
Introducing Underdog Football, an easy-to-play, exciting alternative to traditional fantasy games. If you love playing fantasy, but want to avoid the hassle of trades and waivers, you will love Underdog Football.
In this short guide, we will explain how Underdog Football contests work, but, more importantly, we will give you our expert tips for perfecting your drafts and putting together the best possible roster. If you like the sound of Underdog Football, you will not want to miss this.
Underdog is a relatively new name on the fantasy scene. But in just over three years, the site has become hugely popular across the United States and is the fastest growing fantasy app on the market. Players at Underdog can enter contests covering major sports leagues such as the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB. If you read our full Underdog review, you can get full details of the specific contests available on the site.
As Underdog contests offer different rules and scoring systems from other daily fantasy sports sites, players can enjoy exciting contest. Now let’s take a look at how one of the most popular of those contests works…
The most popular season long Underdog Football game is Best Ball. Whilst the game does bear some similarities with standard fantasy games, it has some vital differences too. Best Ball contests will have varying prize pots, entry fees and league sizes, but ultimately they all use the same rules.
The most notable difference between a Best Ball contest and a standard fantasy league is that there is no roster management during the season. You draft a roster and then just sit back. Each game week, your highest scoring players at each roster position count towards your score.
This system places a huge emphasis on the draft. Best Ball rosters are chosen using snake drafts (in other words, if you pick first in round one, you pick last in round two, etc) and rosters consist of the following positions:
| Position | Number of players |
|---|---|
| QB | 1 |
| RB | 2 |
| WR | 3 |
| TE | 1 |
| Flex | 1 |
| Bench | 10 |
As you can see, a Best Ball Fantasy Football roster has a much bigger bench than you find in most other games. This large bench allows your squad to cope with injuries, bye weeks and other scenarios that may mean some of your squad are not playing.
The importance of the draft in Best Ball cannot be overstated. The players you draft are your players for the entire season, so it is imperative that you make the right picks. To help you ensure that happens, our NFL fantasy football experts have put together their ultimate tips:
In the past, quarterback has been a slightly undervalued fantasy position. Many players were happy to wait until the last round before taking a QB, and some even took the option of streaming a QB every week. In Best Ball, that approach should be completely discounted. You need a quarterback who regularly produces the goods, and you need a backup who will do likewise.
Imagine you had taken Aaron Rodgers in your 2023 Best Ball draft, but not selected a second QB or just taken a late round punt on a backup. As Rodgers got injured on the first drive of the season, you’d have been left without a viable signal caller for the entire season. The smart approach is to take two high end QBs, so you can negate injuries, as well as give yourself a strong option for bye weeks.
In fantasy terms, wide receivers are the new running backs. In other words, WR is now the position with the most depth and most importance. In Best Ball, WR is the only position with two starting roster spots, so immediately you need to focus on drafting a pair of high end receivers. But more importantly, when it comes to your late round Underdog football picks, you should stack your bench with backup WRs. Compared to other positions, there are far more viable starters at the wideout position, so backup WRs give you the best chance of a high score when injuries and bye weeks kick in.
Although Best Ball is different from standard fantasy football, the majority of pre draft research you should do is exactly the same. That means looking at issues such as bye weeks and schedules, as well as putting together your Underdog football rankings and establishing a round-by-round strategy. The more research you do, the more likely you are to draft your ideal roster.
Aside from Best Ball Fantasy Football, the other standard game on the site is Underdog Pick'em. This game requires you to pick between two and five NFL players. Each player will have a stat attached to them and your task is to predict whether the player will achieve higher or lower than that given stat in their next game. Get all of your predictions correct and you can win up to 20 times your stake.
For instance, if you select a QB such as Lamarr Jackson for your roster, he will have a passing yards total attached to him. You just need to predict if his actual number of passing yards in his next game will be higher or lower than that yardage.
To make life easier for you, new players at the site can use an Underdog promo code to receive a Pick'em Special. This is a specified player that you can add to your Pick'em roster. The stat projection attached to the player will be hugely preferential, making it an easy prediction. If we use the aforementioned example of Lamarr Jackson, the Pick'em Special attached to him would state something like 0.5 passing yards. This makes the higher or lower prediction extremely straightforward.
To add to this Underdog recently updated their welcome offer where new users get a $5 entry, and claim a of $75 in fantasy bonus entry, offering a generous boost as they try out Underdog’s fantasy games and contests.
To be eligible for this offer, you must be 18+ (19+ in AL, NE; 19+ in CO for some games; 21+ in AZ, MA, and VA) and present in a state where Underdog fantasy operates legally. The offer is not valid in MD, MI, NJ, NY, OH, and PA.
Terms apply. Concerned with your play? Call 1-800-MY-RESET or visit www.ncpgambling.org; NY: Call the 24/7 HOPEline at 1-877-8-HOPENY or Text HOPENY (467369).
As you can see, playing Underdog Football is a lot of fun. Best Ball contests provide a more relaxed and less time-consuming alternative to normal fantasy games, but it is still an engrossing contest that provides a huge amount of fun.
In addition, the Pick'em game provides an exciting twist on fantasy football that puts your NFL knowledge to the test. And don’t forget to use your Underdog promo code to give yourself a Pick'em Special that will increase your chances of success.
Yes. But as this Underdog promo code changes regularly you need to check our Underdog review before joining the site.
Underdog is available in around 30 US states. Read our full Underdog review to find out exactly where you can play.
No, but you can create your own Underdog draft rankings. Research the positions, study the schedule and read expert opinions. You will then be able to put together your own cheat sheet before entering a draft.
21+ and present in VA. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.