This weekly DraftKings article, we will discuss some cash game stacks that should provide a high floor for your 50-50 and H2H cash game contests. These stacks are safe to use in your GPP tournaments as well, but they will most likely carry a high ownership percentage. In the second half of this article, we will review some lower-owned GPP stacks along with a defensive stack.
*This article focuses on stacks from DraftKings main slate and does not include Thursday Night Football, the game in London, Sunday Night Football, or Monday Night Football.
$$ CASH GAME STACKS $$
One note here is that this is a strange week where in cash games, running backs are going to be extremely popular. While the below stack is a stack you could do in cash, you will likely be differentiating yourself due to the popularity of Todd Gurley and LeVeon Bell this week. With so many teams on a bye, and so many teams that have a tough matchup passing such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, New York Giants, Los Angeles Chargers, Philadelphia that it makes it tough to find stacks that you love. All of these can be extremely contrarian stacks, but you should not go heavily exposed with those teams.
Green Bay Packers Stack vs Dallas Cowboys
QB Aaron Rodgers $8,100 with WR Jordy Nelson $8,100 (Cash/GPP)
Alternate/Super Stacks: WR Randall Cobb $6,700
This is a prime matchup for the Packers this week as the Cowboys have been burned by the long plays this season as they have allowed 10 20+ yard completions in their last three games. They have particularly struggled to good slot receivers as Larry Fitzgerald had 13 receptions for 149 yards with a touchdown and Cooper Kupp had 5 receptions for 60 yards and a touchdown. This could setup well for Randall Cobb this week, as well as Jordy Nelson who lines up in the slot on 25% of his plays this season. Aaron Rodgers is always a prime target to stack with and may be the best quarterback to super stack with on a given week due to his upside to throw for three or more touchdowns in a given week. Nelson after a slow start has turned it on over the last two weeks as he has four touchdowns. With the popular strategy being to spend up at running back this week, this is a stack that will be popular if you decide to fade the
GPP STACKS
Here are three GPP stacks that should carry a low ownership percentage but provide multi-touchdown upside.
Dallas Cowboys Stack vs Green Bay Packers
QB Dak Prescott $6,800 with WR Dez Bryant $6,500
Alternate/Super Stacks: TE Jason Witten $4,200 (GPP)
Correlation Play: WR Jordy Nelson $8,100 (GPP)
The Cowboys passing game has gotten off to a slow start this season as Dak Prescott has completed just 60.8% of his passes compared to 67.8% last season, his interception rate has increased from 0.8% last year to 2.1% this season. A large part of the reason for this is that the Cowboys are taking a long-term strategy with the passing game and trying to get Dez Bryant and Dak on the same page, but Dez has caught just 40% of the passes thrown against him. There is light at the end of the tunnel, however, as Bryant has faced one of the toughest schedules for wide receivers so far this season and this week gets a nice matchup against as second-round rookie in Kevin King. The Cowboys have been trying to feed the ball to Dez so far this season. Excluding a tough matchup with Patrick Peterson in which Arizona basically shut down the Cowboys, Bryant is averaging 12.7 targets per game. The last time that Dez Bryant faced Green Bay he had a huge game with 9 receptions, 132 yards, and 2 touchdowns.
Indianapolis Colts vs San Francisco 49ers
QB Jacoby Brissett $5,600 with WR T.Y. Hilton $6,000 (GPP)
Alternate/Super Stacks: None
Correlation Play: Carlos Hyde
Jacoby Brissett is coming off of a down week which should lower his ownership as he was in a tough Sunday night matchup at Seattle. How quickly people will forget that just a week prior against the Browns he had 259 yards passing with a touchdown and 14 yards rushing with two touchdowns. He is not the most mobile quarterback, but he utilizes his mobility well and scrambles when he needs to particularly in the red zone. This could be one of his final games as a starter as he is auditioning to become a starting quarterback elsewhere next year as Andrew Luck has the long-term starting position locked down in Indianapolis.
Brissett’s favorite receiver T.Y. Hilton is also coming off of a bad week in which he had just 3 receptions for 30 yards. However he too also had a huge game against the Browns two weeks ago as he had 7 receptions for 159 yards and a touchdown. The best part about Hilton is that he is priced at just $6,000 which at that price, he has the upside as high as any wide receiver on this slate, but will provide a significant savings in a week in which you are looking to save salary. The 49ers have struggled at the cornerback position as K’Waun Williams out of the slot has struggled as well as Rashard Robinson who lines up on the outside. This should benefit all of the Colts receivers, as they mix and match where their wide receivers line up on the field, but it should benefit T.Y. Hilton the most out of the slot as the 49ers will likely match Dontae Johnson on Donte Moncrief due to the size of Johnson.
Houston Texans Stack VS. Kansas City Chiefs (Sunday Night Football, not on main slate)
QB Deshaun Watson $6,200 with WR DeAndre Hopkins $7,600 (GPP)
Alternate/Super Stacks: WR Will Fuller $4,400 (GPP)
Correlation Play: WR Tyreek Hill $6,700 or WR Travis Kelce $6,000 (GPP)
Deshaun Watson has been a human highlight reel the last two weeks with both his arm and his legs. Over the last two weeks, Watson is averaging 292 yards passing and three passing touchdowns per game. What makes Watson even more enticing is his added value using his rushing ability as he has rushed for an average of 32.5 yards and 0.5 touchdowns in the last two games as well. Both of those games were very positive matchups against Tennessee and New England, so you are likely going to get him at a much lower ownership this week compared to past weeks. Watson’s favorite target this season has been Deandre Hopkins who has been a volume machine this season as he is averaging 12.25 targets per game. There are going to be a lot of people who are scared off of this matchup as Marcus Peters is a top corner on the Chiefs, but do not let this change your thinking, as Peters is has not been shadowing wide receivers this season and is expected to mostly line up opposite of Hopkins which will allow Hopkins to go up against Terrence Mitchell. The Chiefs have allowed the 9th most fantasy points to wide receivers who line up on the left side of the field, so this is a matchup that Hopkins should be able to take advantage of this week.
DEFENSIVE STACKS (CASH/GPP TOURNAMENTS)
There is one defensive stack that stands out this weekend and can be used in Cash Games or GPP tournaments.
Jacksonville at Pittsburgh
RB LeVeon Bell $9,500 with D/ST Pittsburgh Steelers $3,900 (Cash/GPP)
So far this season, the Pittsburgh Steelers are second in sacks, tied for sixth in interceptions, and tied for sixth in fumble recoveries. This is great news as they host the Jacksonville Jaguars this week which is a team that is second in the NFL in turnovers as they have turned the ball over six times so far this season. Turnovers should setup well for LeVeon Bell who if the Steelers get out to an early lead can expect to see great field position and significant volume in a positive matchup against the Jaguars defense who is allowing 7.96 yards per carry over their last three games. This is going to be a popular stack in both cash games and GPP’s, but if you are going with Bell, we highly suggest that you pair him with the Steelers defense.
Thank you for reading! And as always, feel free to send any comments, suggestions, or nasty remarks to me on @ohiostate241
