Week 14 of the NFL DFS season has arrived and it is time to win some big money using stacks.
While fantasy football stacks are becoming more prevalent in redraft leagues, the ability to stack players has always been one of the main strategic plays in daily fantasy.
This weekly article will focus on what are the best stack plays in a given week for DFS.
While these plays can be applicable to FanDuel and other daily fantasy sites, this article will focus primarily on DraftKings pricing.
What is stacking in DFS?
A fantasy football stack is when you take two or more players from the same team in order to double your points. This is a strategy that is especially useful in games with high over-unders.
While you are able to stack a quarterback with a running back and or a tight end, we’ll be focusing on the best stacks available between a quarterback and a wide receiver.
What is most important when stacking in DFS?
What is most important to pay attention to, with or without stacking, is a player's cost and their ultimate output of points.
For example: QB Jalen Hurts had an average cost of $6,700 last season and had five weeks in which he scored 4x his weekly cost.
Ultimately, factoring in the elements of stacking players along with a strong return on investment on players' costs will put you in the best position to cash in this season.
Week 14 NFL DFS Stacks & Picks for DraftKings, FanDuel
Without further ado, here are some of the best DFS stack options for Week 14 of the 2022 NFL season:
QB Geno Smith ($6,200) & WR DK Metcalf ($7,100), Seahawks vs Panthers
- Combined Price: $13,300 -26.6% of lineup salary
Just like we all predicted, Geno Smith currently sits seventh in quarterback scoring. One thing that we can predict is that stacking Smith with DK Metcalf this week will lead to daily fantasy profits.
If you are just quickly glancing at points allowed, some would fear this could be a letdown week as the Seahawks play a Panthers team allowing the 12th-fewest points to opposing quarterbacks.
Looking closer at those rankings and numbers, Smith has had seven games of 20 or more points scored. Four of those games have come in the last four weeks.
Among those games were the Buccaneers who are allowing the ninth fewest points to the position and the Rams who are 13th.
In regards to passing games, it is also fair to question the strength of schedule that the Panthers have faced. The Panthers have played six games where their opponent ranked in the bottom twelve in league passing yards.
The other appealing thing for Smith on top of his play this season is his price tag. This week we see the Seahawks quarterback sitting with a price tag of just $6,200.
Among the quarterbacks that are sitting in the top 10 of DraftKings scoring this season, Smith is one of two players to be priced at less than $6,500 this week.
Even more of an oddity, while being tied for third with 22 passing touchdowns this season, Smith’s price tag has yet to rise higher than it is right now. For whatever reason, he is still flying below the DraftKings radar.
When it comes to catching passes from Smith, both DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett are more than serviceable options. Even with Lockett being priced $600 less, my recommendation for this week in particular is to go with Metcalf.
Again, this has less to do with Lockett, who is also deserving of the nod. My eyes are on Metcalf based off of his last few weeks of production.
Metcalf currently has five games with 70 or more receiving yards and three of those games have come in the last three weeks. This would include 127 yards receiving last week and tying a career-high 15 targets in Week 12.
In regards to what the Panthers are giving up in regards to wide receiver fantasy points, they are one of 11 teams that have allowed less than 100 points in the last three weeks.
As previously stated though, look beyond those numbers. The last three Panthers came against the Falcons, Ravens, and Broncos. None of those wide receiver rooms hold a candle to what the Seahawks are capable of.
QB Jared Goff ($5,600) & WR Amon-Ra St. Brown ($7,800), Lions vs Vikings
- Combined Price: $13,400 – 26.8% of lineup salary
If the season ended today, the Detroit Lions would rank 10th in the NFL in points scored for just the sixth time in the last 30 years.
Luckily for us DFS players, there is still plenty of time to capitalize on the Lions offense and the suggestion this week is that you do so with Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Last week, Goff was the fourth-best quarterback of the week. That game would include his third game with 300 or more yards passing, two of which have come at home.
The home games mentioned are due in large part to Goff crushing it at home this season.
While the Lions have played two more games at home than on the road, Goff throwing 17 of his 19 touchdowns at home is hard to ignore.
In those home games this season, the Lions quarterback is averaging 22.28 points per game.
In order to surpass three times his DraftKings price, Goff would need to score 16.8 points.
