Anyone who has ever done a best ball draft knows how quickly wide receivers come off the board. The community LOVES loading up on them early and often in a format where you typically draft 7-9 of them. And, despite how well the running back group did last year, zero RB and hero RB builds are still as popular as ever.

That’s why it’s crucial for you to identify some value wide receiver picks you like. If you are going to compete in Underdog’s Best Ball Mania VI, you need to be able to pivot at each stage of the draft. That’s why we are going to take a moment here to share a few best ball wide receiver value picks in going in the range of WR10-20, WR20-30, WR40-50, and even a bonus at WR50+! 

If you want ALL of our rankings with a tiered grid to help with ADP, you can grab a copy of our 2025 Best Ball Guide. Last year I used that to finish 226th out of ~672,000 teams in Best Ball Mania V. In the meantime, here are a few values that we like at wide receiver to help you get started!

 

 

 

Marvin Harrison Jr, WR Arizona Cardinals


Marvin Harrison Jr had a good rookie year. Yes, 62 catches for 885 yards and 8 touchdowns is a GOOD season for your first year of professional football at 22 years old. The problem was that folks were drafting him at a level where you expect him to be great and, therefore, were disappointed. This year, I do believe that Marvin Harrison has the chance to be great.

This offseason, I combed through all the stats and watched every route for Marvin Harrison from 2024. I put the key stats and highlights (via gifs) into this article. The short and sweet is that Kyler Murray was not getting through his reads. Everyone knows he’s willing to scramble, but he was also a top 3 QB in throws under 2 seconds per Fantasy Points Data Suite. He was either getting it out quickly or holding on too long.

Meanwhile, Marvin Harrison was actually top 10 in total route wins and top 3 in win rate vs. man-to-man. As the article I linked above breaks down, they are connecting fine on first reads and scramble drills, but those intermediate plays were lacking. With Drew Petzing putting an emphasis on that this offseason and another year of trust between Kyler and Harrison, we could see a massive season from both of them this year. MHJ current;y comes off the board as the WR15 in the third round. 

 

 

 

DeVonta Smith, WR Philadelphia Eagles

We love AJ Brown this year, too. But AJ Brown goes very early (as he should), so it’s not really up to you whether you get him or not - that’s more in the fate of the draft slot. With DeVonta Smith going as the WR25, anyone can grab him in a draft. And he’s much easier to pair with Jalen Hurts.

Both Brown and Smith are capable of putting up monster games or catching a touchdown pass at any given time, which is all we need in best ball. Smith last year still managed 833 yards and 8 touchdowns despite getting hurt on multiple occasions. Throughout the year, he dealt with a concussion, a hamstring injury, and a back injury. He hardly even practiced throughout the playoffs, yet still helped the team win a Super Bowl.

But here’s the big reason I’m in on both AJ Brown and Smith. Best Ball is about weekly performances. DeVonta Smith was the WR17 in points per game in this format last year. The Eagles last year attempted the fewest passes of any team in the entire NFL. Just a little regression towards more passing, and these guys could see a jump in those numbers. Even if they don’t and a 26-year-old DeVonta Smith plays the way he did last year, I’m getting a value at WR25 off the board. 
 

 

 

Calvin Ridley, WR Tennessee Titans

Best Ball is a game of upside. Calvin Ridley already offers that as a guy who has had back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons. And he did so last year with atrocious quarterback play. We’re expecting the quarterback play to at least be a bit better this year after drafting Cameron Ward first overall.

The knocks on Ward as a prospect are not the kind of knocks that we worry about for Calvin Ridley. NFL teams obviously care about gunslingers who get a little too aggressive or try to make the big play too often. They are worried about turnovers. We don’t care about turnovers. Having a guy like Jameis Winston, Ryan Fitzpatrick, or Jay Cutler who is willing to play “huck it, chuck it” football is GREAT for our wide receiver.

I also had the Titans trading back up to take a wide receiver in the first round in my mock draft - they didn’t do that. They didn’t draft a wide out until Day Three of the draft, and it’s not a deep WR class. Guys like Tyler Lockett, Van Jefferson, and Chig Okonkwo are not target hogs. Ridley should get all the targets he can handle, so he’s a pretty easy click for me at WR30.

 

 

 

Cooper Kupp, WR Seattle Seahawks

I understand the caution. Everyone does. The concern is that Cooper Kupp is washed. He can’t play a full season. He’s now missed time in each of the last three seasons. But he’s also still been on pace for 80+ catches, 1,000+ receiving yards, and at least 7 TDs in each of the last three seasons. What if Kupp just doesn’t get hurt?

That’s what the Seattle Seahawks are banking on. They are hoping that Kupp will be extra motivated after being ditched by his former club for Davante Adams. They paid him big money to get into great shape and bounce back while playing his former team twice a year. And, if he can do that, this scheme could be VERY friendly for him,

Klint Kubiak loves his fullback. He said he would use a fullback in his introductory press conference. They drafted a 270-pound Robbie Ouzts to play that role. What happens when you use the fullback and a blocking TE is that the WR3 comes off the field for a lot of snaps. That highly consolidates the targets among the top two WRs, like we saw in New Orleans last year with Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave. We see it with other teams that use the same scheme, like the 49ers (Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, the Dolphins (Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill), and the Texans when Bobby Slowik was the coordinator (Nico Collins and Tank Dell). 

 

 


 

Stefon Diggs, WR New England Patriots

We love taking rookies in best ball. Brian Thomas won us a lot of money last year. But this is a bit of a weak class at wide receiver. Not to mention, in early May, the rookie ADPs are always a bit steamed up. I’m still peppering in some guys with a path to opportunity, like Tre Harris and Kyle Williams. But Kyle Williams’s teammate also intrigues me.

Like Cooper Kupp, you can’t expect Stefon Diggs to have a prime season at this age. I mean, it’s entirely possible, as guys like Marvin Harrison Sr., Randy Moss, and Jerry Rice had some of their best statistical seasons at age 30+. But best ball doesn’t require every single player on your team to have a career year - you just need to piece together enough good weeks to keep your team alive and advance.

Stefon Diggs is clearly better than any wide receiver that was on the Patriots last year. Even if Kyle Williams blows up, Diggs would be a top-two guy. And this scheme will likely feature both a fullback and second tight end, Austin Hooper, so the top two guys should see a lot of work. The Patriots were confident enough in Diggs returning from injury to give him decent guaranteed mone,y and he was on pace for ~100 receptions last year before getting hurt (not 100 targets, 100 receptions). When I get down here into the WR42 range where Diggs goes, I like him a lot.

 

 


 

BONUS, Michael Pittman WR Indianapolis Colts

I know we said five, but I’m going to give you one bonus who is going outside the top 50 WRs. And that’s Michael Pittman Jr,. who is currently going off the board at WR54. This is a guy I’ve been taking in virtually every draft. 

In this range, there is simply no one who could be the alpha wide receiver on his team the way Pittman can be for the Colts. Even dealing with back issues last year, he was playing 98% of the snaps at times as their primary split end. Over the last four years, this guy has averaged ~8.3 targets per game, which is a 140 target pace. He could easily be the top WR for the Colts again despite being drafted behind Josh Downs in best ball (who we also like, but he’s a part-time player that only plays slot).

If Anthony Richardson can’t cut it, Daniel Jones will come in. That creates a decent floor for Pittman to go along with his ceiling. You might be shocked to see how high we have Pittman in our 2025 Best Ball Guide, but you don’t necessarily even need to draft him that high, given his ADP.