Week 1 NFL DFS Stacks for DraftKings

Just a few short years ago the only stacks I was worried about on a Sunday morning was a huge pile of pancakes covered in butter and syrup.  I’m not kidding.  Now all week long I try and focus on what stacks may be the most profitable on Sundays in the biggest and best GPP tournaments Daily Fantasy Sports has to offer.  If you look back at some of the winners in last season’s millionaire makers and even the teams that had big time sweats there were variations of stacking that helped them lap the field.  Whether it was everyone’s favorite Boston sweat with a home town Patriots fan taking the entire offense to win himself a million bucks or it was the off the radar Joe “100 Million Dollar Man” Flacco and his Ravens receivers winning a million dollars.  Every week I’ll talk about my favorite stacks and even some offenses I wish I could stack, but ultimately can’t.

Dallas Cowboys Stack –

Tony Romo 7300 –  Romo is pretty mid-priced when it comes to week one QBs and it;’s almost too good to be true with the way he has played against the Giants the last few years.  The Giants are in even worse shape now then they were the last few years as they have a very suspect safety tandem to go along with a JPP-less pass rush.  The only thing holding me back from using Tony Romo more (besides my Giants fandom) is the fact that the Giants might be equally as bad against the run as they may start Markus Kuhn at DT and an undrafted FA rookie at MLB with Jon Beason out.

Dez Bryant 8700 – Dez Bryant gets up for games against the NFC East.  He demands the ball and he makes big plays.  He also is 500 cheaper than Odell Beckham Jr. on the Giants.  Dez is one of the players I am getting in my lineups even when I’m not stacking Cowboys.

Jason Witten 4000 – Witten kills the Giants.  The Giants usually play some form of cover 2 to help over the top with Dez Bryant and it leaves their linebackers exposed to the wiley veteran.  With Rob Gronkowski not available because he played on Thursday Witten gets a bump for me as far as playability and if you’re stacking Cowboys he can be a very good edition.

Terrance Williams 4000 vs. Cole Beasley 3400 – I have seen a lot of touting of Beasley as a solid option because of the Giants struggles at the slot corner position and with their safeties and linebackers not at their best.  I think he could have been a real key if the Giants were going to keep pace with the Cowboys or lead the Cowboys on Sunday, but I think the game may be more about the Cowboys controlling the Giants and the Giants struggling a bit with no Victor Cruz and a beat up offensive line.  Because of that i would rather go with Williams as an option make some big downfield plays off of play-action with inexperienced or over-aggressive safeties back there.

Arizona Cardinals Stack –

Carson Palmer 6500 – Palmer is coming back from major knee surgery, but has looked great this preseason.  He was borderline dominant early last year and has a ton of passing weapons at his disposal in Arizona.  This week he gets a very bad New Orleans Saints defense in a game where there may be some big time scoring as Drew Brees and company try to keep pace.

John Brown 4500 – Brown burst on the scene last season before struggling with out Carson Palmer in the lineup.  Brown has elite speed and actually worked with Carson Palmer all summer to get their timing down.  That bodes well as both a fantasy sleeper and as low priced/high upside play week one against a bad Saints secondary.

Larry Fitzgerald 5500 – Honestly I love his pricing this week and I love that he’ll be under owned because most think he’s almost done.  Last season Fitz excelled when Palmer was at the helm and he is a nice complement play as some people may stack Palmer and Brown and then go elsewhere to fill the rest of their squad.

Michael Floyd 5800 – Floyd is a bit over priced with the questions surrounding his injury.  If Floyd was completely healthy I would like him because of his big play ability, but in week one his injury status makes Fitz and Brown more appealing targets.

Philadelphia Eagles Stack

Sam Bradford 6900 – Bradford’s pricing is just about right if you consider the risk versus the reward with his injury history and newness to the offense.  The over under on the game is so high (54) that even if the Falcons defense did look improved, they don’t, you would target this game.  I’m tempted to instead cherry pick this game instead of stack because of the fact that it will be used a bunch.

Jordan Matthews 7200 – Matthews is going to be the go-to-guy this year fir the Eagles in the passing game.  With Matthews occupying the slot it means he will stay away from the Falcons best cover corner, Desmond Trufant.  I love Matthews this week and may be playing him even more over on FanDuel.

Nelson Agholor 5700 – I expect the rookie to be involved early and often, but his match up against Trufant actually means I may be more apt to avoid putting him in my stacks.

Brent Celek 2500 – With Zach Ertz a game time decision Brent Celek could become a nice option as a stackable punt play.  With the high over/under and increase in snaps and possible usage Celek becomes very intriguing. Plus he’ll be owned at less than 1%, which is nice.

Sneaky Stack***

Detroit Lions Stack –

Matthew Stafford 7000 – Stafford is everyone’s favorite whipping boy because of his inconsistency and his maddening mechanics, but he has put up huge games in the past.  If the Lions were opening at home I would expect the Lions stack to get a lot of looks, but because they are on the road they are going to be under used.  The pluses for Stafford are the return of a healthy Calvin Johnson, continued presence of Golden Tate and the additions of last year’s first round pick Eric Ebron and this year’s draft pick in Ameer Abdullah.

Ameer Abdullah 4000 – A running back in your stack?  Yep, Abdullah is going to be featured in the passing game and will get quite a few touches against a less than impressive defense.  Could make the Chargers look silly if he badly outplays Melvin Gordon.

Calvin Johnson 8500 – Let’s make this short…..he’s fricking Megatron!  No bigger ceiling on a WR than what Johnson has the potential to do on the field.

Golden Tate 6300 – Tate is 800 cheaper than Keenan Allen who’s on the other side of the ball this week.  The price is really inviting for a secondary option with big play ability.

Eric Ebron 2900 – Ebron will forever be one of the guys drafted ahead of Odell Beckham Jr., but he can do something to soften that image with a big sophomore season.   The reports have been pretty good on Ebron this off season and the release of Joseph Fauria has to be a pretty good sign that he’s going to get some snaps this year.  The reson I really like him is his ability to stretch the field in the seam and that could mean he makes a few big plays at a nice low price to make his DFS owners happy.

Who I’m Not Stacking and Why:

Miami Dolphins – I like Ryan Tannehill this week, but I have no clue who is going to get snaps and usage besides Lamar Miller and Jarvis Landry int he Dolphins offense.  I want some clarity instead of throwing darts this week with as many good options as there are.

Green Bay Packers – Aaron Rodgers is never a bad option, but with Jordy Nelson out for the year and Randall Cobb nursing an AC Joint Sprain it makes playing a stack with the Packers difficult.  Especially with a bunch of the field owning the cheap Davante Adams.

Indianapolis Colts – I can actually see the headline now.  Ultimate Contrarian Play wins 2 MIL.  I’m not buying it, but I’m sure there will be lineups stacking Colts against the Bills knowing that people are shying away from the very tough Bills defense.