“Stacking.” A stack is when a fantasy football player drafts two players of the same team to his or her team, in hopes of scoring double points. For example, someone may draft Odell Beckham Jr. and Eli Manning in hopes that, since Manning throws the ball to Beckham Jr., that when they score a touchdown, rather than scoring six points, they now receive ten points (or twelve depending on the scoring of some leagues). However, the downfall of this strategy is that, if Manning and Beckham Jr. don’t hook-up for a touchdown that week, then your team will suffer. Fantasy football is a risk/reward game, and that’s a strategy, among many, that people use.
This article, uses that similar strategy. The LWOS fantasy department is creating fantasy football teams using only players within a certain division. This fantasy team in particular will be represented by players from the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, and San Diego Chargers. It is a standard league, meaning there is one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight end, one FLEX spot, one kicker, and one defense/special teams.
All-AFC West Fantasy Football Team
QB: Philip Rivers
Sorry, Raiders fans, but Derek Carr just isn’t there quite yet. 2015 saw Rivers finish as QB11 and Carr as QB13, respectively. However, Rivers did it without his two best targets, Keenan Allen and Antonio Gates, for a majority of the season. San Diego finished fourth in passing yards per game with 287, and tied New Orleans for second place in pass attempts with 667. San Diego isn’t known for their run game, and the Melvin Gordon project didn’t get off on the right foot. Rivers has been a quarterback that put up big yardage since he entered the league in 2008, so based off of workload and his best weapons returning, Rivers gets the nod over Carr.
RB: Jamaal Charles
Here’s Charles’ fantasy points in each game prior to tearing his ACL in game five vs Chicago: 15, 14, 25, and 14. He had five touchdowns and 457 total yards in those four games. In seasons where Charles has finished healthy, he has never finished as less than the RB7. He has only finished outside of RB7 on three occasions since being drafted in the third-round by the Kansas City Chiefs: his rookie year, and the two years he tore his ACL, that’s it. 2008: rookie year. 2009: RB7. 2010: RB3. 2011: first torn ACL. 2012: RB8. 2013: RB1. 2014 RB7. 2015: second torn ACL. The reality is that Charles isn’t the most durable player. He’s only played all 16 games twice. Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware played well in place of Charles in 2015, but Andy Reid is a one-running back type of guy. Charles should continue his streak of top 10 running back performances.
RB: C.J. Anderson
People look at Anderson one of two ways. They either hate him, because he was their first round draft pick in 2015, and didn’t produce a double-digit fantasy performance until Week 8, or they look at him with upside. The understanding fan, did/does both. It’s no secret that Anderson vastly underperformed in 2015. He was drafted in the first round in most leagues, and finished as RB31. Injuries can be blamed for his early-season woes. Ankle and foot injuries are a running back’s worst nightmare. A running back by committee is any fantasy owner’s worst nightmare. Anderson had both in 2015. With a new four-year, $18 million contract, Anderson could very well be the Bronco’s make-or-break player this year. With unknown at the quarterback position, Gary Kubiak will lean on his bellcow running back, but can he carry the weight?
WR: Keenan Allen
He was averaging 11 fantasy points per game in 2015 before injury struck in Week 8. In eight games, he had 67 receptions for 725 yards and four touchdowns. He had three games with over ten catches. Julio Jones had four in sixteen games. Allen was a target monster in the first half of the season. 2014 was Allen’s most targeted year. He was targeted 121 times and caught 77 receptions. Allen had 89 targets and 67 catches in just eight games in 2015. He has Rivers’ trust. If you go running back-heavy in the early rounds, Allen will be there in the third and possibly even fourth round.
WR: Demaryius Thomas
While he didn’t necessarily live up to expectations in 2015, he still finished as WR13. Then again, saying a wide receiver didn’t “live up to expectations” and still finished with 105 receptions for 1,304 yards and six touchdowns may not be fair. However, Thomas hasn’t recorded less than 1,400 yards and ten touchdowns in a season since 2011. That type of regression is to be expected. And with Kubiak running the show in Denver, it’s understandable for Thomas to see regression. Kubiak’s number one receivers never see double digit touchdowns. Think back to Andre Johnson in a Texans uniform and how dominant he was. He always had big yardage totals, but never once did he eclipse the double digit touchdown mark. Kubiak likes big, physical receivers. Oddly enough, Johnson and Thomas are both 6’3, 229 lbs. Thomas may not eclipse the double digit touchdown mark, but he will remain a solid WR2 with WR1 upside.
TE: Travis Kelce
If this was five years ago, Antonio Gates would have been the easiest choice on this list. However, father time has begun to catch Gates, leaving an opening for a new AFC West tight end. Kelce is in the second-tier group of tight ends. He will finish as a low TE1, but it won’t be spectacular. He’ll get you about 900 yards and six touchdowns. It’ll be consistent, but not eye-opening. But, with Alex Smith as your quarterback, there’s not much else fantasy owners can ask for. He’ll score double digit points the weeks he scores touchdowns, and on weeks he doesn’t, he’ll score between four and seven. Essentially, he’s not Rob Gronkowski, Greg Olsen, or Jordan Reed, but he’ll do.
FLEX: Danny Woodhead
I think this is where the Raiders fans go nuts. “What, no Amari Cooper?” Calm down, Raiders fans. There’s an explanation. Fun fact: guess the player with more catches in 2015. That’s right. It was Woodhead. Woodhead finished with 81 catches for 756 yards and six touchdowns. Cooper finished with 72 catches for 1,070 yards and six touchdowns. When you factor in Woodhead’s 335 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground, he finished with 1,091 total yards and nine touchdowns. That’s 21 more yards than Cooper and three more touchdowns. Cooper had 130 targets, Woodhead had 107. Will Melvin Gordon touch the ball more in 2016? Probably. But if 2015 was any indicator of 2016, the Chargers need Woodhead to produce, especially catching out of the backfield.
Again, if this were five years ago, Sebastian Janikowski would have been the second-easiest name to put on this list. But it’s 2016, and Janikowski doesn’t have the leg he used to. McManus made the most 50+ yard field goals and had the highest percentage of field goals made of any other kicker in the AFC West. Kickers are people too.
D/ST: Kansas City Chiefs
Denver and Kansas City finished as number one and number two overall in fantasy defenses, but the Broncos were far and away the best in 2015. Next season, however, figures to be a new year. Denver lost a few key pieces in Malik Jackson, and Danny Trevathan. Eric Berry fully healthy, an elite corner in Marcus Peters, Justin Houston returning to form, and Derrick Johnson a full season back from his injury look to lead the Chiefs to an AFC West title in 2016.
Main Photo:
DENVER, CO – DECEMBER 28: Running back C.J. Anderson #22 of the Denver Broncos rushes for a 39 yard fourth quarter go-ahead touchdown during a game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on December 28, 2015 in Denver, Colorado.. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
