If you're new to daily fantasy, a stack is rostering teammates in the same lineup. Use stacks in tournaments to go all-in on a team's success. This high-risk, high-reward move wins contests with top-heavy payouts.
The pricing is soft in Week 1, so high-priced stacks will be heavily owned. Using them won't beat enough of your competitors. Let's briefly identify these over-owned stacks and put a twist on them. But more importantly, let's focus on some more unique stacks to use instead.
Highly Owned Stacks (with a Twist)
Matt Ryan ($8,800) + Julio Jones ($9,000) = $17,800
The Philadelphia at Atlanta game has the highest over-under of the week at 55 points. There's tons of fantasy goodness to be mined from this situation in cash games, but everyone will be on it. According to Vegas, the Falcons are the highest scoring underdog of the week. With Devonta Freeman dinged up and rookie, Tevin Colman, getting the start, they'll lean heavily on the passing game while playing catch-up.
Twist: If you want to stack Matt Ryan, pair him with boom-or-bust deep threat, Leonard Hankerson ($4,500) instead.
Aaron Rodgers ($9,700) + DEvante Adams ($5,500) = $15,200
Devante Adams earned his low price before Jordy Nelson's season-ending injury. He'll be the most-owned player of the week. The Packers are a seven-point road favorite over the Bears, which foretells a run-heavy game script. Individually, these guys make for solid cash game plays, but you'll have to nail a bunch of out-on-a-limb picks with the rest of your roster to make this stack cash in a tourney.
Twist: Pivoting to Richard Rodgers ($4,900) will also be a popular move. Use Ty Montgomery ($5,000) instead. The return of James Jones will scare owners away from Green Bay's tertiary wideouts. But his signing has the stench of Robert Meachem crawling back the Saints before disappearing. Forget about Jones' touchdown-inflated stats of the past and remember that he got cut by the Raiders.
Eli Manning ($8,300) + Odell Beckham Jr ($8,900) = $17,200
Similar to the Falcons, the Giants are heavy underdogs in a high-scoring game at Dallas. But this is a plus matchup for New York's passing game. The Cowboys sent cornerback Orlando Scandrick to injured reserve earlier this month, leaving underwhelming Branden Carr and Morris Claiborne to man the corners.
Twist: With Beckham drawing safety help, the single-covered Reuben Randle ($5,300) offers a more lineup-differentiating play. Victor Cruz' absence puts Randle on the field for nearly every play.
Unique Stacks
Carson Palmer ($7,700) + John Brown ($6,000) = $13,700
The Cardinals fly just far enough under the radar as the seventh-highest scoring team of the week according to Vegas. They're only favored by 2.5 points, and their passing strength matches up nicely against the Saints' defensive weakness. Michael Floyd may start, but he's not fully recovered from dislocating his fingers. If he plays, it will help drive down the ownership of this high-upside John Brown stack. It's easy to envision a Saints-Cardinals shootout.
Jay Cutler ($7,900) + Eddie Royal ($5,000) = $12,900
People salivating over the Green Bay side of this matchup will forget that pouty-lipped Jay Cutler can sling it all over the field with reckless abandon when playing from behind. Kevin White is on PUP, and the Bears' other key receivers, Alshon Jeffry and Marquess Wilson, are questionable for Week 1. Take a chance on Royal, the master of early-season, multi-touchdown games.
Jameis Winston ($6,900) + Austin Seferian-Jenkins ($4,700) = $11,600
You couldn't ask for a better first matchup for a a rookie than the Titans coming to town. Vincent Jackson will be Winston's most popular stacking companion after Mike Evans missed a ton of practice. Find salary cap relief and lower ownership by swapping Jackson for Seferian-Jenkins. Winston leaned heavily on tight ends at Florida State and will continue to do so with Tampa Bay.
Defensive Stacks
Miami Dolphins Defense ($4,700) + Andrew Franks ($4,500) = $9,200
Dan Snyder's franchise is a mess. Kirk Cousins is starting. Ndamukong Suh is ready to eat. The sportsbooks have Washington scoring only twenty points, and Miami's lead should force lots of mistakes. New kicker, Franks, is available for minimum salary after beating out incumbent, Caleb Sturgis. Swapping one of these for Lamar Miller isn't a terrible play, but Washington is better at stoping the run than defending the pass.
New York Jets Defense ($4,400) + Chris Ivory ($6,400) = $10,800
The Jets are favored by three points in the lowest scoring game of the week. Stephan Ridley's injury and Zac Stacy's terribleness clears the way for Ivory's success. Gang Green will have the highest defensive ownership percentage, but I like using this stack if you can find ways to increase uniqueness with the rest of your roster.
