4 NFL FanDuel Stacks for Week 14
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 TJ Hernandez, a quarterback's top receiver has a moderately strong correlation to the quarterback's performance -- and his tight end and second receiver aren't too far behind.
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 under-owned. Which teammates might fit the bill in Week 14 on FanDuel's main slate?
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
QB: Jameis Winston ($8,200)
WR: Mike Evans ($8,900)
Will Evans be popular this week? You better believe it. But it's for good reason. He's leading the league in targets (136) and is third in catches at 76. Even with that weak catch rate and wasted targets, he ranks fourth in per-target efficiency this year by our Reception Net Expected Points (NEP) metric. He takes his league-leading volume into a matchup against the New Orleans Saints, who are 3rd against the run by NEP and 26th against the pass since Week 7. That should force them to throw even more.
Stacking Evans with Winston helps ease the stress of Evans' ownership, too. Winston and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have the highest implied team total of the weekend at 26.75 points, and the Saints are 20th against fantasy quarterbacks, by our tools.
Indianapolis Colts
QB: Andrew Luck ($8,200)
WR: T.Y. Hilton ($7,600)
It's hard to get a real gauge on the popularity of Luck and Hilton given the matchup on paper. The Houston Texans are eighth against quarterbacks from a fantasy points perspective and fourth against receivers, by our tools. However, they've ranked 21st against the pass since Week 7 in terms of Adjusted Defensive Passing NEP per play, so they're trending the wrong way.
In their first meeting of the year, Hilton caught 3 of 9 passes for just 49 yards (6.4 FanDuel points), but that was with Kevin Johnson, A.J. Bouye, and Johnathan Joseph active. Johnson went to the injured reserve in November, and Joseph is dealing with two cracked ribs and a bruised lung. There's a reason why the Colts have a 26.25-point implied total in this one, and this pair can take advantage.
Cincinnati Bengals
QB: Andy Dalton ($7,700)
TE: Tyler Eifert ($6,700)
Let's try to save some cash with the next two stacks. Dalton and Eifert travel to face the Cleveland Browns, who are 30th against fantasy quarterbacks this year, 29th against fantasy tight ends this season, and 32nd in overall defense and pass defense by NEP since Week 7. The implied total of 24.25 isn't exciting, but the price doesn't necessitate massive outputs here.
As 5.5-point favorites, the game script should include positive passing efficiency against such a weak defense, and that's a big factor for tight ends, especially touchdown-dependent ones like Eifert. Running back Jeremy Hill figures to be fairly popular at just $6,900, and if the scores come from this stack rather than Hill, you can get a leg up in tournaments.
Washington
QB: Kirk Cousins ($7,600)
WR: DeSean Jackson ($5,800)
Cousins was a tough start on the road last season, but he has thrown for 10 scores and 3 interceptions away from home this year in six games -- compared to 11 and 5 at home in as many games. He owns an adjusted yards per attempt of 8.31 at home and 8.05 on the road. This Philadelphia Eagles team does rank fifth in the league by Adjusted Defensive Passing NEP per play since Week 7, but they have also allowed 47 pass plays of 20 yards or more (most in the NFL), per Rich Hribar. Cousins is third in the NFL in completions of that distance, per Hribar.
Jackson has played 72%, 75%, and 75% of snaps in his past three games, on par with his usual numbers. The long-ball threat -- Jackson is third in yards at the catch per reception among players with at least 30 catches -- could break one. At this price, one is really all you need.
