Welcome to the NFL daily fantasy football lineup stacks report. In this article, we’ll take a look back at some of the top scoring stacks from last week. Then, I’ll give you my top DFS stacks for this week. I use Vegas lines from vegasinsider.com and my knowledge of the sport to target the games, and key fantasy players in those games, that are worth stacking in lineups.
Week Four NFL Daily Fantasy Football Lineup Stacks Report
The New Orleans Saints–Atlanta Falcons game turned into a barn burner as predicted. The Saints squeaked out a win in overtime on a Drew Brees quarterback sneak, his second rushing touchdown of that game. If you took my advice on the game-stacks in that one, you probably fared pretty well. Here’s a look at how my stacks did last week. Stats from (DK Live)
My Recommended DFS Lineup Stacks for Week 3
Stacks
- Drew Brees 43.54 / Michael Thomas 25.9=69.44
- Patrick Mahomes 28.6 / Tyreek Hill 7.6=36.2
- Matt Ryan 43.16/ Julio Jones 14.6=47.76
Game-Stacks
- Drew Brees 43.54 / Michael Thomas 25.9 / Julio Jones 14.6=84.04
- Matt Ryan 43.16 / Julio Jones 14.6 / Michael Thomas 25.9=83.66
- Ryan Fitzpatrick 31.4 / Mike Evans 28.7/ Antonio Brown 17= 77.1
Super Stacks
- Drew Brees 43.54 / Michael Thomas 25.9 / Alvin Kamara 37.0=106.44
- Patrick Mahomes 28.6 / Tyreek Hill 7.6 / Travis Kelce 22.4=58.6
- Ryan Fitzpatrick 31.4 / Mike Evans 28.7 / DeSean Jackson 6.7=66.54
- Deshaun Watson 29.0 / Will Fuller 24.1 / DeAndre Hopkins 14.6=67.7
Super Game-Stacks
- Drew Brees 43.54 / Michael Thomas 25.9 / Alvin Kamara 30.7/ Julio Jones 14.6=114.74
- Matt Ryan 43.16 / Julio Jones 14.6 / Michael Thomas 25.9 / Alvin Kamara 30.7=114.36
- Ryan Fitzpatrick 31.4 / Mike Evans 28.7 / James Conner 14.5 / Antonio Brown 17=91.34
Unfortunately, if you didn’t play Calvin Ridley in your lineups this week, you likely didn’t finish top 10 in any of the large GPP tournaments. If you did play him, congratulations you’re a genius. I looked at 6 GPP contests, including the Milly Maker. Of the 6 contests that I researched, Ridley was in 98 percent of the top 10 winning lineups. Another second-tier player that had a huge impact in DFS this week was Tyler Boyd. Boyd was in 75 percent of the top ten winners lineups. Sadly I didn’t recommend playing either of these two last week. However, I did okay with my stack recommendations for the week. I landed a couple just outside the top three. My top super game-stack finished fourth in its category. I’m pushing to surpass that this week.
Let’s take a look at how things stacked up this past weekend. I’ll break down the top 10 finishers and the percentage of stacked and non-stacked top ten lineups. Then, we’ll dive even deeper, I’ll break the stacks down into four categories to see which stacks worked best.
Week Three Breakdown
91.67 percent of top 10 finishers had stacks built into their lineups.
Stack five percent
Game-stack 28.33 percent
Super-Stack 1.66 percent
Super game-Stack 56.68 percent
No stack 8.33 percent
Top Scoring DFS Lineup Stacks Week 3
Top stacks
- Matt Ryan 43.16 / Calvin Ridley 43.5=86.66
- Drew Brees 43.54 / Alvin Kamara 37=80.54
- Drew Brees 43.54 / Michael Thomas 25.9=69.44
Top game-stacks
- Drew Brees 43.54 / Alvin Kamara 37 / Calvin Ridley 43.5=124.04
- Matt Ryan 43.16 / Calvin Ridley 43.5 / Alvin Kamara 37=123.66
- Matt Ryan 43.16 / Calvin Ridley 43.5 / Michael Thomas 25.9=112.56
Top Super-stacks
- Drew Brees 43.54 / Alvin Kamara 37 / Michael Thomas 25.9=106.44
- Matt Ryan 43.16 / Calvin Ridley 43.5 / Mohamed Sanu 15.6=102.26
- Matt Ryan 43.16 / Calvin Ridley 43.5 / Julio Jones 14.6= 101.20
Top Super Game-stacks
- Drew Brees 43.54 / Alvin Kamara 37 / Michael Thomas 25.9 / Calvin Ridley 43.54=149.94
- Matt Ryan 43.16 / Calvin Ridley 43.54 / Alvin Kamara 37 / Michael Thomas 25.9=149.56
- Drew Brees 43.54 / Alvin Kamara 37 / Calvin Ridley 43.50 / Mohammad Sanu 15.6=139.64
As you can see, Drew Brees and Matt Ryan were the quarterbacks to own in DFS this week. The stacks from that Saints vs. Falcons game outscored the others by a rather large margin. We just missed the top three with my top super game-stack by one point this week. It finished in fourth place.
