Daily fantasy football is all about optimizing your lineups; finding the best stack, using contrarian plays, etc. One of the best stacks last week was Russell Wilson to Doug Baldwin, which only cost $10,100 and scored 71.42 fantasy points. At slightly over $141 dollars per point, Wilson and Baldwin were a value contrarian stacks. It’s those kinds of plays this article is looking to find. Here are my week 8 stacks:
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Expensive Stack
Aaron Rodgers to Jordy Nelson/Randall Cobb – I believe the saying goes, “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” I’m using that theory on the Green Bay offense. The game has the highest projected total by Vegas and should be a shoot out. Green Bay’s offensive line has graded out as the top pass blocking line in the league thus far, according to Pro Football Focus. On the opposite side, the Saints have graded out as the third worst pass rush and the second worst pass defense in the NFL halfway through the season. Rodgers has the best QB rating in the NFL when give 2.6 seconds or more in the pocket. Use Rodgers/Nelson as an expensive stack, Rodgers/Cobb as a slightly cheaper one, or Rodgers/Nelson/Cobb if you’re feeling risky.
Tony Romo to Dez Bryant – The Dallas Cowboys face a banged up Washington defense of Monday night. They are the biggest favorite of the week by Vegas (-9.5). They are also projected to score the most out of any team (29.5). According to Pro Football Focus, the Cowboys have the best pass offense out of any team playing Sunday or Monday (One and two are the Chargers and Broncos). The Redskins have a nice pass rush, but the worst defense in pass coverage in the NFL. As you can see from my other article on ProjectRoto, WR1’s play better than any other skill positions in prime time games. Confidently fire up Romo and Dez in your lineups this week.
Mid-Priced Stack
Tom Brady to Julian Edelman/Rob Gronkowski – Vegas has New England and Chicago’s game projected as the second highest total on Sunday, with the Patriots scoring 28.5. Chicago has been decent against the run on the season, but extremely bad against the pass. Since Gronk has started playing a full games worth of snaps, Brady has turned his game up a level. The lack of a workhorse running back should cause the Patriots to throw the ball early and often. This game could turn into a shoot out as long, as long as the Bears stay competitive, which would help Brady and company’s fantasy value for the week. (Note: I’d rather pair Brady/Gronk, but Edelman’s price is way too low this week. He makes a fine stack option).
Nick Foles to Jeremy Maclin – Nick Foles has played some extremely bad football as of recent causing his price to drop dramatically. He started the season at $8,500, but is now $6,300, which is too cheap for him. He still plays in a fast paced offense that could put up 40+ in a single game. I like the Foles/Maclin stack this week because they are projected to lose, which means they’ll be running that fast paced offense the entire game. The Cardinals have graded out negatively in pass rush and pass coverage this season, according to Pro Football Focus. When Nick Foles finds his success, Maclin’s will come with it. They should be able to put some points on the board against Arizona and this game could be the highest scoring total of the week.
Cheap Stack
Carson Palmer to Michael Floyd – I virtually like this stacks because of the pace of the game and the amount of points each team could put up, but I also think the Eagles are a very vulnerable defense. They constantly have miscommunication in the secondary, allowing wide receivers to hit them for big plays. Floyd has the size to score two touchdowns any week and has scored one in each of his last two games. I like him as Palmer’s top target this week, but I also like a Palmer/Fitz stack and a Palmer/Floyd/Fitz stack isn’t out of the question if you think Arizona will have a massive game like I do.
Zach Mettenberger to Justin Hunter – This play will be about as contrarian as you can get, but I think it has extreme upside. Mettenberger has a cannon for an arm which pairs up with the way Justin Hunter plays extremely well. He showed in college that he isn’t afraid to try to squeeze the ball into tight spaces, constantly having success doing it. The pair only costs $8,100 and you’d be able to stack your team with elite players at other positions. Hunter on the other hand is getting a lot of hate (Don’t believe me, go to Twitter) for his performance in an ideal matchup last week. The only flaw to that is that there were 30+ MPH winds for that game, which makes the deep ball extremely difficult to throw. He’s playing nearly every snap for the Titans and I think Metty could go to him as a big security blanket.
