When you are thinking of stacking players in DFS you automatically think of going with a quarterback and a wide receiver and most times there are also plenty of other DFS players that are thinking the exact same way as you when stacking them together. Now with so much information available weekly you are having to find new ways to differentiate yourself from the masses in GPP tournaments. One way to differentiate your team in GPP's is to look for "The Other Stack", which is one that is uncommon and one that will be very low owned if played together but one that also will offer upside to score some big points if it hits.
STACKING WR OR RB (KR/PR) WITH TEAM DEFENSE
One way to get off the common QB/WR stacks is to look for offensive players that have a big role in the offense but also return punts and/or kickoffs and hope to hit a home run by stacking that player with his teams Team Defense. If that player breaks a touchdown on a return you would essentially double dip and get the 6 fantasy points for that individual player as well as the 6 points for the Team Defense.
1) WR Jamison Crowder (PR/WR) + Washington Defense
Jamison Crowder is quickly becoming Kirk Cousins favorite target as he is coming off a 13 target for 9/107/1 Week 8 performance and is showing that he can make the big play if given the chance. This week is a tough matchup against the Vikings secondary but the targets have been there for Crowder as he continues to see an increased role in the Washington offense. His offensive snap count is up over the past three games and in that span he has been given 26 targets for 19/267/2 line. On top of all the offensive production, Crowder also sees plenty of opportunities in the punt return game as he has 12 returns for 230 yards and a long of 85-yards that went for a touchdown so far this year. If you are looking to double dip in an offensive player and a team defense you have to like pairing Crowder up with the Washington defense against the Vikings this week. Over the past 4 weeks, Washington's defense has been much improved as they 14 sacks, an interception, 2 fumble recoveries and a touchdown in that span. You can get both Crowder and Washington defense for reasonable prices throughout the DFS industry and they will be very low owned and if they hit could be a huge reason why your GPP climbs to the top of the leaderboard.
Secondary Option: RB Darren Sproles + Philadelphia Eagles Defense
STACKING RUNNING BACK WITH KICKER
When thinking of a stack in DFS the last one that comes to mind is stacking anyone with a kicker. We typically don't care about kickers in fantasy as we often look for the kicker with the high over/under, best matchup, kicking at home, kicking indoors, accuracy, long field goals, etc. This is where you can gain an edge/advantage in big field GPP's as you can look to pair a strong running back play with a low owned kicker to help differentiate your team and help reduce the ownership percentage of a chalky running back play on the week.
2) RB David Johnson + K Chandler Catanzaro, Arizona Cardinals
San Francisco 49ers run defense is flat out the worst in the league and it is not even close. The 49ers give up 29.9 FanDuel points a week to opposing running backs which is 3.9 points more than the second worst run defense in the New Orleans Saints. We are now in Week 10 so you have to believe these trends are real and with that kind of failure against the run you almost have to lock in David Johnson with confidence and move on to the rest of your roster build. Johnson can do it all on the ground or through the air as he has 705 rushing yards, 8 rushing touchdowns, 35 receptions and 407 receiving yards through 8 games. The 49ers run defense is giving up 173 rushing yards and 1.5 touchdowns per game so if Johnson doesn't put up 100+ yards and a pair of touchdowns this week you would have to be shocked. With the best running back this year also getting the best matchup of the week you have to know that he is going to be the highest owned player regardless of his high salary and fading him just does not make much sense in cash games. Back in Week 5 against the 49ers on the road, Johnson carried the ball 27 times for 157 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 3 catches for 28 more yards. To help drive down the ownership on Johnson you might consider pairing him with his kicker, Chandler Catanzaro at minimum price $4,500. Catanzaro has had a rough season to date only making 8 out of 11 field goals and 19 of 20 extra points but this matchup is too good to pass up and if the Cardinals get up big in the second half it will be Catanzaro having plenty of FG opportunities and picking up 10 points from your kicker is what you are looking for here. In Week 5 against the 49ers, Catanzaro made his only FG attempt and all four of his extra points.
Secondary Option: RB Melvin Gordon + K Josh Lambo, San Diego Chargers
STACKING QUARTERBACK WITH RUNNING BACK
Looking back on 2015 we saw a lot of the big scores in GPP's consist of unlikely combos at the QB/RB positions. A Ben Roethlisberger stack with his starting running back in DeAngelo Williams or Le'veon Bell seemed to be a negative correlation on paper but it actually turned out to be one that was a huge advantage for the DFS players that weren't afraid to zig zag off your typical QB/WR stack. Another great example of this type of combo from last season was with the Kansas City Chiefs and QB Alex Smith with RB Jamaal Charles. If you can find the right QB or RB that is popular on the week and pair him with his teams QB or RB you are going to have an against the grain stack regardless if one of the two players are highly owned.
3) QB Dak Prescott + RB Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys
The highest total on the board this week is the Dallas Cowboys against the Pittsburgh Steelers as Vegas has the over/under set at 50.0 points. This looks likely to be the game you want to target both sides of the ball as it could turn out to be a back and forth battle. Dak Prescott has 6 straight multi touchdown games and his last three games he has 3 touchdowns in each of them. The Cowboys are rolling right now and Prescott's confidence only continues to grow each and every week. Prescott has 12 passing touchdowns on the season and 4 rushing touchdowns which almost makes him a lighter version of Cam Newton at the goal line. Pairing Prescott up with his teammate Ezekiel Elliott makes a lot of sense as you know you will be getting all the teams touchdowns through one or the other players. Elliott is having a fine rookie season as he has ran for 891 yards and 7 touchdowns and has 16 catches for 155 yards. Elliott has multi touchdown games in 2 of the last 4 games and if you combine both his and Prescott's touchdowns in those two games it was 9 touchdowns between the duo. A lot of people will be looking to roster these two players individually or pairing Prescott up with Dez Bryant or Jason Witten and maybe fading Elliott to roster David Johnson and Melvin Gordon. Going Prescott and Elliott together is a great play in both cash games and GPP as the combined ownership on the two will be decreased but the volume of work both will get behind that dominant offensive line will give both players plenty of scoring opportunities.
Secondary Option: QB Jay Cutler + RB Jordan Howard, Chicago Bears
STACKING OPPOSING TEAM WIDE RECEIVERS
One of the forgotten stacks is pairing wide receivers up from the same game on opposite teams. You want to look for a game with a tight point spread and with a high over/under that has potential to be a shoot out type. Teams that might play in a pass friendly dome or that lack a running game also help in this situation and are a positively-correlated non-QB/WR stack worth considering in GPPs. It also makes sense to stack one of the quarterbacks in this situation and even mix and match with each teams quarterback and a variety of different pass catchers on both teams.
4) WR Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys + WR Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers
After already mentioning the high total in this Cowboys and Steelers game, you have to continue to look at the pass catching options from both teams and there are no two bigger names facing off against each other than Dez Bryant and Antonio Brown this week. Bryant is coming off a 1 catch game against the Browns and really wasn't needed but the game prior against the Eagles he was targeted 14 times with a 4/113/1 stat line and could be in line for another week of high volume targets. On the flip side of this game you can pair up Bryant with Brown and feel pretty good about getting a majority of the passing offenses from both teams. Brown has 86 targets on the season for 55/677/6 line and is pretty much the safest fantasy player you can roster each week. What you are looking for in pairing these two would be 3+ combined touchdowns with one getting a multi touchdown performance and the other one getting at least one.
Secondary Option: WR Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons + WR Jordan Matthews, Philadelphia Eagles
If you have any additional questions or comments please feel free to hit my up on Twitter @JamesBrimacombe