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 continues to be scoreless this season as he has battled injuries along the way but still can't find a way to get into the endzone. Lockett has 23 catches for 325 yards on 43 targets this season and has handled 14 kickoffs for 348 yards and a long of 43-yards and 22 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. The Panthers are the 12th worst team against opposing wide receivers this year as they have given up 14 catches, 1182 yards and 1.1 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 has been up and down throughout the year and even though they lost last week against the Buccaneers they still only gave up 14 total points and had a safety, interception and fumble recovery. The difference this week for the defense could be the fact that they are playing at home and will have the crowd giving them an extra boost.
Secondary Option: WR Tyreek Hill + Kansas City Chiefs 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
David Johnson suffered a dislocated finger in Week 12 but all signs are pointing to him being fine for this weeks game against Washington. Johnson continues to be a beast on the ground and through the air this year as he has been 2016's fantasy MVP and is showing no signs of slowing down. The Cardinals passing offense has been a struggle this year with Carson Palmer so when they need to move the chains it is either Palmer playing check down to Johnson or Johnson getting it done on the ground. He has 13 touchdowns in 11 games played so far and has 5 total touchdowns over the last 3 weeks. The numbers are out of the this world so far with 921 rushing yard, 10 rushing touchdowns, 55 receptions for 613 receiving yards and 3 touchdown catches. He has a home matchup this week that has a very high Vegas total at 49.0 points as the Cardinals are predicted to score 25 points on the day. Washington's run defense is the 7th worst to running backs this season giving up 100 yards and 1.2 touchdowns on the ground and 4 catches for 30 yards receiving through the air. The only thing not lining up in Johnson's favor this week is his projected ownership level which should be off the charts for both GPP and Cash games this week. To help lower his ownership, pairing him with the Cardinals kicker Chandler Catanzaro makes some sense as he should have plenty of chances to put points on the board in this back and forth projected game. Catanzaro struggled early on this season missing some key field goals but the past 3 weeks he has been a perfect 6 for 6 in his field goal opportunities. Catanzaro will be very low owned as he is priced up for the kicker position at $4,800 on FanDuel.
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 Tyrod Taylor + RB LeSean McCoy, Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills continue to fight for their lives each and every week as they are sitting at 6-5 on the season and get a tough road matchup against the Raiders this week. Vegas has the Raiders as a -3.0 point favorite with a 48.0 point over/under, so we should see a back and forth battle between these two teams. Going with a stack of Tyrod Taylor and LeSean McCoy gives you all the talent on the Bills and likely gives you an 90%+ shot at cashing in on any of the Bills touchdowns on the day. Taylor has been an under the radar type of QB all season long and has 6 games out of 13 where he has scored at least two touchdowns. The drawback to Taylor is that he doesn't have the weapons to throw to but he is getting Sammy Watkins back who could increase Taylor's work down the field. Taylor also is one of the lone dual threat QB's left in the league as he has 439 rushing yards and 5 rushing touchdown on the year. The Raiders have given up the 6th most points to opposing quarterbacks this season allowing 283 passing yards, and 1.8 touchdown passes. The Raiders have been winning this season but it has been in large part to their offensive play and out scoring their opponents as not only do they struggle to stop the pass they are also the 8th worst ranked team against opposing running backs. This is where pairing up Tyrod Taylor with LeSean McCoy makes a lot of sense. The Raiders average 105 rushing yards 0.8 rushing touchdowns and 3 catches for 35 yards and 0.3 touchdowns. McCoy has been great this season and in 10 games played he has 819 rushing yards, 9 rushing touchdowns and also contributes in the passing game as he has collected 29 catches for 175 yards and another touchdown.
Secondary Option: QB Colin Kaepernick + RB Carlos Hyde, San Francisco 49ers
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 Golden Tate, Detroit Lions + WR Michael Thomas, New Orleans Saints
Since Week 6, Golden Tate has turned his season around with an average of 9 targets, 6.6 receptions, 80.5 yards and 0.3 touchdowns a game. Matthew Stafford is now looking in his direction on a regular basis and in a game that has all the makings of a high scoring affair he makes for a great play. Vegas has this game at 53.0 over/under with the Saints as 6.0 point favorites. On the other side of this game you have Drew Brees playing at home where he always finds a way to put up a lot of points and has plenty of 300+ passing yards and 3+ touchdown performances and gets a very good matchup against the Lions this week. Brees favorite target of late has been rookie Michael Thomas as the two have connected for 65/789/7 stat line on 84 targets this year. Thomas had 2 multi touchdown performances over the past 4 weeks and he should continue to see a high volume of looks this week against the Lions middle of the road secondary. Stacking both Tate and Thomas will allow you to pay up at either quarterback or running back this week as both are priced fair acrossed the industry.
Secondary Option: WR Odell Beckham Jr New York Giants + WR Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers
If you have any additional questions or comments please feel free to hit my up on Twitter @JamesBrimacombe
