Every Friday, this article provides several FanDuel stacks. Most of these positively correlated combinations are best suited for tournament play. But some of the safer duos with high floors can be used in cash games. We'll discuss highly-owned stacks, dig deeper to find less common stacks, identify potential shootouts, and create strong lineup anchors with defensive stacks.
Highly-Owned Stacks
Carson Palmer ($8,900) + Michael Floyd ($6,500) = $15,400
Loading up on Cardinals is the safest play of the weekend. Get exposure to them. Find differentiation elsewhere. Their implied team total of 28.5 points is five points higher than any of the other seven teams. Floyd is the cheapest of Arizona's key pass-catchers and is my favorite Palmer pairing.
Twist: John Brown ($6,700) completes my favorite triple-stack. But Larry Fitzgerald ($7,900) is also worth considering if you have the cap room. With only four games on the slate and some of the top-priced players injured, salary relief is easy to find.
Shootout: This game has the biggest shootout potential of the weekend. I know the Cardinals are decent against outside receivers. But James Jones ($6,500) is still my favorite correlation play if you want to go all-in on this being a high-scoring game.
Cam Newton ($8,700) + Greg Olsen ($6,500) = $15,200
I also considered stacking Patriots in this high-owned section. But they're pricier than Panthers, a bit banged up, and Carolina basically has the same implied total. The Seahawks excel at shutting down outside receivers. That should give Olsen room to operate in the middle of the field.
Less Common Stacks
Aaron Rodgers ($8,300) + James Jones ($6,500) = $14,800
I love stacking the team that the sportsbooks predict to be the highest-scoring underdog. Down early, the Packers will lean heavily on the Rodgers-to-Jones connection.
Twist: With Tyrann Mathieu out for the year, the middle of the field should theoretically be the Cardinals' Achilles’ heel. It didn't play out that way in the Week 16 matchup between these two teams, but I could still see Randall Cobb ($6,600) and Richard Rodgers ($5,100) exploiting this weakness if Aaron Rodgers gets going. I prefer Richard over Randall in a triple-stack. Over the last five games, the Cardinals have allowed tight ends to overperform by 42 percent in terms of fantasy scoring. That's the worst percentage of the eight playoff teams.
Shootout: All the info from the Cardinals' stack recommendation applies. Pair Michael Floyd ($6,500) with three Packers for an affordable super-stack.
Ben Roethlisberger ($8,100) + Martavis Bryant ($7,100) = $15,200
Stop me when you've heard this one. Ben Roethlisberger is hurt. There's no way he's playing. It looks dire. Don't even consider him for your fantasy lineup. Oh wait. He's playing? Well, he'll be terrible. He can barely walk! And then he throws four touchdowns. Amazeballs! Hopefully the injury drives his ownership down enough to make him a contrarian play with upside. Unfortunately, Antonio Brown has already been ruled out. But that should drive down ownership of Steelers even further. With Bryant carrying the load, he has serious upside.
Twist: If Roethlisberger truly can't throw downfield, then he will be evenly matched with Peyton Manning. Heath Miller ($5,400) should take advantage of extra underneath work against a Broncos team that's had its share of issues covering the tight end. Miller's low price makes him nicely triple-stackable.
Shootout: I don't especially like the shootout potential of this game, but I like Demaryius Thomas ($8,100) a lot this week. As Cecil Lammey shared on our podcast, Thomas' mother will be watching him play live for the first time in 17 years. Call me a sucker, but it's hard not to walk down that narrative street.
Defensive Stacks
Arizona Cardinals ($4,800) + David Johnson ($8,500) = $13,300
David Johnson and the Broncos defense will have the highest ownership of the week. My favorite defensive stacks pair them up with their respective teammates. As the top-scoring underdog, Vegas thinks Green Bay will put up a fight. But the Cardinals are seven-point favorites. The Packers are sure to make mistakes in catch-up mode.
Denver Broncos ($5,300) + Ronnie Hillman ($5,900) = $11,200
I expect Roethlisberger to play better than his injury might otherwise suggest. But there's still room for the Broncos' defense to capitalize on Steelers mistakes. Antonio Brown has been ruled out. And Vegas projects this game as the lowest scoring of the weekend at only 39 total points. There should be plenty of time for Denver's running backs to eat up clock late in the game. I like Hillman, but he can be swapped for C.J. Anderson for the same price if you prefer.
Austin Lee hang-glided in Rio, climbed The Great Wall, and caught passes from both Dan Marino and Joe Montana. For more of his DFS insights listen to The Audible's FanDuel podcast on Friday mornings. Also check out his Normalized Strength of Schedule tool or hit him up for advice on Twitter.