Week 1 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 of investment on players' costs will put you in the best position to cash in this season.
Week 1 NFL DFS Stacks & Picks for DraftKings, FanDuel
Without further ado, here are some of the best DFS stack options for Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season:
QB Kirk Cousins ($6,100) & WR Justin Jefferson ($7,800), Vikings vs. Packers
- Combined Price: $13,900 – 27.8% of lineup salary
In their last four meetings, the Vikings and Packers have combined for an average of 59.7 points and at the forefront of that scoring have been Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson.
Looking back at last season, the Vikings played the Packers in Weeks 11 and 17. While Cousins did not play in Week 17, the tandem of Cousins and Jefferson crushed the Packers in Week 11 as they combined for 68.44 points.
Taking a look at combined points allowed on a per-game basis to quarterbacks and wide receivers combined, the Packers were tied for second with 15 games of allowing 40 points or more. That would include three games allowing 80 combined points or more.
One could play devil's advocate and say that the Vikings are working under a new offensive scheme and the Packers have one of the best defenses they have had in years, they’re not wrong on either take.
However, I will willingly rely on Cousins and Jefferson now entering year three as a tandem and the likelihood that this score will hover or pass its over/under of 48 points.
Here is a quick honorable mention, if devoting 27.8% of your DraftKings salary is too rich for your blood, consider pairing Cousins with Adam Thielen.
Pairing those two in your lineup will lower the salary percentage to 23%. The $5,400 price tag for Thielen is his lowest DraftKings cost since Week 2 of 2017.
In the veteran Vikings receiver’s last two games against the Packers, Thielen averaged 28.1 points scored.
QB Aaron Rodgers ($7,000) & WR Randall Cobb ($3,400), Packers vs Vikings
- Combined Price: ($10,400) – 20.8% of lineup salary
All the talk this offseason has been about life after Davante Adams for Aaron Rodgers.
For those who are worried, it is important to note that Rodgers threw for 24,197 yards, 188 touchdowns, and 52 interceptions before Adams even entered the league.
This week, I’m suggesting stacking Rodgers with a player who was in Green Bay before Rodgers, Randall Cobb.
On top of his $3,400 price tag, what makes Cobb an interesting play for Week 1 is the fact that the Packers are already dealing with injuries at the wide receiver position.
As of this writing, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur is hopeful that Christian Watson will be able to play on Sunday. There is also Allen Lazard who did not practice on Thursday due to an ankle injury.
With all of this uncertainty surrounding the Packers' wide receivers, sometimes things in fantasy and DFS can be assessed without numbers. It has been widely documented for years that Aaron Rodgers is a quarterback who likes to throw to who he knows and does not always rely on rookie pass-catchers.
Randall Cobb has played 10 of his 12 seasons with the Packers and runs the type of underneath route that Rodgers will be looking for in this offense.
If Lazard is limited this week, my prediction is that Cobb surpasses his season-high six targets from last season, and remember, DraftKings is a point per reception format.
Across the field from the Packers is a Minnesota Vikings defense that had nine games last season in which they allowed 60 or more combined points to opposing quarterbacks and wide receivers.
The only team worse than that was the Tennessee Titans with 10. So no matter if you stack the Vikings and start Randall Cobb, or stack the Packers and start Justin Jefferson, there are DFS points to be had in this Packers and Vikings matchup.
QB Matt Ryan ($5,500) & WR Michael Pittman ($5,500), Colts vs Texans
- Combined Price: $11,000 – 22% of lineup salary
Michael Pittman enters his third NFL season with his third starting quarterback but in spite of that, the excitement could not be higher. That excitement will be front and center in Week 1 when Matt Ryan, Pittman, and the Indianapolis Colts take on the Houston Texans.
In terms of DFS play, last year was a solid year for Pittman who tied for third among receivers with five games scoring 20 points or more. Given the opponent, Pittman will have every opportunity to start the 2022 season off on the right foot.
In spite of making improvements to the defense, the Texans have been in the top-10 of points allowed to opposing wide receivers. Unfortunately for Texans fans, it does not get much better in terms of allowing points to opposing quarterbacks as they have been in the top-10 in points allowed to the position since 2019.
While last year was a bitter pill for Matt Ryan, much like Pittman, Ryan had five games with 20 or more points scored last season.
