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
All the way back in Week 1 against the San Diego Chargers, Tyreek only saw the field for 10 snaps on offense and caught his only target for a 9-yard touchdown. Fast forward to the end of the season and now Hill is seeing 3 times that amount of offensive snaps and is a weapon in the running, passing and special teams game. He has 11 total touchdowns on the season with 6 receiving, 3 rushing, 1 punt return and 1 kickoff return for a touchdown. He is averaging 6.5 targets over the last 9 games and has had 16 rushing attempts in as many games. Hill did not catch a single pass last week against the Broncos but he did rush 6 times for 95 yards and a touchdown and he continues to show that he can break a long touchdown anytime he gets his hands on the ball. The Chiefs are still playing for the Division title this weekend and Hill will likely be a big contributor against the Chargers. Hill could also see an increase in rushing attempts as well as Spencer Ware is a little bit banged up and Hill is coming off his highest rushing attempts on the season at 6 last week against the Broncos. Playing both Hill and the Chiefs defense together this week makes a lot of sense as you can look for the double dip in points if Hill happens to break off a special teams touchdown. The Chiefs defense have been solid all season long averaging nearly 2 sacks a game and 2 turnovers a game and have a total of 7 defensive touchdowns on the season.
Secondary Option: WR Cordarrelle Patterson + Minnesota Vikings 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 + PK Chandler Catanzaro, Arizona Cardinals
David Johnson continues to be the DFS MVP of the season as he does it all every single week without exception. The numbers he continues to add up are astounding as he has 1233 rushing yards, 16 rushing touchdowns, 77 receptions for 841 yards and 4 more touchdowns. He was suppose to have a tough matchup last week against the Seahawks but still managed to score 3 touchdowns and this week it looks like another tough matchup against the Rams but I think it is safe to say that Johnson is matchup proof. Against the Rams back in Week 4, Johnson rushed 17 times for 83 yards and caught 4 passes for 41 yards and it was a rare game where he didn't end up finding the endzone. The Rams are a middle of the league run defense who have given up on average 91 rushing yards 0.6 touchdowns, and 5 catches for 37 yards and 0.3 touchdowns through the air to the RB position. Johnson is looking at a floor of 120 total yards, 5 catches and a touchdown in this game so paying up for his high price tag on all DFS sites makes a lot of sense in a Week that is full of what ifs at the position. Johnson is going to be a very popular play this week and could possible be the most popular play of the entire player pool so looking for ways to diversify your ownership and roster makes a lot of sense and that is where pairing him with his teammate Chandler Catanzaro comes into play. With Catanzaro you are looking for a double digit fantasy points day which would mean 2 or 3 field goals and a few extra points. If the Cardinals and David Johnson aren't getting into the endzone you are hoping for field goals from Catanzaro and the two together should be a stack that not a lot of people will be on.
Secondary Option: RB Devonta Freeman + PK 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 Drew Brees + RB Mark Ingram, New Orleans Saints
Drew Brees leads the NFL in passing yards through 15 games with 4,858 and has 37 total touchdowns on the season to go with all those yards. Brees has 10 multi touchdown games this season and 4 games in which he has thrown for 4 touchdowns. Back in Week 3 against the Falcons, Brees threw the ball 54 times for 36 completions and 376 yards and 3 touchdowns. This is the game that Vegas has given the highest over/under at 56.5 and everything adds up for Brees to have a big day as the Falcons are the worst team against opposing teams quarterbacks and have given up an average of 22.7 FanDuel points to them all season. The Falcons are also the 11th worst team against opposing running backs and have given up 78 rushing yards, 0.7 rushing touchdowns and 7/55/0.3 through the air to the running back. Adding in Mark Ingram to your Drew Brees stack is one that not a lot of people will go with as those that are looking to play Brees will likely go with Brandin Cooks or Michael Thomas or both as a possible stack. Going with Ingram gets you off the popular stack but also sets you up for success as Ingram has had a fine season with 940 rushing yards and 5 rushing touchdowns but also has connected with Brees for 40 receptions, 290 receiving yards and 4 more touchdowns. Back in Week 3, Ingram ran for 77 yards and had 4 catches for 30 yards and a touchdown reception so not only are you getting the nice floors with Brees in the passing game and Ingram in the running game you also have a good opportunity for the two to connect on a touchdown pass.
Secondary Option: QB Aaron Rodgers + RB Ty Montgomery, Green Bay Packers
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 Jordy Nelson, Green Bay Packers + WR Golden Tate, Detroit Lions
We mentioned earlier that David Johnson will likely be the highest owned player in DFS this week well that is probably true but if anyone was to come close to the high ownership on Johnson it would be Jordy Nelson as he has been on fire with Aaron Rodgers of late and he gets a great matchups against the Lions this week in one of the most meaningful games on the weekend. Vegas has this game set as the second highest total at 49.5 over/under with the Packers as a -3.5 road favorite. Nelson has 91 receptions for 1191 yards and 14 touchdowns so far this year and last time these teams met Nelson put up a 6/101/2 stat line. Going on the other side of this game you are hoping for a back and forth type of game and going with Matthew Stafford's favorite target in Golden Tate makes a lot of sense. Tate has been targeted 125 times this year for 85 receptions, 1000 yards and 3 touchdowns. Tate will also be one of the higher owned wide receivers this week because he is playing in a game that has some meaning and he is priced down on FanDuel. Going with a Jordy Nelson and Golden Tate combo lets you attack this game and if it lives up to the high score that Vegas predicts these two players will likely be key pieces to that total.
Secondary Option: WR Allen Robinson, Jacksonville Jaguars + T.Y. Hilton, Indianapolis Colts
If you have any additional questions or comments please feel free to hit my up on Twitter @JamesBrimacombe