3 NFL FanDuel Stacks for Wild Card Weekend

If you're new to daily fantasy football, then you'll have to make some changes to your fantasy football strategy. You don't have "your guys" on a weekly basis -- and you need to adjust to each and every matchup.

A big part of building your roster is weekly quarterback selection. In terms of salary, passers range from the top of the player pool to the bottom, with some replacement-level passers at the same price point as kickers and defenses on FanDuel.

Along with those quarterbacks, though, you have the option of pairing pass-catchers with your signal caller, and per 4for4's Chris Raybon, a quarterback's top receiver has the strongest positive correlation to quarterback success -- and his tight end and second receiver are next in line.

If you're going to stack, though, you need to have a purpose. If you're trying to win a big tournament, you'll want to find a combination that can put up points in bunches -- all while possibly being underowned. Which teammates might fit the bill this weekend?

Los Angeles Rams

Quarterback: Jared Goff ($8,500)
Running Back: Todd Gurley ($10,000)

With eight teams in action, we can only do so much to avoid the most obvious stacks around. That's especially true with all four games featuring spreads of at least 6.5 points. But Goff's Los Angeles Rams are 6.5-point home favorites with an implied total of 27.5 points, second-highest of the weekend.

The Atlanta Falcons' defense ranks as a top-eight unit by our metrics since Week 10 but have allowed an average of 17.4 FanDuel points per game to the past five quarterbacks they've faced. We last saw Goff putting up 25.44 FanDuel points against the Tennessee Titans in Week 16 and 11.80 in Week 15 on just 21 attempts; the Rams rank ninth in passing efficiency, per our metrics, from Week 10 through 16.

Gurley will be popular in his own right, so stacking him with Goff will give you a more unique lineup. The Falcons have allowed 69 targets to running backs since Week 10, second-most in football. Gurley has an 18.28% target market share over the past five games, including 13 targets in Week 16. Even excluding that game, he has more than five targets per game since the Week 8 bye.

If not Gurley and you want a more conventional stack, Robert Woods ($7,400) is your top option. Woods has tallied only 78 yards in his past two games, but there was missed opportunity, as he was responsible for 140 air yards, per AirYards.com.

New Orleans Saints

Quarterback: Drew Brees ($8,100)
Wide Receiver: Michael Thomas ($8,300)

Brees and the New Orleans Saints have gotten the better of the Carolina Panthers this season. They've beaten their divisional foes 34-13 and 31-21, during which Brees racked up 20.8 FanDuel points on 29 attempts an 14.46 on 34. He had a quarterback rating above 105 in both. Since their Week 11 bye, the Panthers have allowed 7.90 adjusted yards per attempt and 0.46 passing FanDuel points per attempt. Those rank 27th and 28th, respectively.

Thomas came back from injury and a season-low snap rate (62%) in Week 16 and played 91% of snaps in Week 17, when he drew 8 targets for 6 catches and 94 yards. His Week 3 line against the Panthers was 7 catches on 8 targets for 87 yards and a touchdown (18.2 FanDuel points on a 79% snap rate). His Week 13 line was 5 catches on 9 targets for 70 yards and a touchdown (15.5 FanDuel points on a 75% snap rate). The Panthers have allowed 1.49 receiving FanDuel points per target to receivers since their bye, 31st in the league.

This stack looks good on paper (yet again this season) and is a natural pivot from Alvin Kamara ($9,100) and Mark Ingram ($8,000), as both topped 20 FanDuel points in Week 13 against the Panthers.

Kansas City Chiefs

Quarterback: Alex Smith ($7,800)
Tight End: Travis Kelce ($7,700)

This stack could prove to be fairly popular, but we can't avoid all the best stacks for fear of ownership. I would recommend differentiating more elsewhere in your lineup if you run out a Smith/Kelce stack, though.

Smith has at least 17.46 FanDuel points in three of his past four games, and the Titans are 26th in adjusted yards per attempt since Week 10, as well as 23rd by our metrics in that split. They've allowed at least 17 FanDuel points to four of the past seven quarterbacks they've faced. The passers who didn't get there were Jacoby Brissett, Blaine Gabbert, and Blake Bortles in a funky Week 17 game.

Kelce doesn't necessarily have an edge in market share over the other tight ends on the docket (he ranks third over the past five games), but he's the only high-volume tight end playing for a favorite this week. The Titans' marks against tight ends look fine (13th in receiving fantasy points per target since their Week 8 bye), though they've played a weak cohort of tight ends this season.

Since Week 4, Kelce has double-digit FanDuel points in 9 of 12 games and at least 5.4 in all 12. Of the top four tight end options this week, only two of them have had a 15-point FanDuel game this season. Greg Olsen did it once (in Week 15). Kelce has done it five times.