It was mostly contestants with game-stacks that finished top 10 in the big GPPs again this week. Approximately 85 percent game-stacks finished in the top 10. This brings me to my revelation. As you can see from the results of my analysis, so far, game-stacks have been king in GPPs this season. It makes a lot of sense to go heavy on games that will likely be high scoring. Secondly, adding in the secondary weapons on a team along with the top options allows you to maximize your chances of having the top scorers from that game in your lineup. Someone like Calvin Ridley this week, for instance.
For this reason, I’m going to narrow my recommendations down to game-stacks each week. First, I’m going to focus my studying and recommendations down to a few games each week. Then, I’ll give you my favorite game-stacks from each of those games. These game-stacks are for tournament lineups only. If you want to build cash game lineups, just cut the stacks down to two or three man stacks. These games can also be a great place to find some cash game plays for the week as well. Just do a little more mixing and matching with some of the more consistent players so you’re lineup isn’t to hit or miss.
DFS Game Stacks for Week Four
Odds by (Vegas Insiders)
Cincinnati Bengals at Atlanta Falcons
O/U (51) Falcons (-5 )
Implied points: Falcons 28, Bengals 23
Atlanta is once again at the top of my list of games to stack this week. They have an implied point total of 28 points for this game. The Falcons are second in implied points this week, only behind the Los Angeles Chargers who have an implied total of 29 points. Unfortunately, the Chargers are 10.5 point favorites in that matchup. So, that bodes well for the run game. I’m forecasting a lot of Melvin Gordon in that one.
The Bengals come to Atlanta as five-point underdogs with an implied points total of 23 points. I think they can surpass that point total this week. The Falcons are down three key defensive players already this season. They are now missing their middle linebacker and two important pieces in their secondary. The Falcons are vulnerable where the Bengals are strong. The Bengals are much improved this season on both sides of the ball, but it’s the offense and mostly the emergence of Tyler Boyd that’s been most impressive. They should be able to hang in there with the Falcons and keep this an interesting game. The pass catchers in playing in this game are great options for DFS this week. We have some top-notch receiver talent to choose from for our stacks.
Falcons to target:
Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, Tevin Coleman, Mohammad Sanu
Bengals to target:
Andy Dalton , A.J. Green , Tyler Boyd, Giovani Bernard
My top Stack:
Matt Ryan/ Julio Jones/ Calvin Ridley/ AJ Green/ Tyler Boyd. There’s even enough room left in the salary cap to play both running backs in a lineup if you want to go full game stack. That’s really only a recommended option in a mid-size contest with between 500 and 1,500 entrants.
New Orleans Saints at New York Giants
O/U (50 ) Saints (-3.5)
Implied points: Saints 26.75, Giants 23.25
The Giants showed some life on offense last week after making some changes along the offensive line. They host the Saints this week who are coming off an overtime win against the Falcons last week. The Saints defense has been awful through three weeks so far this season, they’ve given up 42, 18, and 37 points in those games. The Giants should be able to score often on the Saints and keep the pressure on their offense. Drew Brees and company on offense are going to have to score a ton of points again this week if they want to win. We should have some good offensive fireworks in this one.
Saints to target:
Drew Brees, Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas, Ted Ginn, Cameron Meredith
Giants to target:
Eli Manning, Saquon Barkley, Odell Beckham, Evan Engram, Sterling Shepard
Top stack:
Drew Brees/ Alvin Kamara/ Michael Thomas/ Cam Meredith/ Odell Beckham
Unfortunately, I couldn’t fit Saquon into my stack as the pricing just doesn’t work out. This is one of the more expensive game-stacks.
Thursday-Monday DFS game-stacks
If you’re playing the Thursday-Monday slate on DraftKings here are two more games to consider building some stacks from.
Minnesota Vikings at Los Angeles Rams
O/U (49) Rams (-6.5)
Implied points: Rams 27.25, Vikings 21.25
This could be a preview of the NFC Championship game. Both of these teams are loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. However, the Rams lost both of their starting cornerbacks to injury this past week and neither is expected to play. With Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen coming to town, that’s a problem! I expect both offenses in this game to come out with their foot on the accelerator and keep it there all game. With all the talent on both sides in this game I’m looking to get some nice fantasy points production from the players in this game.
Rams to target:
Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, Cooper Kupp, Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods
Vikings to target: Kirk Cousins, Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs
Top stack:
Jared Goff/ Todd Gurley/ Robert Woods/ Adam Thielen/ Stefon Diggs/
Kansas City Chiefs @ Denver Broncos
O/U (56) KC (-5). Implied totals: KC-30.5 Den-25.5
We have all witnessed the early season greatness by Patrick Mahomes thus far. Now he gets to take his arsenal of weapons and rocket for an arm to the thin air of Denver. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him throw a 60-yard bomb to Tyreek Hill this week. Hill’s back on the road this week where he has thrived during his young career. On the Denver side, Emmanuel Sanders has been a stud so far this season. Case Keenum playing at home should be able to shred this secondary of the Chiefs. This could be a high scoring game with both offenses in play for DFS this week.
Chiefs to target:
Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce
Broncos to target:
Case Keenum, Emmanuel Sanders, Demaryius Thomas, Phillip Lindsay
Top Stack:
Patrick Mahomes/Tyreek Hill/ Travis Kelce/ Emmanuel Sanders/ Phillip Lindsay
Best of luck this week! Make sure to check the injury reports before setting your lineups. I write this article before the official injury reports come out on Wednesday. See you back in Week Five!
