The concept behind stacking a QB with his WR is simple; both players benefit from each completion, doubling the benefit of that play for your fantasy lineup. As Adam Levitan pointed out, 79 percent of the lineups that won DraftKings’ Fantasy Football Millionaire contests used a QB stack in their lineup. With the significance of stacking in mind, this article aims to highlight the best stacking options for Sunday’s main slate.
4. Patrick Mahomes ($7,500)/Tyreek Hill ($7,600), Chiefs vs. Texans
It doesn’t take more than a single play from this pair to make this pick profitable. Hill only played nine full games this season, yet he still had six catches for more than 40 yards. He’s typically the fastest player on the field, and the Chiefs try to take regular advantage of that. And even when he doesn’t catch a deep pass, he’s still a rock-steady production machine – he scored at least 10 DKFP in every one of the nine games that he played from start to finish. He caught five passes for 55 yards in his worst game of the season. The only reason this stack isn’t listed higher is because Mahomes’ salary is a little more expensive than I was hoping for.
Speaking of Mahomes, he’s still one of the most talented passers in the league, and he’s surrounded by an overwhelming amount of talent at WR and TE. His production has certainly slowed since his midseason injury, but he’s still averaged 21.1 DKFP during that stretch. He threw at least one TD in all but one game this season, and he hasn’t had a multi-interception game since November of 2018.
3. Kirk Cousins ($5,700)/Adam Thielen ($), Vikings at 49ers
The article wouldn’t be providing you any value if it just highlighted the top four QBs. So I have to pick at least one spot to get away from the chalk. The 49ers defense is scary, but there were some cracks in the armor towards the end of the season. They gave up 46 points to the Saints in Week 14 and 31 to the Rams in Week 16. After holding their first seven opponents to 20 points or fewer, they’ve allowed at least 20 to eight of their last nine. Of the nine WRs who scored at least 17 DKFP against them, seven came in the last six games. Stefon Diggs ($5,600) and Thielen are very similar receivers, but Thielen gets the nod here for a few reasons. First, the 49ers seem to be more susceptible to large WRs, and Thielen is bigger than Diggs, albeit not a by a ton. Second, Thielen appears to be Cousins’ preferred target when he’s available. In the seven full games they played together, Thielen saw slightly more targets, though Diggs did have the edge in air yards. Lastly, Thielen has been more consistent. He only played seven full games, but he still got six TDs this season.
Cousins has had a lot of quiet games this season, but he’s an accurate passer who makes very few mistakes. He has a TD in all but two games this year, so he’s got a pretty solid floor, even if his ceiling isn’t as high as many of the other options available.
2. Russell Wilson ($6,600)/Tyler Lockett ($6,600), Seahawks at Packers
I love the DK Metcalf ($6,800) renaissance as much as the next guy, but are we sure he should have a higher salary than Lockett? It was just Week 16 when Metcalf was on the field the entire game and saw just one target (which he failed to catch, I might add). He’s overflowing with upside, and last week’s success will probably increase his roster rate, but this has gone too far. It takes some statistical gymnastics to get to the conclusion that Metcalf is likely to be the better fantasy play (you pretty much have to start your sample at Week 9 and exclude Week 16 entirely), and even then, the two come off as pretty even. Meanwhile, Lockett’s salary hasn’t been this low since Week 6, yet he’s averaging 7.4 targets over his last five games, which is more than he averaged over the previous 12 weeks. As with the other QBs above, Wilson doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. He has not thrown multiple interceptions in a game this year, and has at least one TD in all but one game. He’s got one of the better matchups on the slate.
1. Lamar Jackson ($8,400)/Mark Andrews ($5,600), Ravens vs. Titans
I’m cheating a little, as Andrews is a TE not a WR, but Andrew dominates the team in targets, receptions, yards, air yards and receiving yards. He’s been solid all season, but he really picked it up in the second half. Over the last seven weeks, he averaged 3.7 catches on 5.7 targets for 54.6 yards and 1.0 TDs. During that stretch, he averaged 15.2 DKFP, and topped 23 DKFP twice. Marquise Brown ($4,400) was the only Raven to see more than half as many targets as Andrew in that span. Speaking of Brown, if you want to stack Jackson with an actual WR, he’s the clear pick. Brown is an easy second to Andrews in the passing game, and his crisp routes and downfield speed give him massive big-play upside. Brown is a riskier pick, but he has a lot of upside.
As for Jackson and the Ravens in general, let’s start with the obvious: Jackson is amazing, and the Titans are arguably the worst defense still in the playoffs (according to DVOA, they are narrowly ahead of the Seahawks and a bit better than the Texans, though the Texans were without their best player for more than half the season). Jackson got more fantasy points from rushing the ball than all but seven running backs this season. He’s scored at least 20 DKFP in every game since Week 6, and he topped 30 DKFP in six of those. He’s got one of the best matchups on the slate, and he’s been absolutely dominant this season. We don’t have to overthink this.
I am an avid fan and user (my username is arikleen) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.