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 Darren Sproles (PR/KR/RB) + Philadelphia Eagles Defense
Darren Sproles saw an increase in his snaps and touches in Week 8 against the Cowboys as he was the Eagles primary RB throughout the game. Head coach Doug Pederson said on Monday, October 31, that he is considering replacing Ryan Mathews with Darren Sproles as the teams starting RB. "I can't say that 100 percent," Pederson said. "It's something we'll evaluate in these next couple of days and make that determination." Sproles saw 63 snaps on offense last week which more than doubled his previous 6 game average of 31 snaps per game. He also touched the ball 20 times on offense with 15 carries for 86 yards and 5 catches for 17 yards and was counted on to make plays at key times in the Eagles drives down the field. This week it is another must win type of divisional game against the Giants where Sproles will once again be needed more than usual down the stretch of the game. Sproles also sees time in the return game as he has 12 punt returns and one kickoff return on the season and is always a threat to score a long touchdown return every time he gets the ball in his hands. Fellow teammate Josh Huff usually returns the kickoffs but had some bad news this week as he was arrested Tuesday morning after police reportedly found marijuana and a gun in his vehicle following a traffic stop so his status is up in the air for Sunday's game which could lead to Sproles handling kickoff duties as well as punt duties. Taking a shot with Sproles paired up with the Eagles defense makes a lot of sense this week against the Giants as the Eagles always seem to create turnovers against Eli Manning and the defense has been outstanding so far in 2016. The team is averaging over 3 sacks a game, an interception and fumble recovery a game and has 3 touchdowns on the season. Getting a double dip touchdown out of Sproles and the Eagles defense/special teams looks like a real possibility this weekend.
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 Melvin Gordon + K Josh Lambo, San Diego Chargers
Melvin Gordon has 10 touchdowns on the season and the only two games that he didn't find the endzone were Weeks 6 and 8 against the Denver Broncos where he still rushed for a combined 205 yards and had 9 targets for 4 catches and 44 receiving yards. Gordon has been a fantasy football star this season with his ability to find the endzone and has one of the nicer RB matchups on the week against the Tennessee Titans at home. Gordon is seeing a high volume of touches on the season averaging over 23 a game and in the last three games alone has saw 27, 28, and 27 touches total. Look for another performance where the Chargers get the ball into Gordon's hands for a 25-30 touch performance and a hand full of goal line looks where Gordon will look to improve on his 10 touchdown season. The Chargers have shown all season that they can move the ball up and down the field and create scoring chances in touchdowns and field goals so pairing Gordon up with the Chargers kicker, Josh Lambo makes a lot of sense this week. Lambo is 17-for-19 on field goals this season and 22-of-24 on extra points on the season. he has 5 multi field goal games on the season and two of those games he kicked 4 field goals and made them all. Playing at home gives a little extra edge to both the running and kicking game and for that reason I like the game script for both Melvin Gordon and Josh Lambo this week to put up some fantasy points and to be an off the wall DFS stack in GPP lineups.
Secondary Option: RB Ezekiel Elliott + K Dan Bailey, Dallas Cowboys
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 Trevor Siemian + RB Devontae Booker, Denver Broncos
Oakland is a middle of the road defense against both the pass and the run as they rely on their offense to put up a lot of points each week to outscore their opponents and get the win. The passing defense is 8th worst fantasy wise this season as they have allowed opposing quarterbacks pass for 293 yards and 1.9 touchdowns and the running defense is sitting at 10th worst as they have giving up 114 yards on the ground and 0.8 touchdowns with 4 catches and 36 yards and 0.3 touchdowns to the RB position through the air. The combo of Trevor Siemian and Devontae Booker almost gives you the entire Broncos offense in two players and you get them in a plus matchup. Siemian is not going to light the world on fire as he has only had one multi touchdown game on the season which came in Week 3 against the Bengals where he threw for 312 yards and 4 touchdowns. Siemian will be looking to spread the ball around on Sunday to his big two WRs in Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders and if they are not open he will be checking down to Booker out of the backfield. Siemian is coming off a game where he just targeted Thomas and Sanders 10 times each so they should remain heavily involved and if they can make some plays Siemian's number will surely reflect that. Pairing Devontae Booker with Siemian makes a lot of sense as Booker will see almost all of the carries and looks at running back this week. Booker got his first start of the season last week and rushed 19 times for 54 yards and a touchdown while catching 5 of his 6 targets for 30 yards. Booker should see 20-25 touches again this week and if Siemian looks his way 6 more times there is a good chance the two could connect for a touchdown pass and your sneaky QB/RB stack can boost you up the leaderboard in GPPs.
Secondary Option: QB Cam Newton + Jonathan Stewart, Carolina Panthers
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 Donte Moncrief, Indianapolis Colts + WR Jordy Nelson, Green Bay Packers
The status for Colts WR T.Y. Hilton is up in the air this week so that is going to put a lot of people on the Donte Moncrief bandwagon and rightfully so as he is under priced throughout the DFS industry and comes at a very affordable price everywhere. The Colts and Packers have the highest Vegas over/under on the week at 54.0 total points with the Packers being a -7.0 point home favorite. There are going to be a lot of points in this game and those points are most likely going to come in the passing game by both teams as each teams running game has been very inconsistent all season long. Moncrief is just coming back from injury and in his first game back he posted a 4/41/1 statline on 9 targets from Andrew Luck. Green Bay is in the bottom half of the NFL at allowing points to the wide receiver position as they have given up on average 12 receptions, 174 yards and 1.4 touchdowns. Moncrief was a breakout candidate heading into the season but an early season injury in Week 2 put that on hold but now is the time for him to make up for it and in a game that looks to be a back and forth offensive battle you have to think that 10+ targets are headed his way this week. The Packers on the other side of this game can also put up points in bunches and showed that last week as QB Aaron Rodgers passed for four touchdowns against the Falcons in a losing effort. Rodgers favorite target in years past has been Jordy Nelson and the two have had some what of an up and down type of season connecting this year but when they do the numbers look fantastic. Nelson and Rodgers have connected for 31 passes, 415 receiving yards and the most important of all 6 touchdowns on the season. With the Packers offense a little banged up it will be Jordy Nelson getting extra looks from Rodgers and a potential shoot out with the Colts makes this look like a spot where we could see touchdowns from both Donte Moncrief and Jordy Nelson and possible more.
Secondary Option: WR Allen Robinson, Jacksonville Jaguars + WR Jeremy Maclin, Kansas City Cheifs
If you have any additional questions or comments please feel free to hit my up on Twitter @JamesBrimacombe