2024 Best Ball rankings: Why Dak Prescott is looking like an early value target in Best Ball drafts

23/05/2024

Pretend you didn't read the headline, and just saw these stats below from the 2023 NFL season:

No. 3 QB in total Fantasy points (353)
No. 4 QB in Fantasy points per game (20.7, 8-game min.)
No. 3 QB in passing yards (4,516)
No. 1 QB in passing TDs (36)

What if I told you that you can draft this quarterback with an ADP (average draft position) of 87 on Underdog Fantasy, usually in the seventh or eighth round of Best Ball drafts? And that he's currently the QB9 based on ADP?

This is all true right now. And Dak Prescott is a steal in Best Ball drafts. I have him ranked 63 overall, two rounds earlier than his current ADP. He is QB7 in my 2024 Best Ball top 250 rankings, available in full at SportsLine (which includes a downloadable link to a CSV file so that you can upload them directly to Underdog).

For some reason, Prescott has been undervalued in Best Ball drafts the last few years despite putting up incredible fantasy numbers year after year. Maybe it's because people bake in the real-life narrative that he can't win clutch games or in the playoffs. But this is Fantasy football and all that matters are the stats I provided above.

Dallas was a pass-heavy team most of last season and Prescott dropped back to pass 62% of the time. With losing Tony Pollard in free agency, and relying on running backs Zeke Elliott and Rico Dowdle, it is likely that Dallas will stick to its pass-heavy approach. Leaning on Prescott and his weapons was successful for the Cowboys last season, and I expect more of the same this season.

The Cowboys have the 22nd-ranked schedule (32nd being the hardest), as ranked by Sharp Football Analysis. So they could be in even higher totals and back-and-forth shootouts this season than last year when Prescott put up those top-five Fantasy numbers.

I also don't mind the Cowboys' Best Ball playoff schedule either, as he's at Carolina, home against the Bucs and at the Eagles in the Fantasy championship. The weather should be decent throughout the Best Ball playoffs for the Cowboys, and they are home in a dome for the semifinals of Best Ball playoffs. The games against Tampa Bay and Philadelphia also have shootout potential, which is key for Best Ball playoffs.

I thought Prescott was a value in the ninth round last season and he proved me right, turning into a key piece to my 27% advance rate to playoffs on Underdog Fantasy. I still think he's a value this year in the seventh or eighth rounds of Best Ball drafts.

I think we could get another season of Prescott ranked in the top five in most Fantasy categories and most importantly Fantasy points. Getting him in the seventh or eighth round as QB9 is a steal, and I believe he will be very valuable again to a high advance rate to Best Ball playoffs. Then once we get to the Best Ball playoffs, I love Prescott and the Cowboys' schedule to put up big Fantasy points when it matters most. See the rest of 2024 Best Ball top 250 rankings on SportsLine.

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