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DraftKings Best Ball: Top 10 Tips & Mistakes That Cost You Money
Jun 6, 2026Chris CashThe Fantasy Footballers
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Player mentions
Blake Corum
RB · LAR · #injuryupdate
...fantasyfootballers.com/fantasy/blake-corum" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blake Corum (or whoever), go for it, so you can brag about calling your shot. But...
Malik Nabers
WR · NYG · #waiverwire
...antasyfootballers.com/fantasy/malik-nabers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Malik Nabers , for example (see his ADP drop below courtesy of Best Ball Explorer)....
Jordan James
RB · SF · #general
...antasyfootballers.com/fantasy/jordan-james" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jordan James ? If a popular pl...
Jacory Croskey-Merritt
RB · WAS · #startrecommendation
...ballers.com/fantasy/jacory-croskey-merritt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jacory Croskey-Merritt ) becomes the starter for WAS, his ADP will skyrocket. Or what if it’s...
Elijah Sarratt
WR · BAL · #general
...tasyfootballers.com/fantasy/elijah-sarratt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elijah Sarratt ? <span style="font-weight:...
Kaytron Allen
RB · WAS · #general
Article text
Danger breeds best on too much confidence. Pierre Corneille said it, and t hat is perfect for describing Best Ball (and fantasy football, honestly) after a draft ends. The roster looks clean, the stacks make sense, and the late-round clicks instill confidence that you were smarter than the room. But it ain’t won by feeling good in June. Think about Best Ball (BB) like a marathon. Your lineups are the runners, and you are the coach deciding their objective and position before the gun fires. You have to answer these questions: What race(s) are you entering? How many runners do you have? What path is each one taking? Which runners need to be aggressive to win the whole thing? Which runners need to simply survive for a payout? Once the draft starts, you cannot change that objective. That is why the goal is not just to feel good when your runners leave the starting line. The goal is to build each lineup with a clear path before the race begins. Top 10 Mistakes 1. Thinking Ball Knowledge is Enough Winning your home league matters, and we love celebrating championships around here (#FootClanTitle 4 lyfe). But if you think that same mindset automatically translates to a massive BB tournament success, you are walking into a gun fight with a knife. It’s like saying you can play guitar, so the trumpet should be easy. Sure, the music theory overlaps, but it is still a completely different beast. You have to apply that knowledge and BB strategy. The draft room is not just testing your football opinions; it is testing whether you understand… Lineup construction Opportunity cost ADP movement Playoff schedule correlation Advance rates Tournament structure David Montgomery and D’Andre Swift are clean examples because they sit back to back in ADP, with Montgomery at 5.5 and Swift at 5.6 (as of June 3rd). A casual drafter may simply ask which RB they like more, but BB asks what your team needs due to stacks, playoff run backs, and archetype structure. Do you need Montgomery’s stable path on a non-rushing QB team with a better defense? Or do you need Swift’s receiving profile and a different ceiling bet if the Bears take their offense to the moon? What if you have an Amon Ra, Gibbs, or a DET stack in the works? Swift makes more sense because of the Week 17 correlation. On the flip side, what if you have Nico and got a value on Jacobs (as his ADP free-falls thanks to off-field issues)? Montgomery would make more sense there for the stack-and-run back correlation. When the ADP cost is nearly identical, ball knowledge is not enough. 2. Picking the Wrong Contest Contest selection starts with being honest about what kind of player you are. Some people just love drafting. I get it. Drafting is fun, the sweat is fun, and not every lineup has to be treated like you are managing a hedge fund or moving money around like Marty Byrde. Stay within your budget and play the contests that make the season more enjoyable, NOT stressful. Think of it like this: I do not speak Russian, so I am not walking into a Russian-speaking spelling bee just because the banner says $3 million to first and convincing myself the words will magically fall out of my mouth because I’m hopped up on Hopium. That is how people treat BB contests when they chase the biggest prize without understanding the game they entered. At that point, they are not being strategic. They are just bad at Russian. We have broken them into three types for simplicity. See Favorite Contests for each drafter at the bo…