4 NFL FanDuel Stacks for Week 2
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 sitting 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, a quarterback's top receiver has the strongest positive correlation to quarterback success -- while 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 -- especially if that also comes with low ownership percentages. Who fits that mold in Week 2?
New Orleans Saints
Quarterback: Drew Brees ($8,800)
Tight End: Benjamin Watson ($5,100)
The New Orleans Saints were featured in this article last week, and the Drew Brees/Michael Thomas combo went on to combine for over 61 FanDuel points in a shootout against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Their spot is just as juicy this week, with the Cleveland Browns traveling into the Superdome, resulting in the Saints being implied for a slate-high 29.75 points. There's no doubting that this team will garner a lot of attention and ownership, which is why we can look to get a bit off the wall by pairing Ben Watson with Brees instead of Alvin Kamara or Thomas.
According to Football Outsiders, the Browns ranked dead-last in DVOA against the Tight End position in 2017, and they just surrendered 60 yards on 3 catches to Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Jesse James in Week 1.
Watson drew only four targets last week, but he ran 37 pass routes and there's no reason to think he can't get involved in a matchup as good as this when his team is expected to score nearly 30 points with upside for more. The Browns should be playing catch-up in this one, so there is also merit to bringing this stack back with someone like Jarvis Landry, who saw 15 targets against the Pittsburgh Steelers and will avoid lining up with reigning defensive rookie of the year Marshon Lattimore.
San Francisco 49ers
Quarterback: Jimmy Garoppolo ($7,300)
Wide Receiver: Dante Pettis ($4,500)
The San Francisco 49ers line up in an amazing spot this weekend in a matchup with the Detroit Lions at home. The Lions just got embarrassed in prime time on Monday Night Football by the New York Jets and the youngest quarterback in the NFL, Sam Darnold.
Game log watchers might be wary of the 12.04 points that Garoppolo managed in Week 1, but there are reasons for optimism. The 49ers left a lot of points on the board, namely George Kittle, who dropped what would have been a 70-plus yard touchdown pass. Pierre Garcon dropped a would-be touchdown as well, and if even one of those passes finds the end zone the game could have ended completely differently. It's important to remember that this came on the road against a top-two defense in 2017, according to our Net Expected Points (NEP) metric.
The Dante Pettis play will widely depend on the availability of Marquise Goodwin. Pettis hauled in 2-of-5 targets for 61 yards and a touchdown once Goodwin left the game last week, and if he is out of the lineup that will push the majority of Darius Slay's coverage onto Garcon.
Garoppolo is arguably a top-10 quarterback in the NFL, and recency bias should take effect this weekend with him coming off a "rough" game, despite the 49ers owning the fourth-highest implied team total (27.25).
Pittsburgh Steelers
Quarterback: Ben Roethlisberger ($7,600)
Wide Receiver: Antonio Brown ($8,900)
Wide Receiver: JuJu Smith-Schuster ($7,200)
Welcome to the chalk portion of this article, as the Steelers are implied for 29.5 points in an expected shootout with the Kansas City Chiefs as evidenced by the monster 53.5 over/under.
Philip Rivers shredded this Chiefs defense last week, completing 34-of-51 pass attempts for 424 yards and 3 touchdowns. Eric Berry looks unlikely to play once again, further boosting the matchup for the Steelers' offensive onslaught.
According to Rotoworld's Rich Hribar, Ben Roethlisberger has seen a near six-point increase in fantasy production at home. Much could be said about Antonio Brown's fantasy production without Le'Veon Bell in the lineup, but at the same time, we are talking about the best wideout in the NFL and we don't need any more convincing as a reason to play him. JuJu Smith-Schuster drew eight targets against the Browns and was efficient hauling in 6 for 119 yards.
Denver Broncos
Quarterback: Case Keenum ($6,700)
Wide Receiver: Demaryius Thomas ($7,000)
Like the Saints, a similar stack was featured in this article last week with Emmanuel Sanders in place of Demaryius Thomas, resulting in over 45 total FanDuel points. Sanders is a completely viable option once again, but with the majority of the Denver Broncos' ownership likely being tied to him after his hyper-efficient 10-135-1 line, Thomas seems like the sharp pivot. Thomas saw only one fewer target than Sanders in Week 1.
Case Keenum is known as a game-manager, but he did attempt 39 passes in Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks, and while the game script might not be quite as in his favor this week, the matchup is equally as tasty. This game owns a surprising 46.0 over/under, with the Broncos implied for 26.25 of those points.
The Oakland Raiders traded away Khalil Mack before Week 1, and it showed on Monday night, as they forced just three hurries on Jared Goff according to Pro Football Focus. Goff threw for 233 yards and 2 touchdowns in that game, and Keenum will similarly pick them apart if he has that much time to sit in the pocket on Sunday.
Ben Hossler is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Ben Hossler also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username oatw. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
