5 NFL FanDuel Stacks for Week 17

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 in Week 17?

New England Patriots

Quarterback: Tom Brady ($8,500)
Wide Receiver: Rob Gronkowski ($8,500)

So a massive part of this article is to find underowned stacks, but with 16 games to pick from on the main slate, no singular quarterback or stack is going to be prohibitively popular -- especially with all the value options.

Brady has been pretty bad lately, with 4 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in his past four games for an average of just 253.3 yards and 13.48 fantasy points per game. That, combined with his injuries, should cause people to look elsewhere enough that Brady is a strong tournament play. He did notch just 17.18 fantasy points against the New York Jets in Week 6, too. However, the Jets are just 25th against the pass since Week 10 by our adjusted metrics, as well as 28th in adjusted yards per attempt in that split. If Brady's New England Patriots win, they lock up home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Gronkowski turned his 10 targets into 6 catches, 83 yards, and 2 touchdowns against the Jets back in Week 6, and he's locked in now, with 15.2 FanDuel points or more in four straight games -- coinciding with Brady's weak stretch. With Travis Kelce and Zach Ertz off the radar, Gronk's realistic upside is significantly higher than any other tight end's this week.

San Francisco 49ers

Quarterback: Jimmy Garoppolo ($7,700)
Wide Receiver: Marquise Goodwin ($6,900)

Garoppolo is playing like the league's best quarterback, per our metrics, and he just dropped a season-high 22.98 FanDuel points against the league's best pass defense a week ago. Now, he faces the Los Angeles Rams, who are resting starters, which will knock their seventh-ranked pass defense (from Week 10 on) well down the ranks. Garoppolo is an easy sell this week.

Goodwin has a 27% market share in games started by Garoppolo this season, as well as a 40% air yards market share, per AirYards.com. That's essentially (better than) Dez Bryant's usage on the full season. Goodwin had actually averaged 11 targets per game in Garoppolo's first three starts before getting just 6 (of 30) last week. It's not clear how far the Rams' defense will dip in talent come kickoff on Sunday, but Goodwin's tallies of 13.9, 13.6, and 17.4 FanDuel points entering last week would be welcomed at his price.

Los Angeles Chargers

Quarterback: Philip Rivers ($8,300)
Wide Receiver: Keenan Allen ($8,600)

Branden Oliver offers some value for the Los Angeles Chargers, and that could leave this duo a bit overlooked if people are scrounging for value at running back on the same team. The Chargers do need to win and get a little help to make the playoffs. Oakland is 12th against the pass since Week 10, but the Chargers are 2nd offensively. Rivers has averaged 300 yards and 18.17 fantasy points per game since that Week 10 bye.

Allen does have a sticky slot matchup this week, but if Melvin Gordon misses, the added volume should make up for it. Allen has had eight targets or more in six straight games. The Chargers' 25-point implied team total is a top-five mark on the entire slate, and for them to reach that mark, Allen will certainly be involved. The price of $8,600 should look too high, as he's had just 8.8 and 7.9 FanDuel points in the past two games.

Atlanta Falcons

Quarterback: Matt Ryan ($7,400)
Wide Receiver: Julio Jones ($8,400)

The Carolina Panthers are 10th against the pass since their Week 11 bye and have given up at least 269 passing yards in five straight games since then. They've given up 19.78 FanDuel points per games to quarterbacks in that split, so this may finally be the chance for Ryan to show some semblance of a ceiling, as he hasn't hit 20 fantasy points yet this season. Despite the poor fantasy outings, Ryan's Atlanta Falcons are fourth in per-play passing efficiency by our metrics since Week 10. If regression hits, this could be his best outing of the season in a game where the Falcons can win a playoff spot with a victory.

Julio Jones doesn't need much persuasion if you've already been sold on Ryan based on the matchup. The Panthers are 27th in receiving FanDuel points per target to wide receivers since Week 10. He got 12 targets (6 catches, 118 yards, 14.8 FanDuel points) against Carolina in Week 9, and he's second in target market share among wide receivers over the past five games. Jones has just three games all season with more than 15.0 FanDuel points, but he did just that last week with 18.4 on his 11 targets.

Indianapolis Colts

Quarterback: Jacoby Brissett ($6,600)
Wide Receiver: T.Y. Hilton ($6,700)

The Houston Texans are getting toasted, ranking 30th against the pass since Week 10 by our metrics. They're 31st in both FanDuel points per attempt to quarterbacks and per target to wide receivers. Brissett has lacked a ceiling, with fewer than 20 fantasy points in every game since Week 4, but the matchup and stacking potential are too good too pass up entirely if you're playing in huge tournaments this weekend, as Houston has allowed more than 21 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks since their Week 7 bye. Also, Brissett had 19.52 in Week 9 against Houston.

Hilton has 19 targets over the past two weeks, and again, the Texans are 31st against wideouts on a per-target basis. In Week 9, Hilton had 175 yards and 2 touchdowns against this team. The best part of all is that you can run this back with DeAndre Hopkins ($9,100).