Business
DraftKings Reveals 2026 Best Ball Rankings Ahead of Its Record 20 Million Dollar Fantasy Contest
Fantasy football analysts are finalizing their DraftKings best ball rankings for the 2026 NFL season as the platform prepares to launch its largest best ball tournament in company history, a contest offering 20 million dollars in total prizes and three separate millionaire winners.
Best ball leagues have surged in popularity in recent years because they require no in-season roster management. Players draft a full squad, typically 18 to 20 players, at the start of the season, and the platform’s software automatically assembles the highest-scoring lineup each week from the players on that roster, eliminating the need for weekly waiver claims or lineup swaps. On DraftKings specifically, best ball rosters are built around four position groups: quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end.
Because a best ball roster is locked in on draft day and never adjusted afterward, analysts across the industry stress that draft-day rankings carry more weight in this format than in traditional season-long leagues. Draft Sharks, one of several outlets publishing 2026 best ball rankings, put it bluntly in its published guidance for the format: “Your Best Ball draft will define you for the balance of the year. The cold, hard truth is — after you draft, your team is set in stone. So you’ll either be a savage on draft day … or spend the rest of the year in pain.”
Rankings across major fantasy outlets show some disagreement at the very top of the board, reflecting genuine uncertainty about which running back deserves the first overall pick this year. FTN Fantasy’s published 2026 DraftKings best ball rankings list Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson as the top overall selection, followed by Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs at the No. 2 slot and Cincinnati wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase at No. 3. Rounding out FTN’s top 10 are Los Angeles Rams wideout Puka Nacua, Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Detroit’s Amon-Ra St. Brown, Indianapolis running back Jonathan Taylor, Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb, Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson and San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey.
Other outlets have reached a different conclusion on the top overall pick. NBC Sports’ fantasy football rankings, compiled ahead of this year’s DraftKings Best Ball Millionaire contest, instead list Gibbs as the new 1.01, describing him as the “runaway” choice for the top overall selection heading into 2026 drafts. The split among experts underscores how thin the margin has become between the league’s top handful of running backs and elite pass-catchers, with wide receivers increasingly being drafted earlier than in past seasons as best ball scoring has evolved to reward high target volume and big-play upside.
RotoBaller, which publishes tiered rankings covering the top 300 players across all four roster positions for DraftKings formats, has emphasized that its 2026 rankings differ meaningfully from the outlet’s parallel rankings built for the rival platform Underdog, since the two sites use different scoring rules and roster construction requirements. The outlet advises drafters to consult format-specific rankings rather than assuming a single universal cheat sheet will translate cleanly between platforms.
Beyond the individual player rankings, this year’s headline storyline for DraftKings’ best ball offerings is the scale of its marquee contest. The platform is promoting a Best Ball Millionaire tournament carrying a total prize pool of 20 million dollars, which DraftKings has described as the largest best ball contest in the company’s history, with three separate participants set to be crowned millionaires by the end of the competition. As part of a promotional push tied to the contest, DraftKings has also rolled out a “Draft One, Get One” offer, under which entering a lineup in the 20 million dollar contest for 25 dollars earns players a bonus ticket to enter a second, free best ball lineup for an additional shot at the prize pool without paying twice.
Analysts building best ball rankings say their models draw on a wide range of statistical inputs beyond simple projected point totals. RotoGrinders, another outlet publishing 2026 rankings for both DraftKings and Underdog, said its process incorporates millions of data points, including historical usage metrics such as targets, touches and overall opportunity share, layered with the site’s own statistical modeling built specifically around best ball scoring dynamics. Similarly, Draft Sharks said its rankings begin with baseline player projections before layering in ceiling and floor outcomes designed to capture each player’s realistic range of weekly performance, along with an additional multiplier the site applies to boost players it identifies as having elevated spike-week scoring potential, a trait considered especially valuable in a format where a single monster performance can be enough to carry a fantasy roster through the playoffs.
With NFL training camps having wrapped up and the regular season set to begin, fantasy analysts across outlets including RotoBaller, FTN Fantasy, NBC Sports, RotoWire and FantasyPros are continuing to update their DraftKings best ball rankings on a near-daily basis to account for late roster moves, depth chart changes and preseason performance, guidance that industry outlets say remains especially critical in the run-up to a format where, unlike traditional leagues, there is no opportunity to correct a mistake once the draft clock starts ticking.
