Fantasy Football Best Ball Rankings - May 2026
- Kev Wheeler
- 5 days ago
- 10 min read
Best ball is a version of fantasy football where all you need to do is draft a team and then watch the season play out. Your optimal lineup will be selected automatically each week, at the end of the week, the highest-scoring players are automatically inserted into the starting lineup spots. There is no roster management, no start/sit questions, no waiver wire, no trades. There are many types of best-ball leagues out there so it is very difficult to come up with a standard set of rankings.
Fantasy Football Best Ball
For years all of the biggest fantasy sites harped on not drafting early, urging people not to draft until August because of the unpredictability of what could happen during training camps. What they should have been telling you is not to visit their site or listen to them until August because they are just throwing darts at a board anytime before then.
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The best players in the world start drafting in February and March, this year we started in January. By July we can draft blind-folded, we are the ones that have set ADP so they are merely drafting against we own previous biases. We have fine-tuned their rankings and/or projections to the point that they are as good as, if not better than the “Expert” consensus.
2025 Expert Draft
We are able to do this because we are constantly drafting in best-ball drafts. Not having to manage starting line-ups throughout the season is glorious! Best-ball allows us to participate in hundreds, or even thousands, of drafts.
Please follow on Bluesky for updates and discussion. You can let us know where you think we' are getting it wrong, it could help us improve our process.
Quarterback
Drake Maye was a 74% passer for 2474yds in the 1st half of games in 2025. This was the best rate for any QB for either half in both metrics. He also had the 7th most dropbacks of any QB in either half, the 2nd most TDs, the most scrambles, and 2nd most points per opportunity. There could be a higher ceiling with better opponents in the future.
Nate Taylor reports the Chiefs are optimistic that Patrick Mahomes (knee) “is on track to participate -- even in a limited capacity -- in the team’s voluntary offseason practices” in May.
Sam Darnold 2025 numbers (rank among QB) via @ftnfantasy.com StatsHub:
4,048 yds (5th)
8.4 yds per attempt (2nd)
99.1 passer rating (11th)
67.7% completion rate (7th)
11.9% explosive rate (5th)
Malik Willis
Dolphins Sign QB Malik Willis for $22.5M/Year. It's essentially a 2-year, $45M deal with a team option afterwards. That's a rightful step up from Justin Fields' contract last year, yet below Sam Darnold's Seahawks deal.
In an extremely small sample of 159 plays, Willis is the QB1 in EPA per play out of 75 qualifiers over the past 3 seasons. He's also 1st in completion percentage over expected and 11th in success rate. Willis has real physical tools to work with beyond being a small-sample legend, and the well-run Packers seemed to really like him.
NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe said Malik Willis is the Dolphins’ starting quarterback, but Miami does “plan” to add “long-term” competition via the 2026 NFL Draft.
It sounds like the Dolphins will draft a developmental quarterback prospect to potentially compete with Willis after the 2026 season. If Willis pans out, great. If not, the Dolphins will already have another option in the works.
Daniel Jones
The Colts made a poor choice re-signing Daniel Jones. Jones Achillies tear is on the "throwing push-off side." Jones has also ended seasons with ACL and neck injuries, so Jones is likely going to have to sign a prove-it deal with a middling franchise.
NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe said the Falcons think QB Michael Penix (knee) “will be healthy at some point in training camp.” Penix underwent surgery to reconstruct a partially torn ACL after suffering the injury in November 2025. Tua Tagovailoa will get to work with the first-team offense until Penix is ready to practice, which could give Tagovailoa an edge in the competition. It seems likely that both players will start at times during the regular season.
NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe believes that the Browns will “likely” draft a wide receiver and a left tackle with their two first-round picks this year. The Browns’ quarterback competition is between Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson, seemingly rendering Dillon Gabriel a locked-in backup. New HC Todd Monken certainly has his work cut-out for him.
Vikings signed QB Kyler Murray, formerly of the Cardinals, to a one-year contract.
Jets acquired QB Geno Smith and a 2026 seventh-round pick for a 2026 sixth-round pick.
Chiefs acquired QB Justin Fields from the Jets in exchange for a 2027 sixth-round pick.
Marcus Mariota
The 32-year-old quietly played decent ball with the Commanders in relief of Jayden Daniels, and since leaving the Falcons in 2022 as the starter, Mariota ranks a lot higher in the advanced metrics than you'd think; QB17 in EPA per play, QB5 in success rate, and QB2 in completion percentage over expected out of 51 qualifiers.
Running Back
The RB dead zone is back!!! You are going to want to get two running backs in the first three rounds in this current best ball meta.
Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson was already our RB1, but his fantasy value is growing even larger following the team's offseason moves. The Falcons' allowed Tyler Allgeier to depart for Arizona in free agency, leaving Robinson as the only relevant name in Atlanta's backfield. That bodes well for the 24-year-old's chances to build upon an incredible 2025 in which he tallied 1,478 rushing yards, 820 receiving yards, and 11 touchdowns even though Allgeier vultured eight touchdowns from him.
The Athletic’s Zach Rosenblatt believes there’s a “60-40" chance that Breece Hall signs an extension with the Jets after the NFL Draft. The other 40 percent here, of course, ends with Hall playing on the franchise tag. Hall is entering his age-25 season.
