NFL

4 NFL FanDuel Stacks for Week 8

Griffin Swanson  —  @griffinrswanson Oct 25th, 2019

It’s Week 8 of the NFL regular season, and we’re back to discuss my favorite Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) stacks for this week. There are five games on the FanDuel main slate projected for an over/under of 47.5 points or more, which could lead to several games shooting out. We also have five teams projected to score at least 28-points this week, which should lead to several high scoring players.

In this article, I will reflect my favorite DFS stacks for this week. These decisions are made by using player projections, Vegas implied team totals and player ownership projections.

Tennessee Titans

Ryan Tannehill ($6,900) and Corey Davis ($5,500)

Kicking off this week’s DFS stacks may come as a surprise to some people, as it involves two Tennessee Titans players. Starting with Titans quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, who is set to start his second straight game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This is a great spot for Tannehill to continue his rather impressive performance against the Los Angeles Chargers last week, where he threw for 312 passing yards and two touchdowns.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers passing defense has been a focal point to target for opposing teams this season. They’re currently allowing 0.16 Adjusted Defensive Passing Net Expected Points (NEP) per play – which is the 12th worst across the league. That’s significantly worse than their run defense, who currently ranks 1st overall in Adjusted Defensive Rushing NEP per play.

Per our DFS Heatmap, we currently have the Titans scoring an implied total of 24-points. Tannehill and the Titans passing game should be the primary reason for most of those points.

I like stacking Corey Davis with Tannehill this week. Davis is coming off his second-best performance this season, where he turned seven targets into six receptions, 80 receiving yards and one touchdown. Davis led all Titans receivers with a 75% snap count last week and is projected to see a 78.06% snap count in Week 8. He’ll run a majority of his routes against Buccaneers cornerback, Carlton Davis, who PFF has ranked 85 of 114 qualified cornerbacks in 2019. Per PFF’s wide receiver/cornerback matchup chart, Corey Davis has a 17% advantage over Carlton Davis – a stat we’re always trying to leverage.

Seattle Seahawks

Russell Wilson ($8,600) and D.K. Metcalf ($6,600)

I’m going back to a Seattle Seahawks stack that I’ve targeted a couple of times already this season with Russell Wilson and D.K. Metcalf. Their matchup this week is just too good to ignore against the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons defense currently has the second-worst total Defensive NEP, as well as the second-worst Defensive Passing NEP - currently allowing 0.47 Adjusted Defensive Passing NEP per play.

Russell Wilson should have a field day against this Falcons defense. Per our DFS projections, we currently have Wilson projected to score the second-most points among all quarterbacks on the FanDuel main slate this week. He’s projected to throw for 273.65 yards and 2.38 touchdowns. We also have him projected to rush for 26.70 yards.

Per Pro Football Reference, the Atlanta Falcons are currently allowing 24.9 FanDuel points per game to opposing quarterbacks – the most across the entire league. Wilson has both the talent and upside to exceed his projections, especially if the Falcons are able to lead in this game or keep it close.

Stack Wilson up with D.K. Metcalf this week. Metcalf has yet to have a ceiling game this season but will have every opportunity to do so this week against an abysmal Falcons defense. He’s set to line up against Falcons cornerback, Isaiah Oliver, and he currently has a 22% advantage over him. That ranks 12th best across all wide receiver/cornerback matchups on the Fanduel Main Slate.

Through the first seven weeks of this season, Metcalf has seen a 75.98% snap count rate and an 18.78% team target share, which ranks second among all Seahawks skill position players (minus Russell Wilson). We currently have Metcalf projected for 6.27 targets, 55.22 receiving yards and, 0.45 touchdowns. Similar to Wilson’s situation above, Metcalf has both the talent and upside against this Falcons defense to exceed his current projections.

Houston Texans

Deshaun Watson ($8,400) and Kenny Stills ($5,700)

The Houston Texans have one of the better matchup situations all around this week against the Oakland Raiders. We saw the @Green Bay Packers decimate this defense last week for 42-points, where Aaron Rodgers threw for 429 passing yards and five touchdowns. While it’s hard to follow-up from that type of performance, it’s not crazy to think we could see Deshaun Watson post similar numbers this week. We saw him throw for 426 passing yards and five touchdowns just three weeks ago against the Atlanta Falcons.

