Stacking has become second nature for a large portion of the DFS populous. It’s a very common strategy, especially in GPPs, to throw together a stack or two and hope that the roster correlation that you built into your lineup sets yourself apart from the field. It’s a great way to raise your overall ceiling and gain more exposure to certain players and teams that you are targeting.
Let’s discuss a few stacks that can raise your scoring ceiling and give you a chance to compete for the top-heavy GPPs.
Matt Ryan + Julio Jones + Golden Tate
Road favorites have a more positive correlation than home underdogs, so for our first stack, we are focusing on using Matt Ryan with Julio Jones and the opposing number one wide receiver, Golden Tate. If home underdogs had a more positive correlation then we would roll out Matthew Stafford with Golden Tate and Julio Jones, but the Falcons are 3.0 point favorites.
A majority of NFL quarterbacks have a significant difference in their home and road splits, but Matt Ryan does not. In 2016, Ryan threw 19 touchdowns and just 3 interceptions on the road, while throwing 19 touchdowns and 4 interceptions at home.
His consistency on the road is what makes him an excellent play in cash games every single week. When he is on the road his ownership is normally a bit lower than it should be because of the narrative that road QBs are inherently worse.
While Ryan has only thrown 58 attempts through the first two weeks of the season (22nd most in the NFL), he has 573 passing yards (7th most in the NFL), which shows he has been incredibly efficient while leading this explosive offense up and down the field.
Julio Jones only has 14 targets on the season (20th most in the NFL) but has turned those targets into 9 receptions and 174 receiving yards (4th most in the NFL). He is the same explosive Jones that we all have watched over the past several years, he just hasn’t received that much volume. In Week 3, on the road against a solid team, the Falcons might have to throw a bit more than they have in the previous two weeks.
In Week 3, on the road against a solid team, the Falcons might have to throw a bit more than they have in the previous two weeks. If the Falcons start scoring in bunches, we know the Lions will start airing it out as well.
This is where Golden Tate comes into play, as the chain mover in this offense. His aDOT is 4.3 yards on the season, which is pathetically low. However, Tate has 80 yards after the catch (5th most in the NFL) and 14 total receptions (3rd most in the NFL), so he will get plenty of opportunities to rack up points for your lineup.
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Aaron Rodgers + Davante Adams + A.J. Green
This one will be under-owned in GPPs, I am sure of it. The Bengals offense has looked wretched through the first two weeks, which resulted in the firing of their offensive coordinator. Bill Lazor was promoted to offensive coordinator and will handle play-calling duties for the rest of the season.
He was the OC for the Dolphins for two years while Ryan Tannehill threw for over 4,000 yards passing. Could he light a spark under the Bengals offense? Only time will tell. But while A.J. Green is $1,000-1,500 too cheap on Fanduel, I am willing to take a chance on this scenario.
Green has received 18 targets on the season (8th most in the NFL) and is publicly calling for more passes to come his way. He is still as elite as he’s ever been, as evidenced by his contested catch rate of 71.4% (catching 5 of 7 targets) which ranks him second in the NFL in that category.
If Dalton and the Bengals want to keep pace with the Packers it will be through Dalton’s noodle to Green’s hands. If the Bengals are able to keep the game close then Rodgers will have to keep the pedal on the gas.
In this scenario, we could see him peppering his healthiest wide receiver, Davante Adams, with the football.
In 2016, Adams was targeted in the red zone 23 times and managed to catch 14 of those passes (4th most in the NFL). This lead to the second most total touchdowns in the NFL (12) and a career year for Adams.
In Week 2, with Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson falling apart, Adams finished with 8 receptions for 99 yards and 1 touchdown. He was tackled at the goal line late in the game which would have given him the one more yard he needed to finish with 100 yards and receive the DraftKings bonus, not to mention the extra six points for the touchdown.
If Rodgers is cooking and Adams is getting peppered, Green and the Bengals should be throwing at will to get back into the game. Is it the most likely scenario considering the Packers are 8.00 point favorites at home? No, it’s not. But game theory has its rightful place in large field GPPs and savvy DFS owners will attempt to apply it when others are afraid to.
Derek Carr + Amari Cooper + Jamison Crowder
This stack is dependent on the news for Jordan Reed. If Reed misses practice all week and isn’t able to play on Sunday Night Football, then Jamison Crowder becomes one of my favorite GPP plays of the entire week.
Currently, the Raiders are 3.00 point favorites on the road and have the highest implied team total (29.00 points) on the entire slate. If they smack the Redskins around and force Kirk Cousins to chuck the ball around the yard in catch-up mode, then Crowder, who would fill the role of security blanket and work the middle of the field, would have the opportunity to rack up the receptions.
In 2017, Crowder has run 36 passing routes and was targeted on 12 of them. He has run 61.6% of his routes out of the slot, which is a weakness for the Raiders who have been torched in the middle of the field over the past two seasons.
In 2016, Crowder scored 1.01 fantasy points per target, which if he were able to recapture that rate, he could have a solid double-digit floor on DraftKings if this game goes the way Vegas currently has it projected.
Derek Carr not only has one of the best offensive lines in the league, but he has incredible weapons surrounding him. Jared Cook has been a pleasant addition to the offense, Marshawn Lynch looks like he’s 25 years old, and he has one of the better – if not the best wide receiving duo to throw the football too.
In Week 2, Michael Crabtree scored three touchdowns and looked like was the best wide receiver on the field. In Week 3, Crabtree might garner a little bit more attention and likely won’t have the same success against the Redskins that he did against the New York Jets.
While opposing cornerback, Josh Norman, has primarily lined up on the left side of the field this season, there is speculation that he might be moving around the field this game to target Amari Cooper. Norman wasn’t a shadow coverage corner in 2016 and I doubt he will be one this year either.
Norman wasn’t a shadow coverage corner in 2016 and I doubt he will be one this year either. While the public is all over Crabtree, especially if they’re worried about Cooper, it’s the perfect time to leverage the Crabtree owners by using Cooper in our lineups.
Derek Carr has already thrown 13 red zone attempts (4th most in the NFL) and if Crabtree is given extra attention in the red zone, the advantage could go to Cooper.
Cooper has the size-speed combination to be one of the most dominant wide receivers in the NFL. It looks as if the Raiders are willing to get him there as well. He already has one red zone touchdown this season and has received 30.8% of the Derek Carr’s red zone passes. His 18 targets on the season (8th in the NFL) show that Carr fully trusts him.
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