Then there is the Vikings defense that has allowed 20 or more points to opposing quarterbacks in five of their last six games.
There should be no shortcoming of passing yards for Goff in this game either as the Vikings are allowing an average of 342 passing yards in their last three games.
Then there is Amon-Ra St. Brown, who has surpassed 100 yards receiving in three out of his last four games.
Eventually, the rookie Jameson Williams will creep in on the Lions target share but now, St. Brown still remains the top target.
In his 11 games played this season, St. Brown has seen less than eight targets in a game twice.
One of those games was against the Cowboys where the Lions pass catcher had a concussion scare.
If you are going to continue to bask in the Lions' offensive success, you might as well make a profit off of it.
QB Kirk Cousins ($6,100) & WR Justin Jefferson ($9,000), Vikings vs Lions
- Combined Price: $15,100 -30.2% of lineup salary
The Lions’ fantasy football success this season has not been one-sided as their opponents have also been putting up points. Assuming that role this weekend will be the stack of Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson.
Jefferson really needs no introduction. As we head into this week, the Vikings star receiver is tied for a league-high five receptions of over 40 yards.
The magic word in fantasy is opportunity and for Jefferson, opportunities for touchdowns are abound. Headed into Week 14, Jefferson leads all wide receivers with 34 red zone targets.
It is no shock that with these sorts of stats that Jefferson has six games with 20 or more fantasy points scored and ranks fourth at his position on the season.
Then there is Kirk Cousins and a large key to his success this weekend will be thanks to his opposing defense.
Over the last three weeks, the Lions have allowed the second most points to the quarterback position. Their defense has also had four games in which they allowed more than 30 points to the position, which is tied for the league-high.
In order for Cousins to score three times his DraftKings price tag, the Vikings quarterback will need to return at least 18.3 points. The Lions are allowing 25.2 points on a per game basis.
Another thing to keep in mind is that some of the Lions players are dealing with flu-like symptoms, including Jeff Okudah who missed practice on Thursday.
It might concern some to see that Cousins only had 173 yards passing this past week. It should be noted that he went up against a Jets defense that is allowing the third-fewest passing yards in the league.
It would also help to know in Cousins’s 11-year career, there have only been two other times in which he has had consecutive games with less than 200 yards passing. A bounce back game in terms of yardage is coming and the Lions are just the defense to make it happen.
QB Mike White ($5,500) & WR Garrett Wilson ($5,900), Jets vs Bills
- Combined Price: $11,400 – 22.8% of lineup salary
While the opponent is not as promising, this is the second week in a row in which I will nominate the Jets stack of Mike White and Garrett Wilson.
For those who have rostered White over the last two weeks, the Jets quarterback has given a solid return on his investment.
In two starts this season, White has thrown for 684 yards with three passing touchdowns and one rushing. Those sort of numbers have led him to two games of over 20 fantasy points.
With the Bills being listed as a 10-point favorite, Vegas is suggesting that this game can get away from the Jets. That will obviously lead to more passing from the Jets where the playcallers have shown they have issue with White throwing the ball.
Just last week, offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur had White attempt 57 passes, more than any quarterback on the week.
As for the opposing defense, the Bills defense is eighth in fewest points allowed to the position. Lately though, the defense has become a little more fantasy friendly. In the last four weeks the Bills have allowed 42.3% of their points to the quarterback position.
Their secondary has also had 56 missed tackles on passing plays. That all bodes well for White but also for his favorite target, Garrett Wilson.
In each of White’s two starts, Wilson has led the Jets in targets. Included in that is his 15 targets last week against the Vikings.
Those targets resulted in 162 yards receiving and 27.2 fantasy points scored. With Wilson tallying 32.5% of his season receiving yards in the last two weeks, there is no reason to anticipate the attention to subside.
All of these numbers coupled with Wilson being priced at $5,900 is making him a hard player to ignore. As always stated in these articles, return on investment is key when playing DFS.
For Wilson to score three times his price this week, the Jets star receiver will need to score at least 17.7 points. Considering that he is averaging 19.7 yards per reception with White under center, it is hard to imagine a world in which Wilson doesn’t hit that 17.7 mark.
No matter if the Jets win or lose, the DFS stack of White and Wilson will continue to thrive.
