DraftKings Best Ball: 5 Late-Round Wide Receivers to Target

Once you get deeper into the double-digit rounds of your best ball drafts, it gets a little more difficult to decipher who you should be adding to your receiver corps. While it can feel like a cheat code to get “guaranteed points” or aim for guys with a floor to consistently put numbers on the board, that is often not the case with these options. That’s, of course, why they’re going so late.

Below, we’ll examine five options from Rounds 14-17 that can inject some volatility and—hopefully—some upside into your DraftKings lineups throughout the year.

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Jermaine Burton, Bengals (DK ADP: WR72, 167.8)

Despite early camp hype for incumbent receiver Andrei Iosivas, rookie Jermaine Burton is an intriguing selection in best ball drafts.

While it doesn’t look like he will be logging consistent snaps—and therefore consistent fantasy points—through the early portions of the season, he could provide spike weeks when it matters most: during tournament playoffs. The explosiveness and big-play ability could slowly seep its way into the Bengals' game plan, particularly if Tee Higgins plays similarly to his 2023 levels.

Higgins is a phenomenal boundary receiver who has become the deep-ball threat on this offense, but he still leaves a lot of meat on the bone, including his 1.66 yards per route run (42nd/96 qualifying WRs) and 34.8% contested catch rate (69th/96) from last year.

Burton’s ADP has already slid half a round since those camp reports were released near the end of July, and if they continue to slide, he should be a low-risk option this deep into drafts.

Rashod Bateman, Ravens (DK ADP: WR73, 169.6)

Whether because of his injury history or lack of production since being selected in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, fantasy managers have understandably avoided Rashod Bateman up to this point in the offseason. But if we look at what the Ravens have done with the former 27th-overall selection this offseason, he may factor into their plans more than we’ve given him credit for.

Bateman was not eligible to receive a fifth-year option because he had only been credited with two accrued seasons, meaning he would have become a restricted free agent following the season. In response, the team gave him a new two-year extension to keep him on the team through 2026. Additionally, the team allowed Odell Beckham to walk and ignored the WR room until the fourth round of the Draft, when they selected Devontez Walker.

The No. 2 receiver hasn’t historically put up phenomenal fantasy numbers in the Lamar Jackson era, but Bateman’s speed in this offense is why he was sought after during his first two years in the league. His third year was, admittedly, also a disappointment, but a few weeks in our lineups is all we really need with such a low draft cost.

DeMario Douglas, Patriots (DK ADP: WR74, 170.5)

While the Broncos are certainly in the running, the Patriots take the cake when it comes to the most ambiguous pass-catching situation in the league. Sure, Ja’Lynn Polk or Javon Baker could make a splash as rookies, and Hunter Henry could use his veteran savvy to be the team’s main red zone target, but DeMario Douglas is the most likely candidate to absorb work in the short to intermediate areas of the field.

It’s not an exciting pick, but Douglas was the only consistent piece in this offense last season, earning five or more targets in each of his final nine games. A whopping 62.1% of his season-long targets came within nine yards of the line of scrimmage, and while that doesn’t give him a lot of leeway for “boom” weeks, it makes him more valuable in full-PPR scoring.

Demarcus Robinson, Rams (DK ADP: WR78, 187.1)

As an eight-year veteran playing behind Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, it’s understandable that Demarcus Robinson is a second-(or third or fourth)-thought for fantasy drafters. But Robinson became a much more involved part of the offense down the stretch, averaging 31.8 routes per game between Weeks 12-17 as Tutu Atwell, Ben Skowronek, and the rest of the depth chart were essentially phased out.

He wasn’t just out there running on air, either. During that six-game stretch, he scored double-digit PPR points on five occasions, finding the end zone in four of them. The red zone role (six targets from inside the opponent’s 10-yard line, t-third-most among all players in that span) could continue throughout at least the beginning portion of the year with tight end Tyler Higbee sidelined while he deals with his torn ACL suffered in January.

On top of his out-of-nowhere role progression last season, there’s also the chance that Kupp misses time after dealing with injuries in 13 games over the last two seasons.

Malachi Corley, Jets (DK ADP: WR82, 193.1)

Rookie Malachi Corley profiles as someone who is plainly going to be better in PPR formats than others. He’s got very real target competition (Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall, Mike Williams when he returns), but we have to assume the Jets had plans for him when they grabbed him with the 65th-overall pick of the NFL Draft. For his role to play out for fantasy purposes, it’s most likely to be a low-aDOT, “gadgety” game that will take advantage of his explosiveness with the ball in his hands.

Over Corley’s last two seasons at Western Kentucky, he ran roughshod over Conference USA defenses, leading the CUSA in receiving touchdowns in 2023 while leading the CUSA in receiving yards and leading the entire FBS in yards after the catch in 2022. His aDOT in those two years was 6.1 and 5.5, respectively. It’s unlikely Jets brass saw that production —and his running back-style, compact build—and imagined him as a consistent downfield threat.

This would mean he’s most likely to be an around-the-LOS, screen-play maven who possesses a higher floor than his ADP would suggest in PPR scoring formats.

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