Welcome to week 5 of the NFL season as we will be taking a look at some stacking options from around the league this weekend. First let’s take a look at where I went wrong last week! (I seemed to be more wrong than right overall). I definitely was not wrong about the top stack being the Green Bay Packers passing game and I did definitely suggest playing a fade might be to your advantage as the Packers offense looked like they were in coast mode from the opening kick. The rest of my top options really disappointed overall and they helped lead to a somewhat low scoring week overall. I did hit a bit on my Blake Bortles/Allen Hurns duo as they hooked up 11 times and added a TD.
The only RB/DEF stack that I nailed happened to be the nuts combo as it was Devonta Freeman and the Atlanta Falcons. Freeman made it back to back 3 TD weeks and the Falcons defense really tormented the Texans. A couple of the other combos saw some good performances from one but not the other and that is not what we are looking for when we stack the two spots together. My returner and defensive stacks did pretty much nothing but that is going to be the case more weeks than not because we are looking for KR/PR’s for TD’s.
QB/WR Stacks
My top stack for week 5 is going to be from the team hosting this weeks MNF game in San Diego. Phillip Rivers/Keenan Allen are my top duo as I think they are excellent to use in cash games and GPP’s this weekend. Allen is a target monster and the Chargers are dealing with some WR injuries right now so I expect Allen to be a big part of their offense, along with Antonio Gates (returning from suspension) and Ladarius Green. We aren’t really sure if the running game gets abandoned by the coaching staff or if Rivers just starts checking out of run plays, but we know that sometime towards the end of the first half Rivers starts chucking it and it basically continues the rest of the game. This Steelers pass defense just is not all that great and a guy that is as accurate as Rivers is should be able to pick them apart. My number two option is going back to the well with Matt Ryan/Julio Jones. Hankerson has really come on for the Falcons and he could be a sneaky add to Matt Ryan, however Ryan and Julio are in an ideal spot against the Redskins weak pass defense, while getting to play at home. The one scary thing is the game flow as we could also see pounding from Devonta Freeman (more on him later). My third combination is the Tom Brady/Julian Edelman/Rob Gronkowski trio. Looking at FD’s ownership %’s from Thursday night has me debating a fade on this stack as these 3 are all 24%+ owned in the $250K Snap. My fourth stack has me back on the trio in Green Bay as they are back at home, coming off of an easy game last week against the 49ers. Aaron Rodgers/Randall Cobb/James Jones are in an interesting spot as they face what should be a tough defense in the St Louis Rams, however Rodgers is extremely good at getting the ball out of his hands and his O-line has been ridiculous in pass protection this season. Jones’ ownership % on FD is over 3x what Cobb’s is and I find that staggering, however it is down from last week’s insanely high number. My fifth stack is going to catch you off guard a little bit but I am going to go back to the Blake Bortles/Allen Hurns/Allen Robinson trio. Robinson had the tougher match-up last week and I suggested going with just Hurns and it worked out. This week I could see going with either and we will have to make sure Hurns is active as he has been dealing with some lingering injuries.
RB/DEF Stacks
The number 1 for me is going to be somebody that has just been absolutely dominant over the last 2 weeks and that is Devonta Freeman/Atlanta. Freeman has been the fantasy MVP so far this season and I could see game flow going in his favor yet again this week as the Redskins should not offer much resistance to the Falcons high powered offense. My next combination might shock you a little bit, but Dion Lewis/New England should be in a great spot against Brandon Weeden and the Cowboys as the Patriots are coming off of a bye. Belichek is known around football to be able to game plan to take away an offense’s number 1 option and I think that could be Joseph Randle and lead the Cowboys to have to rely on Brandon Weeden. At RB for the Patriots I think you could be sneaky and ride Blount, but for my money I want Lewis as he just signed a decent little extension, which tells me the Patriots want to continue to integrate him creatively into the offense. I think Jamaal Charles/Kansas City is going to be a pretty popular stack as Charles is just super dangerous and is able to put up points in both the running and passing game. The Chiefs defense gets to face a turnover prone Jay Cutler at home in this one and I think they make one of the top defensive options this weekend. One last combination has me thinking they will be under the radar this weekend and it involves the guy that was the fantasy MVP last year, or one of the MVP’s I should say. DeMarco Murray/Philadelphia are in an interesting spot as Drew Brees and the Saints travel to Philadelphia. Murray has been a pretty big bust so far, however at some point he is going to bust out and be the back we know that he is and it could certainly happen in this one and if it does happen, I expect him to be very under owned. The Eagles defense is a great option to pair with either Murray or Sproles as their return game is extremely dangerous and their defense could certainly make some plays on Brees’ passes.
Returner/DEF Stacks
The first one I will bring is up the one I just had mentioned above as Darren Sproles/Philadelphia are such a dangerous combination and in a GPP it could pay off huge. The other combination that I am going to mention for this weekend is Travis Benjamin/Cleveland. Benjamin is supremely dangerous and the Ravens are coming into this game without their number 1 WR, their number 3 WR and their top TE. I think the Browns defense could have a sneaky decent game and if you add in a return TD from Benjamin, that could put you well ahead of your competitors. The guys that I have mentioned in previous weeks are always in play because of how dangerous they are. I think David Johnson/Arizona are in the next best spot going up against the struggling Detroit Lions.
Make sure you hit me up on Twitter with any questions you may have about individual lineups or match-ups and as always, check out our comments section below. Let me know what you think and if there is anything you would like to see be discussed on a weekly basis. Best of luck this weekend!
