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
Tyreek Hill has found his role on the Kansas City Chiefs as their speed and do it all player as he has rushed the ball, caught the ball, and returned both punts and kickoffs. His offensive snaps have increased over the past 4 weeks going from 18, 21, 34, and 39. Over the teams first 9 games he has 9 rushes for 57 yards and 41 targets for 32 receptions and 323 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns. Add those numbers to his special teams duties where he has returned 21 punts with a long of 50-yards and 10 kickoffs for a long of 33-yards, it is just a matter of time before Hill breaks a return for a touchdown and combined with his increased offensive role he is in a prime spot to have a big game against Tampa Bay on Sunday. With Jeremy Maclin banged up, Hill benefited last week with 13 targets for 10 catches and 89 yards. Kansas City is one of the bigger favorites this week and with a home matchup against the Buccaneers who are known to turn the ball over it makes a lot of sense to pair Hill with the Chiefs defense and hope for that beloved double dip touchdown from Hill in the return game. The Chiefs defense has been solid all season long averaging 2 sacks, 1.5 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery a game and have 4 defensive touchdowns so far on the year. If the numbers are similar this week you are looking at a floor of 6-8 fantasy points but with this plus matchup against a Tampa Bay team that is known to turn the ball over the Chiefs defense have a very high fantasy ceiling.
Secondary Option: RB Jalen Richard + Oakland Raiders 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 Theo Riddick + K Matt Prater, Detroit Lions
Theo Riddick is not a household name when it comes to the big boys at the running back position but he is a consistent one with a very safe floor. Riddick has played in 7 games this season and only once has he seen less then 15 touches and that was still decent as he had 12. Riddick has rushed for 297 yards and a touchdown and 35 receptions for 273 yards and 4 receiving touchdowns. The matchup this week is against the Jacksonville Jaguars who have given up 101 yards and 0.8 rushing touchdowns a game along with 5 receptions for 26 yards receiving. If you are playing on FanDuel you are forced to use a kicker and this week there is no better choice than Matt Prater for $4,600 who has had multi field goal games in the last three games and has yet to score less than 6 FanDuel points this year. Prater is 16 for 19 on the year on field goals and 19 for 20 on extra points made. Pairing both Riddick and Prater together will be a low owned duo as the running back position has plenty of higher end options to look at and C.J. Prosise on the cheap end that will be rather chalky leaving Riddick one of the forgotten plays at the position. Prater will likely be one of the top 5 kickers on the weekend and will be highly owned and pairing him with Riddick gives you exposure to the Lions in a plus matchup against the Jaguars.
Secondary Option: RB LeGarrette Blount + K Stephen Gostkowski, New England Patriots
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 Marcus Mariota + RB DeMarco Murray, Tennessee Titans
Over the past 6 Weeks, Marcus Mariota has been phenomenal scoring a total of 19 touchdowns in that span and showing that he can be a fantasy star each week with his strong play with his arm and with his legs. The Titans play a divisional matchup against the Colts this week on the road and this game has the highest total on the board with 52.5 points and the Colts are a -3.0 favorite. The Colts are the 5th worst team against opposing quarterbacks giving up 299 passing yards and 1.9 touchdowns. It is setting up for a big game for Mariota and although he doesn't have the premier receivers that some of the big name quarterbacks have he knows how to spread the ball around to the entire offense. One of those key targets for Mariota is his star RB DeMarco Murray who is having quite the season himself. Murray has 930 yards rushing and 8 touchdowns and 37 receptions for 259 more yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns. Playing both Mariota and Murray together almost guarantees you the entire Titans offense and if they score 3 or 4 touchdowns which the projections predict, it is very likely that those two players will account for all of those touchdowns.
Secondary Option: QB Russell Wilson + RB C.J. Prosise, Seattle Seahawks
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 + TE Delanie Walker, Tennessee Titans
I am expecting the Titans and Colts to be in for a back and forth battle with touchdowns for everyone. Vegas has this game pegged at 52.5 points and the Colts as a -3.0 point favorite. I expect Andrew Luck to be looking in T.Y. Hilton's direction early and often and Hilton had a huge Week 7 performance against the Titans where he saw 12 targets for a 7/133/1 statline. On the other side of this matchup you have the Titans offense that revolves around Marcus Mariota and DeMarco Murray but a super stack with Delanie Walker in the mix makes a lot of sense as well as Walker is the Titans top receiving option coming off a 11 target 9/124/1 line game. You are looking and hoping for a shoot out in this game with Hilton and Walker taking turns catching touchdowns. The Titans are the 6th worst team against wide receivers giving up 14 catches, 182 yards and a touchdown each game. The Colts are the 5th worst team against opposing tight ends giving up on average 6 catches for 75 yards and 0.4 touchdowns.
Secondary Option: WR Amari Cooper, Oakland Raiders + WR DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans
If you have any additional questions or comments please feel free to hit my up on Twitter @JamesBrimacombe
