Art of Stacking QB/WR/TE

In DFS we discuss stacking during every season. During NFL, stacking is an interesting topic due to the misunderstanding of what stacking actually entails and correlates to.

When you stack in the NFL, it means to pair your quarterback with another player on his team; typically this is a wide receiver or tight end. This is a great way to increase your floor as well as your upside. Think about it this way, if your wide receiver scores a touchdown you receive seven fantasy points. If you have the quarterback throwing the pass to your receiver you also get the fantasy points for the touchdown thrown.

Most people understand that more fantasy points per play are better than less. Therefore, they overcompensate and play Peyton Manning with Julius Thomas and Demaryius Thomas or some other variation of multiple wide receivers from the same team. This seems that you would experience a much higher upside however; there are a limited amount of touchdowns scored in a game. In 2014, the most potent offense in the NFL, the Denver Broncos, scored an average of 3.4 touchdowns per game. This does not account for rushing, special teams or defensive touchdowns either. As you can see, this will actually decrease your floor and cap your upside by playing multiple receiving options from the same team.

My approach to stacking with quarterbacks is dependent on the team, players involved and opponent.

GPP Tournaments

In large field GPPs, it is no surprise that you need to have boom or bust players to carry you to the top. Having a low owned wide receiver that goes for 3 touchdowns can propel you to the top. When looking at these types of situations, I will target the wide receiver with my quarterback that has the longest average yards / route. Players with a larger yards / route metric are big play guys that have low floors and high ceilings. A dream scenario is when you have a wide receiver that meets this category versus an opposing defense that gives up big plays. A perfect example of a player who meets these requirements is Desean Jackson. He is very low owned week in and week out yet every week we have a Desean sighting that is three receptions, two touchdowns and 180 yards. If you go back and look, you will see that most frequently those big games are against defenses that allow big plays to opposing wide receivers. Most DFS players make the mistake in targeting the best overall wide receiver on teams that allow big plays instead of targeting the player that runs the routes that will yield big plays.

Cash Games

In cash games, you will want to stack your Quarterback with the top target of his team. This is an extremely high floor option to do with elite quarterbacks and their number one option. Last year, my favorite cash game combination was Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson. Nelson was clearly the favorite target for one of the most elite quarterbacks in the NFL. Last year Jordy Nelson had 13 touchdowns on the year. If you look at NFL on a bigger scale, that is nearly one touchdown for your wide receiver and one touchdown for your quarterback per game. Certainly, you will want to only target them in good matchups, but doing this significantly raises your floor.

QB/TE Stack

One of the most underrated combinations in NFL DFS is stacking a quarterback with his tight end. This should be no surprise as a majority of tight ends are used primarily as a block position. Over the past few seasons however, we have seem tight ends emerge as offensive threats specifically in the red zone. Tight ends that come to mind are Julius Thomas, Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Gates. They are legitimate candidates to score a touchdown every week. Believe it or not those three were tied for fourth last season in touchdowns scored for the season. A great time to target a tight end as your stack with your quarterback is when you research a team that doesn't have strong in coverage linebackers. One of my favorite stacks to do in cash game is to take one of the above tight ends when they have a matchup versus a team that's linebackers are not strong at coverage. Typically, you can gain a significant advantage on the field due to the lack of upside and points scored by tight end as a whole.

Your DFS NFL research should always begin with your quarterback and the top options given the daily fantasy games being played and the situation that is presented from the opposing defense. By stacking your quarterback with the best option, you can greatly increase your floor as well as your upside week in and week out.