NFL Week 12: Stacking To Win It

Each week we will be covering two top stacks, a value stack, and a contrarian stack. Playing two or more players from the same team can add to your ceiling, especially if that team goes off. Stacking is a great way to get an advantage in tournaments, and even cash games. We will narrow down projected fantasy points, ownership, and info for their matchups.

Top Stack 1

Patriots vs Dolphins - Team Total 32.25

Once again, the #GOAT leads his team into a matchup with an otherworldly total, this time 32.25 points (highest on the slate by 3.25 point) against a Miami team that is ranked (wait for it) 31st against the pass (per Football Outsiders), 29th against #1 WR, and 25th against opposing TE. Gronk could find himself with very low ownership here, despite the dream matchup, due to his recent (lack of) production and high price tag. Cooks should see plenty of ownership here coming off his season-high with 149 yards (and a score) last week against Oakland, Brady just continues to dominate the NFL, even at the ripe old age of 40, and may just be on his way to a third MVP award this season. This stack is certainly expensive, and Brady likes to spread out the production, but the upside here is massive, especially if Miami can find a way to put up some points and keep this one close.

Contrarian Stack

Panthers at Jets - Team Total 22

Believe it or not, only Alvin Kamara has more Red Zone targets among RB (12) than McCaffrey's 11 this season, and the former Stanford Cardinal standout has been money with his touches, catching 9 of those targets, including five of seven inside the 10 for three total scores. He has finally begun to build a solid rapport with Newton, who is coming off a monster game where he accounted for 349 total yards (95 rushing) and four touchdowns (three to Funchess and McCaffrey). Although the return of Greg Olsen could impact the volume of touches for the young duo of Funchess and McCaffrey, the upside is certainly still there against a Jets defense that FO ranks 22nd against the pass. Newton himself has GPP-winning upside, as evidenced by his performance last week, which was his second game with at least 34 FanDuel points this season. Throwing Olsen in would be a nice way to differentiate your stack as well, but I'll likely wait for the Panthers to ease him back into action before deploying him in DFS.

Seahawks at 49ers - Team Total 26

With a complete lack of a running game (outside of Russell Wilson, that is), the value and upside on this stack is very concentrated to the passing game (and Wilson's legs). Wilson has topped 25 FanDuel points in six of his last eight games, including a trio of games with at least 31. The 49ers are allowing 26 PPG to opponents this season, and are among the worst in passing YPG allowed (246, 23rd in the NFL) and rushing YPG allowed (133, 31st). Graham currently leads the NFL with a whopping 22 Red Zone targets, which is five more than the second-highest total, which belongs to Davante Adams and Dez Bryant. Throw in the fact that he has seen 13 of those targets inside the 10 yard-line, which is good for 38.5% of the team's targets in that area, and the seven total scores inside the 20, and he makes for an elite option once again. Baldwin took his time getting going last week, as a late TD grab salvaged an otherwise ghost-like performance against Atlanta, but he has now caught a touchdown pass in three of his last five games, and reached the 90-yard mark in three of those games as well. This stack has big time upside against a team that is barely staying ahead of the Browns as the worst team in the NFL.

Bengals vs Browns - Team Total 23.5

Although these players will likely see a decent amount of ownership on their own due to a plus matchup, the Bengals have a team total of just under 24 points this week against the Brownies. Dalton threw for 286 yards and four scores, Green went for 5-63-1, and the Bengals D allowed just seven points against an offense that continues to be putrid (15 PPG, worst in the NFL). This stack is cheap on DraftKings, and pairing the team defense with the top two offenses will help set this stack apart. A typical Bengal stack this week will likely include Joe Mixon, but with a rushing yardage high of 49 yards over the last three weeks and a high game of just 12.1 FD points, his upside seems to be limited in an offense that seems incapable of getting him involved in an effective way. Continue to pick on the Brownies here with their Ohio "rivals".