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 Tyler Lockett (PR/KR/WR) + Seattle Seahawks Defense
Tyler Lockett has to find the endzone this year on offense or on special teams and if that streak is to be broken a nice road matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is probably the place you would want to start. Lockett has 23 catches for 325 yards on 37 targets this season and has handled 13 kickoffs for 333 yards and a long of 43-yards and 21 punt returns for 208 yards and a long of 62-yards. Lockett was hyped up at the beginning of the year to have a breakout type of year on offense but he has clearly not been 100% healthy from the get go and has been rumored to be in his best shape of the season as of now. The Seahawks passing game is definitely a crowded one with many targets all around for Russell Wilson to distribute the ball. If there is ever a week for Lockett to bust a long touchdown on offense or in the return game it would have to be this week against Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers are the fourth worst team against opposing wide receivers this year as they have given up 12 catches, 168 yards and 1.4 touchdowns on average. Pairing Lockett up with the Seahawks defense makes a lot of sense as it gives you exposure to a possible double dip in touchdown opportunity if Lockett can return a kick for a touchdown. The Seahawks defense themselves are starting to heat up and are averaging 3 sacks a game as well as an interception a game. Over the past four games the Seahawks defense has 11 sacks, 4 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries and a touchdown.
Secondary Option: WR Ted Ginn Jr + Carolina Panthers 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 Jay Ajayi + K Andrew Franks, Miami Dolphins
It is all lining up perfectly for the Miami Dolphins and their running game this week at home against the San Francisco 49ers. Since Week 6, Jay Ajayi has been on a hot streak and in those five games he has averaged 24.2 total touches and 137 rushing yards, and scored a total of 4 touchdowns. The 49ers are dead last in the league at defending opposing running backs and have given up 29.1 fantasy points on average a week. Opposing running backs have rushed 30 times for 159 yards and 1.3 touchdowns along with 4 receptions for 36 yards and 0.3 touchdowns through the air. Projecting Ajayi to go over 100 yards and a touchdowns almost seems automatic if he continues to see 24+ touches as he has the past five weeks. Ajayi will be a popular option this week because of the production and matchup alone so pairing him with the Dolphins kicker, Andrew Franks might make some sense as not many will be targeting the Dolphins kicker. The Dolphins are a -7.5 Vegas home favorite and are projected to have one of the higher team totals on the week. Franks hasn't been the greatest kicker so far this year with only 3 multi field goal games on the year and he is 12-for-15 on field goals on the season and a perfect 24 for 24 on extra points. Franks is only $4,600 on FanDuel and makes for a perfect pivot at the position in a game that could be a lot of running for Ajayi which could lead to plenty of FG opportunities for Franks and the Dolphins.
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 Cam Newton + RB Jonathan Stewart, Carolina Panthers
Cam Newton was far and above his competition last year when it came to fantasy production but hasn't had the same flare this season. Although he is having a good season it is not a great one as the Panthers have been struggling to win games and opposing teams have been taking shots at Newton more often than not this year. Newton only has four games so far this season where he has scored multiple touchdowns but this week the Panthers and Raiders have the second highest Vegas over/under total of 49.0 points in a game that should have plenty of touchdowns. If that is the case the offense for the Panthers will revolve around both Cam Newton and Jonathan Stewart and they make for a contrarian QB/RB combo to roster and a duo that will likely be very low owned and give you an edge in your GPP games. Newton has 2,186 passing yards and 11 passing touchdowns to go along with 268 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdowns. The Raiders are the 10th worst team for fantasy purposes against quarterbacks giving up 287 passing yards and 1.8 passing touchdowns. The Raiders rushing defense is ranked 11th worst giving up 105 rushing yards and 0.7 touchdowns on average a game. What you are hoping for with the Newton and Stewart combo is plenty of goal line opportunities for the Panthers and if they have 3 or 4 of those chances in the game that you are going to get a combined 3 or 4 touchdowns from your QB/RB stack. Stewart hasn't looked great so far this season but did have two games this year where he had multi touchdown performances against the Saints in Week 6 and the Cardinals in Week 8 and is coming off a touchdown game against the Saints last week.
Secondary Option: QB Marcus Mariota + RB DeMarco Murray, Tennessee Titans
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 Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals + WR Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons
The Cardinals and Falcons game has the highest Vegas over/under on the week at 50.5 points and has two of the top target receivers in the league matching up against each other. Larry Fitzgerald continues to roll in the receptions year after year and this year he has 106 targets his way for 74/750/5 stat line and has 50 targets alone over his past 4 games. The Falcons passing defense is the 7th worst against wide receivers giving up 15 catches for 172 yards and 1.4 touchdowns a week to the position. On the other side of this game you have Julio Jones who has 97 targets on the year for a 61/1105/5 stat line. Both Fitzgerald and Jones have the same amount of touchdowns and Fitzgerald has more catches but Jones makes the most of his catches and has the ability to break tackles and catch a long touchdown at any moment in the game. You are looking for a back and forth type of game here with the passing offenses competing against each other and Fitzgerald and Jones catching 8-10 passes each.
Secondary Option: WR Amari Cooper, Oakland Raiders + WR Kelvin Benjamin, Carolina Panthers
If you have any additional questions or comments please feel free to hit my up on Twitter @JamesBrimacombe