2025 Best Ball Spike Week Players

Best ball is all about knowing which players offer the highest weekly upside. You can gain a massive advantage over your opponents by identifying players who are capable of producing spike week performances at a rate not currently priced into their ADP.

Here are some of my favorite, reasonably priced, high-spike-week-performing best ball assets that I am targeting.

UD-Points, aka “Underdog Points”, are half PPR fantasy points

Chuba Hubbard

Underdog ADP: 52.1 (RB17)

Chuba Hubbard was one of the highest upside best ball picks in 2024, recording 5 performances of 20.0+ UD-points (5th-most), and 2 performances of 25.0+ UD-points (8th-most). Those marks ranked better than Kyren Williams or Breece Hall, two RBs going several rounds ahead of Hubbard.

If we exclude the two games that led to Bryce Young’s Week 3 benching ^[1], Hubbard scored 20.0+ UD-points in five out of the Panthers’ next thirteen games. That 38.5% spike week rate would have ranked 4th-best among all RBs.

Weeks 3-16

The above marks would rank 4th-best, 10th-best, 11th-best, 9th-best, 8th-best, and 2nd-best across the full season. Not only was he one of the most efficient bellcow RBs in the league (his 19.5 touches per game would rank 9th-most), but Hubbard was productive regardless of what defensive fronts he faced or what run scheme was deployed. And despite being on a five-win team, Hubbard cultivated one of the most valuable roles in fantasy football.

If the Panthers can outperform their Vegas-projected 6.5 game win total, Hubbard could be in line for a massive uptick in his fantasy production. Four out of five of Hubbard’s spike week performances came in Panthers victories (three of which occurred after Young was renamed the starter in Week 8).

Games the Panthers won

With how the Panthers' offense looked down the stretch last season, there is good reason to have confidence in any of their skill-position players in best ball. Hubbard has the 5th-easiest strength of schedule among RBs in 2025, and is poised to smash his 5th-round ADP.

Jayden Reed

Underdog ADP: 77.8 (WR42)

Jayden Reed led the Packers' WR corps in FPG, receiving YPG, and Spike Week performances in each of his first two seasons in the league. Reed’s “disappointing” sophomore season would result in 3 Spike Week performances (13th) and 198.0 UD-points (29th), ranking above receivers like Marvin Harrison Jr., DK Metcalf, or Rome Odunze (all going significantly higher than Reed in best ball drafts).

The Packers selecting WR Mathew Golden with the 23rd overall pick muddied the community's outlook on Reed, but this addition shouldn’t have much effect on him at all; Reed was already playing near-zero snaps out wide or in 2WR sets (6.1% route share). Instead, Reed is consistently schemed to perfection in his role as the Packers' main slot receiver (93.9% route share from the slot in 2024), and I don’t expect that to change in 2025. Not only did Reed benefit from a surplus of designed targets (his 25 ranked 3rd-highest), but he also possesses significant upside as a deep-threat - Reed recorded the 2nd-highest passer rating when targeted on deep pass attempts (141.0), and the 2nd-highest YPRR on vertical breaking routes (3.79)

We saw that lucrative connection between Reed and Jordan Love early on in 2024, with Reed recording two of his three spike week performances (33.1 UD-points and 23.6 UD-points) in Love’s first five starts ^[2]. Unfortunately, the Packers’ pass attack suffered a significant blow in Week 8, with Love sustaining a groin injury, causing the offense to shift to a run-heavy approach. From that injury onward, the Packers' 24.2 pass attempts per game would rank dead last (a far cry from the 35.8 per game in Love’s first 5 starts).

Based on his efficiency last season, there is an argument to be made that Reed is underutilized in this offense. He’s been amongst elite company in his first two seasons in the league, and among all Year 2 or 3 receivers (a generationally stacked group), his 2.29 YPRR ranks 6th-best.

If Reed can display the semi-reliable hands he had as a rookie (5.5% drop rate in 2023 vs 14.7% drop rate in 2024), alongside Green Bay returning to a pass-heavy offense, he should smash his 7th-round ADP.

David Njoku

Underdog ADP: 119.6 (TE10)

Njoku has been one of the most impactful best ball assets among TEs over the last two years. He’s recorded 8 performances of 14.0+ UD-Points in that span (4th-most), and his 4 spike week performances in 11 games last season were good for the 2nd-highest spike week rate amongst all TEs (36.4%). He was also good for a few “boom performances” in 2024, scoring over 18.0+ UD-points twice (2nd-most).

When Njoku is on the field and healthy, he is a domineering target, ranking top-15 amongst all players in targets per game last season (8.82). That also extends into the red zone, where his 11 end zone targets (in 11 games played) would lead all TEs (if he had played a full season, he would have ranked 2nd amongst all receivers at that pace). Many are worried about the Browns being a low-win team in 2025, but they’re projected to score 18.6 PPG, 3.4 PPG higher than 2024. Njoku will remain a safety blanket in the end zone for whichever QB leads this offense next season.

