Correlations are really important in DFS — so much so, in fact, that we created an NFL Stacking tool that can help you identify the best stacks of the week. Let’s mess around with the Stacking tool and see what DraftKings and FanDuel stacks we can find for Week 2 (via our Bales Player Model).
QB – WR (DK): Philip Rivers – Travis Benjamin
Benjamin was Rivers’ main target once Keenan Allen went down, receiving seven targets in the second half. Because DraftKings and FanDuel released their Week 2 salaries before the Week 1 slate was completed, it’s possible that there are some players whose roles improved in Week 1 but whose salaries this week don’t reflect those changes. That is the case with Benjamin, who is only $4,400 on DK and currently leads all wide receivers with a +5.3 Projected Plus/Minus. He received the majority of Rivers’ targets in Week 1 — 22.22 percent to be exact — and is the leading candidate to do the same again this week.
QB – TE (FD): Cam Newton – Greg Olsen
Although Cam has the second-highest FD quarterback salary at $9,000, he still boasts the position’s highest Projected Plus/Minus at +4.8. Although the 49ers currently rank first overall in pass defense (per Football Outsiders) after their Week 1 stomping of the LA Rams, Case Keenum isn’t walking through that door again. Don’t be fooled by last week: The 49ers ranked 30th in pass defense last season and now have to travel to North Carolina to face the reigning MVP in his first home game, coming off a loss.
Per the FantasyLabs ownership projections (accessible in our Player Models), Cam will be very chalky this week and will be stacked often with Greg Olsen and/or Kelvin Benjamin, both of whom are currently projected to be owned in the 13-16 percent range on FD. Maybe rostering all three together could help create a more unique roster? Hey, what do you know . . . the top QB-WR-TE combo on FD belongs to Cam-Olsen-Benjamin.
RB – D/ST (DK): Theo Riddick – Detroit Lions D/ST
Riddick will likely see an ownership bump from last week after his impressive 27.8-point DK outing Sunday against the Colts. However, it still may not be that high: We currently have him projected between 5-8 percent ownership even though his price is still really low at $4,300. He currently owns the second-highest Projected Plus/Minus of DK RBs at +5.3.
The Lions D/ST will likely be very low-owned (around zero percent), but there’s upside here against a Titans offense that last season ranked just 31st in offense (per FO). The Lions are certainly a risky play — we just saw Andrew Luck put up 385 passing yards and four touchdowns against them last week — but the Titans play slow and run the ball, and the Lions were 14th against the run last year (per FO). Don’t roster the Lions D/ST in cash, but a Riddick-Detroit stack in a guaranteed prize pool isn’t the worst idea. That’s all I’m saying.
QB – RB – WR (DK): Joe Flacco – Terrance West – Steve Smith
I’m sure you’re shaking with excitement to roster this trio. However, the Ravens are going up against a Browns team that ranked 27th against the pass last year and just got embarrassed by rookie Carson Wentz. The FantasyLabs ownership projections expect DFS players to prefer Mike Wallace instead of Smith — as Wallace is younger, faster, and healthier, and just scored a touchdown in Week 1 — but it was Smith who actually received a higher percentage of Flacco’s targets (26.47 percent). Meanwhile, West received 42.86 percent of the team’s Week 1 rushes, and he owns the third-highest Projected Plus/Minus for running backs at +4.8. These aren’t sexy plays. They’re just really underpriced.
QB – RB – WR – WR (FD): Eli Manning – Rashad Jennings – Odell Beckham – Sterling Shepard
For fun, let’s talk about a whole-team stack before we end this week’s article.
Manning will be incredibly popular going against the Saints. New Orleans allowed a whopping 7.9 points over expectations to quarterback over the last year. That’s amazing. Unfortunately, everyone knows by now to target the New Orleans pass defense: Manning currently has the highest projected ownership among FD quarterbacks at 17-20 percent. As you would expect, Beckham also projects to have very high ownership: We currently have him between 21-25 percent, right behind Antonio Brown.
However, both Jennings and Shepard are projected for low ownership. Even if you don’t want to take the risk of rostering all four of these Giants players in a single lineup, rostering either Jennings or Shepard will drastically lower the total ownership of whatever Giants stack you use. Adding a third (and maybe fourth) player to the stack is a great way to get exposure to the Giants and the Manning-Odell correlation while still having a shot at a unique lineup — which is incredibly important for large-field GPPs.
I think that’s probably enough stacking talk for one week. Good luck and talk to you in Week 3!
