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2026 Fantasy Football Best Ball: 32+ Late-Round Fliers to Target – Part 2
Last Updated on August 15, 2026 11:08 am by Jon Mosales | Published: August 15, 2026
Struggling to round out your squad? Looking to get unique? Trying to find some upside with an edge on the field? Each lobby is different, and each draft should look a little different. This article is meant to identify that perfect fit for your individual team based on what stacks you may have built your roster through. Late round guys come out of nowhere to make big impacts. The final month of draft season is a great time to dive into the depths of the ADP list.
There are two main ways I use this list when I’m constructing each of my teams. The first is obvious, and that’s to stack them with your quarterbacks. For me, stacking is extremely important to enhance your upside in tournaments that require 1% outcomes to win big. Its easy to tack on another weapon for your signal callers to stack a big game or two with throughout the year.
The second actionable way to utilize your late round picks is for week 17 correlation. Now, this matter more to some folks than others. I don’t prioritize because first and foremost, you have to get to week 17. I use it more as a tiebreaker than anything else if I’m deciding between two players. The odds of that are stacked against you to make it to the promiseland, so picking players you truly believe in is extremely tempting. However, it is nice to diversify every once in a blue moon, and what if you actually do make it to week 17? My two highest earning rosters in the my three compete seasons of best ball action both had week bring-backs that played a pretty big part in where I finished.
2025 saw Jacory Croskey-Merritt skyrocket up draft boards once the Commanders traded Brian Robinson. He didn’t pay off as a 10th rounder selection, though a couple of spike weeks were much appreciated as an 18th round pick earlier in the summer. Daniel Jones was the QB to have in Indy, and he was putting up MVP type numbers before a torn Achilles prematurely ended his campaign. There were a couple of backup tight ends who had top 12 numbers in week 17: Michael Mayer for the Raiders and Jake Tonges for the 49ers. Both afterthoughts in drafts. Both worthy of championship spots in your starting lineups due to their counterpart missing time.
Now of course, I’m not always right (just most of the time). Steelers wide receiver Roman Wilson was a dud while the clear dart throw was Kenny Gainwell, who is hovering inside the top 110 this draft season after top 20 finish last go ’round. I foolishly believed Mack Hollins was the late round receiver to draft because “vibez” when the correct click was Kayshon Boutte. There were plenty of misses where hits were never attainable, because that’s simply the nature of scrolling the f*** down.
Its a new year. A new list. A new chance at bringing home a title. New names. Repeat names. League winning names you would never expect.
Note: The ADP cutoff is the first pick of the 17th round, which is pick 193.
Indianapolis Colts – RB DJ Giddens, ADP 215.3
*week 17 matchup – Cleveland Browns
Fighting another late round pick, Giddens should have the upper leg heading into the summer due to being familiar with the offense. The Colts have already been discussing how to limit superstar ball carrier Jonathan Taylor’s workload to keep him fresher, longer. Giddens, is entering his second season with Indy, giving him a natural leg up on this years late round dart RB Seth McGowan. Giddens totaled over 2500 rushing yards and near 600 receiving yards to go with 21 total touchdowns in his final two collegiate seasons. McGowan was a tier or two below that production in 2024 and 2025 combined totaling closer to just 2,000 yards in total.
Kansas City Chiefs – RB Emari Demercado, ADP 215.9; WR Cyrus Allen, ADP 199; WR Tyquan Thornton, ADP 211
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Hi I’m Anthony, and I’m just happy to be here. From late January through early September you’ll find me in the best ball lobbies of your favorite platforms while I share everything I can right here at SportsEthos. I fell in love with the game of football at five years old, and that passion hasn’t faded. As we get older, our physical abilities start to slowly decline and our bodies fall apart. Once I became an Achilles rupture survivor at the prime age of 32, I knew my playing days were all but over. Fantasy football became a way to still connect with the sport I grew up enjoying so much. Join me while I venture into the depths of this space and shamelessly talk ball on the internet.