It is worth noting that Ryan was working behind an offensive line that finished the 2021 season ranked sixth-worst in the NFL. That script has now thankfully flipped as Ryan will now drop back behind the 10h-best ranked line.
With the general understanding that Ryan might not be the most appealing quarterback on this week’s slate, it is important to remember that we are also talking about a return on investment. With a cost of $5,500, in order for Ryan to return on three times his cost, he will need to score just 16.5 points.
This is the cheapest that Ryan has been in Week 1 of a season since DraftKings started doing daily fantasy so if you are investing a lot into other positions, you should invest 22% of your salary on stacking Ryan and Pittman.
QB Justin Fields ($5,600) & WR Darnell Mooney ($5,700), Bears vs 49ers
- Combined Price: $11,300 – 22.6% of lineup salary
While the Bears and 49ers game sits with an over under of just 40 points and rain is in the forecast, this is one of those matchups that screams garbage time.
If the game does in fact go that route, the biggest beneficiaries on the Bears' side of the ball will be Justin Fields and Darnell Mooney.
To give you the full example of garbage time, this Bears and 49ers game is reminiscent of Week 1 in which the 49ers had one of their five weeks in which they allowed 60 or more points to quarterbacks and wide receivers.
After the 49ers scored 31 points in the first half, the Lions responded with 23 points in the second half. That game allowed Jared Goff to finish with 32.92 points and that is the type of game I envision for the Bears.
On top of the garbage time aspect, while playing in just 12 games, Justin Fields has already faced the 49ers.
His matchup back in Week 8 against the 49ers was Fields's most profitable week of his rookie year as he scored 29.3 points while being priced at just $5,000.
Within those 29.3 points were 103 rushing yards off of 10 carries — a rushing performance comparable to that from Fields will be achievable regardless of the forecast.
Then there is Mooney who had five weeks of 20 or more points scored last season. Week 8 against the 49ers was not one of those weeks as Mooney produced only 12.4 points but was targeted nine times.
With the Bears' wide receiver room resembling an island of misfit toys, expect those targets and Mooney’s 2021 target share of 26.6% to be a theme in this game and beyond.
This is a good 49ers defense but they still finished in the top 10 of points allowed to opposing wide receivers. It is all of these reasons why I believe that investing 22.6% of your lineup salary in Fields and Mooney is a smart move.
QB Kyler Murray ($7,200) & WR Marquise Brown ($6,200), Cardinals vs Chiefs
- Combined Price: $13,400 – 26.8% of lineup salary
While the 26.8 lineup percentage salary is one of the highest this article is showcasing, I believe the investment in Kyler Murray and Marquise Brown will be worth the price of admission.
One of the initial indicators of this is that this weekend’s Cardinals and Chiefs matchup is one of three games that has an over/under of 50 points or more.
Murray is a player who doesn’t need much of an introduction to DFS players. Last season, Murray scored 20 or more points in 10 out of his 14 games played last season.
Not only is Murray a high-scoring asset, he is also able to return on his high weekly costs. The Cardinals quarterback had three games last season in which he scored four times his weekly cost.
In order to achieve that this Sunday, Murray will need to score at least 28.8 points. That is something that is achievable against this Chiefs defense.
Last season, the Chiefs led the league with five games with 30 or more DraftKings points allowed to the opposing quarterbacks. They also had just one week in which they gave up less than 10-points to opposing quarterbacks.
The points allowed weren’t just plentiful to quarterbacks as it also extended to the wide receiver position. The Chiefs were 11th in points allowed to wide receivers and had 12 weeks in which they allowed 30 or more points to the position.
When combining the positions, much like the previously mentioned Minnesota Vikings, the Chiefs had eight games last season in which they allowed 60 or more points to the quarterback and wide receiver positions combined.
When selecting a wide receiver to utilize for the Cardinals, obviously DeAndre Hopkins is out of the picture due to his suspension.
Rondale Moore had appeared to be a solid investment at $4,000 until he was pulled from practice on Thursday and will be undergoing an MRI on his hamstring.
While we will give an honorable mention to A.J. Green at $4,600, the clear option is Marquise Brown at $6,200. Coming over from the Baltimore Ravens during the offseason, Brown, who had three games with 100 or more receiving yards last season.
One of those games was against the Chiefs in which he also scored a touchdown. Points will be scored in bunches in this matchup on both sides of the ball, the connection of Murray and Brown will be at the forefront of that.