Week 17 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 17 NFL DFS Stacks & Picks for DraftKings, FanDuel
Without further ado, here are some of the best DFS stack options for Week 17 of the 2022 NFL season:
QB Jared Goff ($5,600) & WR Amon-Ra St. Brown ($7,800), Lions vs Bears
- Combined Price: $13,400 – 26.8% of lineup salary
If you are looking for a stack in which both players rank in the top 12 at their respective positions, Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St.Brown is the stack for you.
Week 17 will represent the Lions’ second meeting with the Bears this season. While Goff managed just 14.84 points in that first matchup, this week’s game will be played in Detroit where the Lions signal caller has thrived.
Goff has now thrown 20 of his 26 touchdowns at Ford Field this season. On top of that, he has thrown for 475 more yards at home than on the road.
With these sorts of numbers, it should come as no surprise that Goff is averaging 23.1 points in his home games. In road games this season, Goff averages just 13.34 points.
Goff and the Lions will welcome a Bears team that has allowed the second-most points to quarterbacks over the last three weeks.
On top of the last three weeks, the Bears have allowed an average of 20.9 points per road game to quarterbacks.
Allowing points to the position has seen a noticeable increase since the Bears traded Robert Quinn and Roquan Smith in the matter of a week, between Weeks 8 and 9.
Five of the six games in which the Bears allowed 20+ points to an opposing quarterback have come since those trades were made.
While Goff had a subpar performance the last time the Lions played the Bears, St. Brown was business as usual as he hauled in 10 receptions for 119 yards.
That performance resulted in 25.1 points scored and serves as one of St. Brown’s five games with 20+ points scored. The other four games where St. Brown surpassed 20 points were all home games.
In order for the duo of Goff and St. Brown to surpass their combined 3X cost, they will need to score a combined 40.2 points. Headed into this matchup, they are averaging a combined 47.1 points per game at Ford Field.
Connecting dots at this point should be fairly easy. The Lions’ passing attack is much better at home and this is a great week to bank on it.
QB Carson Wentz ($5,100) & WR Curtis Samuel ($4,400), Commanders vs Browns
- Combined Price: $9,500 – 19.0% of lineup salary
It was announced by Commanders coach Ron Rivera this week that Carson Wentz will be the starting quarterback moving forward. That move has me headed to my DFS lineups and adding Wentz and Curtis Samuel as a Week 17 stack.
Upon the announcement, I was immediately reminded of the earlier season success that Wentz and Samuel shared. In the first two weeks of the season, the Commanders duo combined for an average of 53.8 points per game.
When Wentz was inserted into the fourth quarter of last week’s game against the 49ers, he immediately went back to targeting Samuel.
With less than 10 minutes left in the game, Samuel saw three of his five targets and scored a 20-yard touchdown. All of that resulted in the Commanders’ pass catcher scoring 16.4 points.
The other intriguing thing is that you are getting Wentz and Samuel at a discount. Heading into Week 2, the stack came at a combined cost of $12,400. They are $2,900 cheaper this week.
With most people leaning towards Jahan Dotson, Samuel is likely to have a low exposure, yet another reason why Samuel is an intriguing play this week.
Both players produced under Wentz in those first two games but it was Samuel who scored more fantasy points.
As for the Browns, they are not the easiest opponent but that does not always equate to bad returns. It is also worth noting that the Browns have not had the hardest schedule, either. Their last games have been against the likes of Tyler Huntley and Andy Dalton.
I will grant you that this is not the eye-popping stack you anticipated seeing but do not be surprised when both Wentz and Samuel score over 20 points.
QB Mike White ($5,400) & WR Garrett Wilson ($5,500), Jets vs Seahawks
- Combined Price: $10,900 – 21.8% of lineup salary
While the Jets have been on a downward spiral, their fans rejoiced when the news was announced that Mike White was cleared by the team doctors in time for Week 17. DFS players should equally rejoice as this means that the connection of White and Garrett Wilson.
Before he was physically dismantled by the Buffalo Bills, White had back-to-back 20-point games. That included 684 yards passing.
For White to surpass three times his DFS price, the Jets signal caller will need to score at least 16.2 points. On top of those two games from White, the Seahawks defense is allowing 18.3 points per game to quarterbacks.
Wilson was a big beneficiary of White’s success. In those two games, the rookie wide receiver was targeted 23 times and had 257 yards receiving.
Much like White, those numbers also resulted in back-to-back 20-point games. With the exception of Week 2, those two games with White at quarterback were Wilson’s best fantasy football outings.
Also comforting is the Jets’ willingness to pass. Headed into Week 17, the Jets have the eighth-highest pass rate in the league with 61.43%. With a competent quarterback under center, there is little reason to suspect that will change.
Opposing the Jets this week is a Seahawks team that is allowing the 11th-most points to quarterbacks.
If you are worried about the rib injury that White was dealing with, it is good to know that the Seahawks defense also has the sixth-fewest sacks per game in the last three weeks.
Included with the Seahawks defensive struggles is the fact that they have allowed an average of 27.6 points per game over the last five weeks.
