It’s become commonplace in DFS now and it’s a term that’s frequently thrown around. “Stack” or “Stacking” is heavily referenced whenever you hear “experts” talking about winning in DFS. Let me make one thing clear. First of all, I’m no expert and second of all stacking isn’t the only way to win. Stacking is a very boom or bust proposition more often than not but it isn’t the end all be all. There needs to be a purpose when stacking. We’re not just going into contests and blindly stacking teams for unrealistic, farfetched potential correlation plays, they have to make sense.
This is my breakdown as part of a regular series of articles I’ll produce every week of the NFL season and it will break down what stacks I’m looking to build around in GPP contests for that particular week. Some weeks I’ll dive into four or five stacks but others there could only be two or three I have my eye on. Remember, there’s no sense in stacking just because you heard it repeated 87 times on the radio.
Stacks That I Have My Eye On
Below I’ll break down the particular stacks I’m interested and delve into it based on matchup, ability, predicted game script, and collective salary while picking an opposing player or two to run that stack back with if appropriate.*Note: All pricing is DraftKings focused
Dallas Cowboys (vs. Atlanta Falcons)
QB Dak Prescott, RB Ezekiel Elliott, WR Amari Cooper
With the Cowboys having the highest team total of the week and Prescott, Elliott, Cooper, and others being reasonably priced, expect them to be very trendy across lineups in Week 10. It goes without saying that Dallas was embarrassed at home last week when they were bull-rushed by a Denver Broncos team that everyone had written off. Fast forward a week and we get the Cowboys fast-paced offense hosting one of the worst defenses in the NFL. The pace of play that Dallas has been playing at makes the run-pass balance they’ve deployed less worrisome as they average right around 70 plays run per game.
Outside of last week which was a strange game, Elliott has handed at least 20 touches in five straight. Zeke was banged up and missed small chunks of last week’s game limiting him to 13 touches. On top of running the ball he’s been heavily involved in the passing game seeing 21 targets over the last four weeks. Cooper continues to be priced way to low, this week at $6,200 and it wouldn’t shock me if he’s the highest owned receiver on the slate. While the season has been inconsistent for Cooper the matchup in front of him is just too good to expect anything but a big game from him.
Run it back: RB Cordarelle Patterson
The “do-it-all” playmaker for the Falcons continues to be Patterson running the ball and in the receiving game. It’s optimal to consider Patterson as the run-back here simply because he’s game script independent. with five or more targets in seven straight games while handling nine or more carries in each of his last three.
Los Angeles Chargers
QB Justin Herbert, RB Austin Ekeler, WR Keenan Allen
While I see multiple ways to attack a potentially high-scoring game like this one, starting with Herbert at quarterback seems to make the most sense to me, despite Kirk Cousins of Minnesota ($6,100) coming in as a tremendous value. Herbert ($7,300) has 35 or more attempts in every game this season and has hit the 40-pass plateau on three occasions.
Ekeler is game script independent being that he’s heavily involved in the receiving game while handling 17 and 11 carries over the last two games. Keenan Allen has double-digit targets in his last two games and draws a stellar matchup against a terrible Minnesota secondary. Allen is always looked at in the red zone with two targets there in each of the Chargers’ last two games and has 14 such targets on the season.
Run it back: WR Adam Thielen
Despite being somewhat touchdown dependant to this point, Thielen is seeing over a 23 percent target share on the season. Over his last three games, he’s seen seven, nine, and 13 targets with seven total red-zone targets over his last three. By rostering Thielen over Justin Jefferson ($7,700) you get a $1,000 discount for similar production in this matchup in my eyes.
Also consider:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
QB Tom Brady, WR Chris Godwin, WR Mike Evans
Buffalo Bills
QB Josh Allen, WR Stefon Diggs, TE Dawson Knox
Good Luck!!
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With the Cowboys having the highest team total of the week and Prescott, Elliott, Cooper, and others being reasonably priced, expect them to be very trendy across lineups in Week 10. It goes without saying that Dallas was embarrassed at home last week when they were bull-rushed by a Denver Broncos team that everyone had written off. Fast forward a week and we get the Cowboys fast-paced offense hosting one of the worst defenses in the NFL. The pace of play that Dallas has been playing at makes the run-pass balance they’ve deployed less worrisome as they average right around 70 plays run per game.
Outside of last week which was a strange game, Elliott has handed at least 20 touches in five straight. Zeke was banged up and missed small chunks of last week’s game limiting him to 13 touches. On top of running the ball he’s been heavily involved in the passing game seeing 21 targets over the last four weeks. Cooper continues to be priced way to low, this week at $6,200 and it wouldn’t shock me if he’s the highest owned receiver on the slate. While the season has been inconsistent for Cooper the matchup in front of him is just too good to expect anything but a big game from him.
Run it back: RB Cordarelle Patterson
The “do-it-all” playmaker for the Falcons continues to be Patterson running the ball and in the receiving game. It’s optimal to consider Patterson as the run-back here simply because he’s game script independent. with five or more targets in seven straight games while handling nine or more carries in each of his last three.