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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 Tyreek Hill (PR/KR/WR) + Kansas City Chiefs Defense
The Kansas City Chiefs have a nice matchup against the Tennessee Titans this weekend as the Titans have given up the most FanDuel points to opposing wide receivers over the first 14 weeks of the season. The Titans are averaging 15 receptions, 192 yards and 1.2 touchdowns to the WR position and right now there isn't a hotter WR on the planet than Tyreek Hill. The Chiefs will have a healthy Jeremy Maclin in the lineup so he could take a couple of Hill's targets away but for the most part that shouldn't be a major concern as Hill is averaging over 7 targets a game over the past 7 games. On the season Hill has 68 targets for a 56/547/6 stat line and has three more touchdowns via a punt return, a kickoff return and a rushing touchdown. That is nine total touchdowns on the season while only playing on average 25 offensive snaps a game. He is their new found weapon and the Chiefs are going to find ways to get the ball into his hands weather it is on offense or in the return game. Hill has 13 punt returns for 367 yards with his longest going for an 86-yard score and 31 kickoff returns for 473 yards and his longest being a 78-yard touchdown. The Chiefs defense continues its strong play and having the double dip opportunity with Hill's returns makes for the pairing to be a great stack in GPP contest. The Chiefs defense has 27 sacks, 14 interceptions, 11 fumble recoveries, a safety and 7 return touchdowns on the season. The defense/special teams 7 touchdowns is the number that should grab your attention as that is the number that will give your GPP teams a huge push up the leaderboards.
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 David Johnson + K Chandler Catanzaro, Arizona Cardinals
The Saints own the 5th worst defense against the running back position as far as fantasy points go. They have given up on average 84 rushing yards a touchdown, and 5 receptions for 51 receiving yards and another 0.3 chance for a receiving touchdown. To make things worse this week they play the top running back in the league in David Johnson who can beat you on the ground or through the air. I like Johnson to be the focal point of the Cardinals offense this week and I wouldn't expect anything less than 25+ touches for Johnson in this matchup. Through 13 games, Johnson has totalled 1,085 rushing yards, 69 receptions, 745 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns. We all know that touchdowns are king when it comes to fantasy points but all those other categories are still very important and Johnson produces in all of them. 150 total yards, 5 receptions and a touchdown feels like Johnson's floor in this game and although he is the most expensive back as far as DFS purposes go this week it might just be best to pay up for him as the Cardinals are desperate to make any sort of playoff push. To help reduce some of Johnson's ownership percentage you can go the route of stacking him with the Cardinals kicker in Chandler Catanzaro. Catanzaro has had an up and down type of season and is actually coming off one of his worst performances on the year as he was 1-for-2 on field goals and 0-for-2 on extra points last week and the general public should be off him for the most part this week but he could very easily turn things around with a multi field goal game against the Saints on his home field this weekend. There is going to be a lot of points in this game and stacking both Johnson and Catanzaro should account for a good portion on those points.
Secondary Option: RB Devonta Freeman + K Matt Bryant, Atlanta Falcons
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 Matt Ryan + RB Devonta Freeman, Atlanta Falcons
If there ever was a matchup that you wanted to stack both the QB and the RB from the same team it would have to be this week as the Falcons have a home matchup against the lowly San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers are the third worst team against opposing teams quarterbacks giving up 255 passing yards and 2 touchdowns on average. Against oppposing running backs it is even better as they are dead last in that category, giving up 149 rushing yards, 1.5 touchdowns on the ground and 4 receptions for 32 yards and 0.2 touchdowns through the air. Pairing Matt Ryan and Devonta Freeman makes a lot of sense this week as the Falcons are projected to be the highest scoring team on the week and that is even without Julio Jones who will probably be sitting out one more week. Matt Ryan has been a top quarterback this season as he has passed for 4,050 yards and has 30 touchdowns compared to 7 interceptions. 9 out of his 13 games have been for multi touchdown performances with 6 of those for 3+ touchdown games. Now onto Devonta Freeman, sure he has Tevin Coleman beside him and he to could steal some touches but Freeman has been the top running back in Atlanta for most of the season and he makes an excellent pairing with Matt Ryan. Freeman has 791 rushing yards with 7 touchdowns on the ground and 39 receptions for 330 yards and 2 more touchdowns through the air. It wouldn't be shocking if we see a Ryan to Freeman touchdown in this game but even if we don't both players are more than likely set to put up some big numbers through the air and on the ground.
Secondary Option: QB Tyrod Taylor + RB LeSean McCoy, Buffalo Bills
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 T.Y. Hilton, Indianapolis Colts + WR Stefon Diggs, Minnesota Vikings
The Colts and Vikings are one of the higher Vegas totals on the week as the Vikings sit as a 4.0 point favorite in a 45.5 total over/under game. The matchup is a tough one for Hilton as the Vikings have one of the better passing defenses but Hilton has stepped up his game of late with 18 catches for 261 receiving yards and a touchdown over the last two weeks. On the season Hilton has been targeted 127 times for 78/1203/6 statline and has easily been Andrew Luck's go to target in the passing game. On the flip side of this game you have Stefon Diggs who also yeilds a lot of work his way. Diggs has 101 targets on the year for a 78/861/2 statline and looks to be a heavy target of Sam Bradford this weekend. Pairing both Hilton and Diggs together makes some sense in GPP's as they will be two players that will already have a lower ownership but together they will be very low owned and if the game ends up being a back and forth type of game it will likely be because of these two players.
Secondary Option: WR Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys + WR Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
If you have any additional questions or comments please feel free to hit my up on Twitter @JamesBrimacombe