BEST of 2024 So Far (After Week 5)

Every season Fantasy Football prognosticators attempt to predict who the top players will be at each position. If you have been paying attention to me here on The Science of Fantasy Football, you know that year end points can be deceiving and points per game are also misleading. But what matters most in Best Ball Fantasy Football is how many times a player hits our score sheet. That’s what the BEST Index attempts to do. Let’s look at the best of the BEST after week five.

BEST Index Explained

Fantasy Football is a weekly game that needs weekly statistical tools. The MVP Index grades players on the three things that can happen every week; whether a player helped you win, caused you to lose or kept you in the matchup that week. It uses historical median production to determine values that need to be exceeded to count. Since in Best Ball Fantasy Football we don’t care about the lousy scores, the BEST index uses two of the three parts of the MVP Index to show a BEST Ball effectiveness for each player.

QB Position

BEST of 7 Top Rated: Baker Mayfield and Joe Burrow

BEST of 6 Elite: Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels

BEST of 5: Solid: Sam Darnold

RB Position

BEST of 8 Top Rated: Alvin Kamara

BEST of 7 Super Elite: Derrick Henry, Kyren Williams

BEST of 6: Elite: Saquon Barkley, Jordan Mason, Brian Robinson, Chuba Hubbard

BEST of 5: Solid: David Montgomery, Jonathan Taylor, Bijan Robinson, James Cook, Zach Charbonnet

WR Position

BEST of 8 Top Rated: Justin Jefferson

BEST of 7 Super Elite: Malik Nabers, Nico Collins, Chris Godwin

BEST of 6 Elite: Amon Ra St Brown, DJ Moore, Ja’Marr Chase, Jayden Reed, Stephon Diggs, Brian Thomas, Mike Evans

BEST of 5 Solid: CeeDee Lamb, Garret Wilson, DK Metcalf, Drake London, Alec Pierce, Rashid Shaheed, Allen Lazard, Marvin Harrison Jr

TE Position

BEST of 5 Top Rated: George Kittle

BEST of 4 Solid: Brock Bowers

BEST of 3 Adequate Starter: Dallas Goedert, Jake Ferguson, Tucker Kraft, Isiah Likely

Conclusion

The QBs drafted to be elite in Fantasy Football have been for the most part of huge disappointment so far during the 2024 season. Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts have all been underperformers so far. Very few of the first round RB values have also gotten off to a slow start. Alvin Kamara has been the best value when compared to Average Draft Position. Derrick Henry has defied Father Time and Kyren Williams has gotten off to a great start despite being named punt returner during preseason. Sam Darnold did not hurt Justin Jefferson’s fake football value and rookies Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas Jr and Marvin Harrison Jr have started strong. Jayden Reed and Chris Godwin have turned out to be the two best values compared to Average Draft Position. The top drafted TEs have also been a huge letdown, but George Kittle, rookie Brock Bowers and Dallas Goedert have been the best values. Good luck in week six.