for a role change that we canno...
Article text
DraftKings 2026 Best Ball streets are…something. Especially after 10 pm. I actually bought peopleofdraftkings.com as a place to post the craziest decisions/rosters constructed because of how insane these get. So, do not be that personofdraftkings.com. Don’t make bad decisions. Most of the time , the sharpest move is not who you draft. It’s who you do not. Wasting a single pick can derail your roster construction and kill your advance rate. This piece: Identifies what a fade is Walks through 10 fades for 2026 Explains what could go wrong Reviews 2025 fades Editor’s Note : This is the fourth article in a series of DraftKings Best Ball articles for 2026 . Find them all HERE. Identifying Fades We compared where players are drafted to where our rankings say they should go, using a Blended Rank for each player by combining 60% of the projected PPR rankings from the Ultimate Draft Kit+ and 40% of the Best Ball Rankings . We then took several steps to fit those projections for Best Ball, using metrics you are likely not interested in. But if you are a nerd like me, here you go. A fade does not mean a player is undraftable! It means the player is being drafted earlier than our rankings suggest. We may still like the player, but not at his current price. ADPs are accurate as of 6/18/26 Ladd McConkey (WR, LAC) ADP : 34 Blended Rank : 44 Draft Gap: -10.3 Positional ADP : WR15 Career PPR Finishes Bring it on, internet. But know, this one hurts me. Ladd McConkey is a great player, and this is not a bet against the Chargers’ offense. LAC has high expectations after consecutive 11-win seasons and a first-round playoff loss. The issue is price. Ladd is going at ADP 34, and that is a steep cost for a player whose role could be more complicated than the market is pricing in. The case against Ladd starts with personnel. The Chargers added David Njoku , Charlie Kolar , and FB Alec Ingold , suggesting more 12-personnel after running it less than any other team in the NFL last year. That matters because Ladd’s best role is inside. Last year, he lined up in the slot on 64.0% of his routes and out wide on only 35.1%. If the Chargers use more two-TE sets, the question becomes simple: who stays on the field? Quentin Johnston played out wide on 85.1% of his routes, while Tre Harris has the bigger, traditional build for outside WR with a 61.2% wide rate. Oronde Gadsden also muddies the middle of the field after running 45.6% of his routes from the slot. That creates more overlap than Ladd’s ADP suggests. The production gap is also not as massive as the price gap. Ladd led this group in slot usage, but Quentin Johnston actually led the Chargers in receiving yards per game at 52.5. Ladd was right behind him at 49.3, while Gadsden checked in at 44.3. That does not mean Ladd was disappointing. It means the market may be pricing him like the clear alpha when the usage data points to a more crowded distribution. There is still plenty to like. Ladd’s rookie season was excellent, and he never really got the clean sophomore leap setup we wanted because the offensive line fell apart. Justin Herbert was constantly under pressure and dealing with a non-throwing hand injury, and the WR room took the collateral damage. Colston Loveland (TE, CHI) ADP: 40 Blended Rank: 54 Draft Gap: -14.3 Positional ADP: TE3 Career PPR Finishes Bears better be the best offense in the NFL for six players inside the Top 96 to pay off their ADP. That is the case against Loveland. This offense is not…