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Matt Terelle offers up optimal DFS stacks for Week 9 of the NFL season. These GPP tournament stacks are worth considering on FanDuel and DraftKings daily fantasy sports games.
Hey there RotoBallers! Week 8 saw the dramatic return of Drew Brees following his early-season thumb surgery. The Saints just kept rolling, posting 31 points on the leaky Arizona defense. The Eagles and Lions also each hung 31 points on their opponents while the Tevin Coleman-led 49ers went crazy on Carolina with 51 points.
The goal of this weekly column will be to locate some of the best DFS stacks each week. Stacking, or pairing a quarterback with one of his pass-catchers, is a great way to maximize the number of points scored. This method is generally viewed as a strategy in tournaments, but I also have no problem using safe, high-floor stacks in cash games, as well.
The top Week 9 DFS stacks will be listed below, loosely sorted by my preference. This article will center on the main slate (1:00 PM and 4:00 PM Sunday) games across both DraftKings and FanDuel. Each stack will reference two pass-catchers along with their quarterback. The pass-catchers will be listed in preferential order but sometimes a three-man stack is in play as full-game stacks led to several wins in the Milly Maker in 2018. If you feel strongly about how an offense will perform in a given week then consider loading up on several offensive players from that offense. All references to team defense DVOA come from Football Outsiders while cornerback and wide receiver matchups and grade references come from Pro Football Focus. Data referring to a player's air yards comes from www.airyards.com.
Week 9 DFS Stacks
Seattle Seahawks vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
QB Russell Wilson ($7,100 DraftKings, $8,600 FanDuel)
WR Tyler Lockett ($7,500 DraftKings, $7,500 FanDuel)
WR D.K. Metcalf ($5,700 DraftKings, $6,700 FanDuel)
This game has the highest over/under on the slate, coming in at a robust 51.0 points. Neither Seattle nor the Buccaneers can stop the pass, which should lead to plenty of fantasy goodness for all players involved. Even better for Russell Wilson, the Buccaneers have been excellent at stopping running backs this season, which should prevent the Seahawks from deploying their preferred run-first offensive approach. Tampa Bay's pass defense ranks 26th in the league in DVOA while they rank first overall against the run. As usual, Wilson's excellent rushing skills keep his floor high while his accurate passing gives him a massive ceiling in fantasy.
The loss of Will Dissly has consolidated the targets for Tyler Lockett and rookie D.K. Metcalf. Lockett has been Wilson's top target all season but Metcalf has seen his looks in the passing game rise since Dissly's Week 6 injury. Metcalf was averaging 5.2 targets per game before the injury but has seen a 7.0 average in his two games since the tight end went down. Tampa Bay is allowing the seventh-most fantasy points per game to the wide receiver position, setting up both Lockett and Metcalf for huge afternoons.
Detroit Lions @ Oakland Raiders
QB Matthew Stafford ($6,800 DraftKings, $7,900 FanDuel)
WR Kenny Golladay ($7,700 DraftKings, $7,600 FanDuel)
WR Marvin Jones ($6,000 DraftKings, $5,700 FanDuel)
Stafford has been red-hot over his past two games, having passed for 706 yards, seven touchdowns, and two interceptions. Similar to the Buccaneers, the Raiders have a pass-funnel defense that shuts down the run while allowing opponents to throw the ball up and down the field at will. The Detroit run game sputtered without Kerryon Johnson in Week 8, with their running backs averaging just 2.69 yards per carry. That could play into Detroit's Week 9 game plan, especially if the run game struggles early again. Stafford is a top-six quarterback play this weekend.
Kenny Golladay continues to establish himself as a true alpha No. 1 wide receiver. The veteran already has six touchdowns through seven games, including a pair of games with two touchdown receptions. He will see primary coverage from left corner Daryl Worley, who is three inches shorter and runs a 4.64 40-yard dash, compared to Golladay's 4.50 wheels. This is a huge mismatch for Kenny G, who is fourth in the league with 848 air yards.
All three of the Detroit receivers have exceptional matchups, with the highest-graded Oakland corner coming in with just a 61.0 grade according to Pro Football Focus. While slot receiver Danny Amendola has the best matchup based on PFF's grades alone, he doesn't have quite the tournament-winning upside that Marvin Jones brings to the table. Jones showed that two weeks ago when he found the end zone four times against the Vikings. Amendola is a solid play in his own right but he's better as a cash-game consideration while Jones should be teed up in GPPs. Since we focus more on GPPs in this article, Jones prevails as the preferred play over Amendola this weekend.
Oakland Raiders vs. Detroit Lions
QB Derek Carr ($5,500 DraftKings, $7,300 FanDuel)
TE Darren Waller ($6,300 DraftKings, $6,800 FanDuel)
WR Tyrell Williams ($5,900 DraftKings, $6,300 FanDuel)
While the focus in this game will likely be on the Lions, don't sleep on an Oakland offense that has been much better than expected in 2019. Derek Carr has been a solid performer, ranking as mid-range QB2 across most formats. While he doesn't offer as much upside as the top quarterbacks, he also allows significant savings and could turn in a big game against Detroit's No. 22-ranked pass defense according to the DVOA metric.
Waller's breakout has been a sight to behold. He continues to be peppered with targets, seeing 58 through seven games. He didn't have a huge game last week with just two catches, but one went for a touchdown and he still saw eight looks from Carr. Detroit is allowing the 11th-most fantasy points per game to the tight end position, keeping Waller in the conversation as an elite play at his position. Consider rounding out the three-man stack with deep threat Tyrell Williams. Williams has scored a touchdown in each of his five games played (he missed two games with a foot injury). Williams is expected to be shadowed by Rashaan Melvin, who has just a 47.6 grade over at PFF, although he could see some of lockdown corner Darius Slay, who has been nursing a hamstring injury for the better part of October. That isn't a huge concern considering Slay will be playing at less than 100% if he does suit up.
Under-owned Week 9 Stack
Chicago Bears @ Philadelphia Eagles
QB Mitch Trubisky ($5,000 DraftKings, $6,500 FanDuel)
WR Allen Robinson ($6,800 DraftKings, $7,200 FanDuel)
WR Taylor Gabriel ($3,900 DraftKings, $4,900 FanDuel)
Chicago quarterback Mitch Trubisky's regression at the position has been a hot topic throughout the season. The young signal-caller has had his struggles but a Week 9 showdown against a weak Philly secondary should cure what ails him, at least for a week. Philadelphia's pass defense ranks just 16th in DVOA while ranking sixth against the run. That should force Chicago to air the ball out against the Eagles. Trubisky offers some rushing upside, which is another thing working in his favor this weekend. At his cheap pricing across DraftKings and FanDuel, Trubisky is a great tournament play who is cheap enough to allow you to load up the rest of your lineup with studs.
Robinson is putting together an excellent second season with the Bears and will do battle against an undermanned Philadelphia pass defense. The Eagles are allowing the most fantasy points per game to the wide receiver position this season which sets Robinson up to smash in Week 9. Burner Taylor Gabriel rounds out a nice, three-man tournament stack this weekend. The speedy Gabriel is very volatile but when he hits, he can single-handedly swing contest results, as evidenced by his three-touchdown outing against Washington back in Week 3. Gabriel will run the majority of his routes against Ronald Darby, the owner of a 42.1 grade from PFF.
Thanks for reading, go win some money this weekend!