The Houston Texans are currently implied to score 29.25-points against the Raiders this week, the third-most on the FanDuel main slate. We currently have Watson projected to score 23.5 FanDuel points - the most among all quarterbacks on the main slate. Oddly enough, the Raiders are currently allowing 23.5 FanDuel points per game to opposing quarterbacks this season, exactly what we have Watson projected for. In Watson’s 31 career NFL games, he’s not once failed to score a touchdown:

With the ability to beat the Raiders through both his passing and rushing game, it’s safe to say Watson should meet and/or exceed the 23.5 FanDuel points he’s currently projected for.

While I wouldn’t shy away from stacking Watson with DeAndre Hopkins this week, you can give your DFS lineups a contrarian edge by stacking him with Kenny Stills instead. Per PFF’s ownership projections, Stills is projected to be owned in 8.73% of FanDuel lineups, whereas Hopkins is projected to be in 19.45% of FanDuel lineups.

With Texans wide receiver, Will Fuller, sitting out this week, Stills is set to slide into the number two wide receiver role. As the number two receiver, Stills is set to face Raiders cornerback, Daryl Worley, and he currently has a 32% advantage over him. That ranks second-best across all wide receiver/cornerback matchups on the main slate. With a 13.2 average Depth Of Target (aDOT), Stills’ will look to beat Worley with his speed. Stills’ runs a 4.38-second 40-yard dash, compared to Worley’s 4.64-second 40-yard dash, and should find separation from the cornerback all game.

Detroit Lions and New York Giants

Matthew Stafford ($7,700), Kenny Golladay ($6,700) and Saquon Barkley ($8,600)

One of my favorite stacks this week is a game stack between the Detroit Lions and New York Giants. I particularly like stacking up Lions’ quarterback Matthew Stafford with his wide receiver, Kenny Golladay, and then running it back with Giants’ running back, Saquon Barkley.

Matthew Stafford is coming off of his best game this season last week against the Minnesota Vikings. Albeit the Lions were playing from behind most of this game, Stafford showed us he’s still very capable of putting up 30-plus FanDuel points any given week. He’ll look to continue his strong play this week against a New York Giants defense who has allowed 0.19 Adjusted Defensive Passing NEP per play this season – the ninth-most across the league. With Lions starting running back, Kerryon Johnson, being put on the IR this week, the Lions should lean even more on their passing game going forward. That boasts well for Stafford, who’s team is projected to score 28-points this week - the sixth-most on the main slate.

Should the Lions lean on their passing game as I expect them to this week, Kenny Golladay should be the biggest beneficiary of that, among all Lions’ wide receivers. We currently have Golladay projected to score 13.2 FanDuel points this week - the fifth-most among all wide receivers on the main slate – but his ceiling score could go well beyond that considering his matchup. Golladay is set to line up against Giants cornerback, Deandre Baker, and he currently has a 35% advantage over him – the best wide receiver/cornerback matchup on the main slate. Baker currently ranks 112 of 114 qualified cornerbacks in 2019, and Golladay should have his way with him all game.

I like running this stack back with Saquon Barkley. When rostering a running back in your DFS lineups, you’re hoping that a player's team can get out to an early lead and maintain that lead throughout the second half of the game. That typically leads into a run-heavy game script and creates more opportunities for the running backs you’ve rostered. However, when it comes to Barkley, that doesn’t matter. Whether the Giants are leading or losing significantly in any game, you can expect Barkley to be on the field. He’s an exceptional talent both via the running and passing game.

Barkley has one of the best matchups he’ll see all season against the Lions rushing defense this week. We saw Minnesota Vikings running back, Dalvin Cook, decimate this defense for 142 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in Week 7 – numbers Barkley is certainly capable of matching or exceeding.

We currently have Barkley projected to score 21.0 FanDuel points this week – the second-most of any running back on the main slate. He’s also projected to see 8.19 targets as well – the most among any running back.

Griffin Swanson is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Griffin Swanson also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username GriffDogg_. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel. (edited)