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Prince William and Kate Middleton Break Balmoral Holiday to Issue Statement on Deadly Nepal Flooding
The Prince and Princess of Wales briefly stepped away from their private summer holiday this week to issue a statement of condolence over the catastrophic flash flooding that has killed hundreds of people along the Nepal-China border, following a similar message from King Charles III.
William and Catherine, both 44, posted the statement on their social media accounts addressing the Aug. 26 disaster, which was triggered by the collapse of a glacier and rocky ledge that sent a wall of ice, rock and water surging down the Bhotekoshi River into Nepal. “The scale of the devastation along the Nepal-China border is shocking. We are thinking of everyone caught up in this terrible disaster,” the statement read, according to PEOPLE. “Our thoughts are especially with the families facing an unbearable wait for news and with the communities confronting such immense loss. We are incredibly grateful to all those working in such dangerous conditions to rescue people and support those affected.”
The couple’s message came shortly after King Charles issued his own statement of sympathy. “My wife and I are heartbroken to hear of the devastating flooding that has struck the Nepal-China border. Many in the United Kingdom have strong, deep and personal ties to this part of the world,” the King’s statement read. “We send our most profound sympathy to all those who have so tragically lost their loved ones, and we feel deeply for the many families awaiting anxiously the news of friends and relations.” Charles added, “Our hearts go out also to the families of all the police and Armed Forces personnel who lost their lives while carrying out their courageous duty in the service of others, and we give our deepest thanks to those who have responded so selflessly in undertaking rescue efforts. Our special thoughts and prayers remain with all those affected and, as always, the United Kingdom stands ready to help support those in need.”
The flooding has continued to claim lives in the days since the royal family’s statements were issued. Nepal Police said Friday that at least 579 people have been confirmed dead, with more than 2,400 others still listed as missing, as rescue crews continue searching riverbanks and debris fields across the affected region. Authorities in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, which was also struck by the flooding, have confirmed five additional deaths on their side of the border.
William and Catherine issued their statement while on their annual late-summer break at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, a royal tradition dating back to the reign of Queen Victoria. The couple arrived at the estate on Aug. 20 alongside their three children, Prince George, 13, Princess Charlotte, 11, and Prince Louis, 8. Three days later, the family attended a Sunday service at Crathie Kirk alongside other senior royals, including King Charles, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, and Prince Edward with his daughter Lady Louise. Balmoral was a particular favorite of the late Queen Elizabeth II, who typically spent from late July until October at the Scottish estate and died there in September 2022.
The royal family’s Scotland gathering has unfolded alongside another major development within the family: the return of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to the United Kingdom. PEOPLE first reported that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who stepped back from royal duties and relocated to California in 2020, arrived back in Britain on Aug. 26 with their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5. The couple plans to establish a private, non-royal home base in the UK, with their children set to begin school there in the coming weeks.
A source close to the family told PEOPLE that Harry’s return could present a meaningful opportunity to repair his strained relationship with his brother, William, though the two remain distant, with the same source describing their current contact as nonexistent. The source suggested Catherine could play a role in encouraging reconciliation between the brothers, saying, “Catherine may step into that breach and try to help, too, because she knows how important family is and how important Harry is to William. She would want to see that healed, as any wife would. This gives them opportunity to try and mend that bridge.” A separate source told PEOPLE that King Charles similarly hopes to see his sons reunited over time, calling the current moment “the best opportunity we have seen in recent years.”
Harry has previously expressed his own desire to repair family ties, telling the BBC in May 2025, “I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point in continuing to fight anymore.” Whether that reconciliation advances alongside the broader developments touching the royal family this summer, including the Nepal relief effort now drawing statements of concern from across the monarchy, remains to be seen as both branches of the family navigate a season marked by significant personal and public change.
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Stanford Chemist is a scientific researcher by training. For the past decade he has been providing analysis and evidence-based ways of generating profitable investments with CEFs and ETFs. He leads the investing group CEF/ETF Income Laboratory. Features of the service include: managed income portfolios (targeting safe and reliable ~8% yields) making use of high-yield opportunities in the CEF and ETF fund space. These are geared toward both active and passive investors of all experience levels. The vast majority of {CEF/ETF Income Laboratory} holdings are also monthly-payers, for faster compounding and steady income streams. Other features include 24/7 chat, and trade alerts.
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