Njoku stands to benefit massively if Joe Flacco is named the starter at any point (which feels likely). When Flacco last led the Browns offense back in 2023 (Weeks 13-17), Njoku recorded 9.0 Targets/G, 78.0 Receiving YPG, 4 TD, and 15.4 FPG. The upside we’ve seen from Njoku in recent years, alongside the realistic path he has to an even higher fantasy ceiling, is not currently baked into his 11th-round ADP. Njoku has also been one of only five TE best ball playoff heroes we’ve seen since 2021, and I see that opportunity arising in 2025.

Njoku’s 10.6 UD-points per game last season ranked 4th-best, and if we exclude the two games he saw a sub 45% snap share, he would have ranked 3rd-best with 12.0 UD-points per game. His 44.4% spike week rate in that nine-game span would have ranked 2nd-best among all TEs. Underdog drafters are still drafting Njoku far below TEs that averaged fewer UD-points per game, and recorded fewer spike weeks last season (any TE not named Bowers, McBride, or Kittle).

Jordan Addison

Underdog ADP: 67.7 (WR36)

We’ll address the elephant in the room right away; there is a good chance that Addison faces some sort of suspension in 2025 (likely the first 2-3 games). This is rather unfortunate given the Vikings start the season off against the Bears, Falcons, and Bengals, but the discount you’ll be offered in best ball drafts can make up for this (“buy the dip,” as the finance bros say).

In 2024, we saw Addison remain a highly valuable best-ball asset despite missing two games. He recorded 3 performances of 18.0+ UD-points (13th-most), and 2 performances of 24.0+ UD-points (3rd-most and tied with Justin Jefferson). Those marks, alongside his 181.0 total UD-points in 2024, ranked higher than those of several receivers being drafted far ahead of him (DeVonta Smith, DK Metcalf, and Marvin Harrison Jr.).

The community appears concerned by the impact that a fully healthy TJ Hockenson could have on Addison, and Ryan Heath quickly dispelled those worries, noting that Addison actually played better with Hockenson on the field.

Addison’s 12.1 FPG ranked 19th-best last season, and if we exclude Darnold’s Week 18 primetime meltdown, he averaged 12.9 FPG (~WR15), yet Underdog drafters are taking him as the 36th WR off the board. This could also be due to the Vikings' offense being led by a first-year starting QB (JJ McCarthy) in 2025.

JJ McCarthy could not be in better hands; the Vikings have a massively improved offensive line, three incredibly talented receivers, and the 2024 NFL Coach of the Year. Under Kevin O’Connell’s tenure in Minnesota, the Vikings' offense has ranked top-5 in red zone pass rate every year. O’connell’s high-powered offenses are a best ball gold mine, ranking 1st in completions and touchdowns on throws 20+ yards downfield in 2023-2024. Play callers from the McShanahan coaching tree have produced an abundance of QB success stories lately.

I can understand trepidation when targeting Addison in redraft leagues, but his volatility is of no concern when it comes to best ball, and the weekly upside he offers is unmatched by any other player near his 6th-round ADP.

Quentin Johnston

Underdog ADP: 143.5 (RB62)

Now, I love a good Quentin Johnston meme as much as the next guy, but at some point, we have to stop ignoring the late-round upside he’s offering. With Chargers WRs “dropping” like flies ^[3], Johnston remains in a good position to remain the WR2, and he costs next to nothing with his 13th-round ADP.

Despite his 7 drops in 2024, Johnston remained a valuable best-ball asset. He recorded 3 performances of 18.0+ UD-points (13th-most) and 1 performance of 24.0+ UD-points (12th-most). Those 3 spike week performances and his 147.2 Total UD-points, would rank higher than that of receivers like Khalil Shakir, Cooper Kupp, and Deebo Samuel (all going significantly ahead of him in best ball drafts).

Johnston could see 100+ targets in this high-powered offense that is so desperate for a reliable outside deep-threat. Rookie second-round WR Tre Harris is currently going three rounds ahead of Johnston, but I am not convinced he warrants this premium cost {FOOTNOTE}. The Chargers ran play action at the 2nd-highest rate in the league last season (34.6% of drop backs), where Johnston was a far superior fantasy contributor. Johnston’s metrics on plays featuring play actions vs ones that don’t - 1.81 YPRR to 0.77 YPRR, 0.23 TPRR to 0.13 TPRR, and 0.41 FP/RR to 0.17 FP/RR.

Under the leadership of Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman, Herbert recorded the highest deep pass attempt rate of his career (12.9%) in 2024. On throws 15+ yards downfield, Herbert’s 122.7 passer rating ranked 4th-best, and his 62.7% catchable throw rate ranked 11th-best. Johnston has been able to establish a solid connection with Herbert; his 114.7 passer rating when targeted ranked 16th-best, and his 8 TDs were the 12th most among WRs in 2024.

Roman vocalized that Johnston was playing a lot of “catch up” last season, but he’s been trending in the right direction so far this offseason. There are very few players at his ADP with the level of spike week upside that Johnston has, and if he can overcome his drop issues, he should be a fantastic late-round value pick.