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Hey there RotoBallers! With the end of the NFL regular season, there aren't any season-long league concerns left for us fantasy gamers. That makes the Wild Card Round of the playoffs a perfect time to focus on making some DFS lineups. With eight teams in action on the Saturday/Sunday slate, this is the perfect-sized player pool to choose from. The Vikings at Saints game has the highest over/under, set at 49.5 points. Up next is the Seahawks at Eagles game with an over/under of 45.5 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 Wild Card Round DFS stacks will be listed below, loosely sorted by my preference. This article will center on 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.
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Wild Card Round DFS Tournament Stacks
New Orleans Saints vs. Minnesota Vikings
- QB Drew Brees ($6,600 DraftKings, $8,700 FanDuel)
- WR Michael Thomas ($9,300 DraftKings, $9,200 FanDuel)
- TE Jared Cook ($4,900 DraftKings, $6,700 FanDuel)
The Saints stack should be the highest-owned on the slate and rightfully so as there is plenty to like about this game. The Saints are home favorites in the game with the highest over/under on the slate and they draw a plus matchup against a Vikings Defense that has not been as dominant as in past seasons. Brees heads into the postseason on an absolute tear, having thrown 15 touchdowns over his past four games (while adding a rushing score for good measure).
Michael Thomas only went for 37 yards on four catches in his team's Week 17 win. That was easily the worst outing of the season for the most consistent wide receiver in fantasy. Don't expect it to happen again in the Wild Card Round. Thomas will see primary coverage from regular burn victim Xavier Rhodes. Once known as a lockdown force on the outside, Rhodes' play has slipped drastically this season with him allowing 0.38 fantasy points per route covered and grading out at just a 44.7 over at Pro Football Focus in 2019. Keep in mind, there will be plenty of ownership on the Brees/Thomas stack, so consider differentiating with a Brees/Tre'Quan Smith stack. Smith had a mini-breakout in Week 17 with five catches for 56 yards and a score and has quietly found the end zone four times over the final six games of the season.
Jared Cook is also worth stacking with Brees as the veteran tight end consistently improved as the season continued. Cook caught seven touchdowns over his final seven games while hitting at least 44 receiving yards in six of those contests.
Seattle Seahawks @ Philadelphia Eagles
- QB Russell Wilson ($6,800 DraftKings, $8,200 FanDuel)
- WR Tyler Lockett ($7,200 DraftKings, $7,300 FanDuel)
- WR D.K. Metcalf ($6,100 DraftKings, $6,600 FanDuel)
Both of these teams draw a solid matchup as there shouldn't be much defense played in this contest. I prefer a Seahawks stack over the Eagles for a few reasons. First, I trust Wilson and his cohort of pass-catchers more than the skeleton crew that Philly has had to piece together thanks to injuries, no offense to Greg Ward, Deontay Burnett, Boston Scott, and Joshua Perkins, who all played a pivotal role in their Week 17 win over the Giants. The Philadelphia defense has been a pass funnel this season, shutting down the run and forcing teams to take aim at a secondary that ranked just 16th in DVOA over the regular season. The Seahawks prefer to run the ball but are down their top two running backs and they may find it easier to pass in this road matchup.
Lockett has been up-and-down since injuring his leg during Week 12 against these same Eagles but he remains the team's top pass-catching threat. He draws a fantastic matchup against Philly slot corner Avonte Maddox, who earned a 57.4 grade from PFF during the regular season. Breakout rookie D.K. Metcalf draws an even better matchup as he will see primary coverage from Rasul Douglas. Douglas allowed 0.33 fantasy points per route covered and earned a 49.7 grade over at PFF. A three-man stack is very much in play this Sunday.
Under-Owned Wild Card Round DFS Stack
Tennessee Titans @ New England Patriots
- QB Ryan Tannehill ($6,300 DraftKings, $7,900 FanDuel)
- WR A.J. Brown ($7,400 DraftKings, $8,300 FanDuel)
- TE Jonnu Smith ($3,800 DraftKings, $6,300 FanDuel)
The Ryan Tannehill-led Titans are likely to come in as the lowest-owned team on the slate, thanks to a foreboding matchup against the Patriots. New England's defense has been tough on opposing offenses all season but they did start to fade over the final few weeks of the season, topped off by a surprising 27-24 loss to the Dolphins in Week 17 which cost the Pats a first-round bye. Tannehill has been one of the hottest quarterbacks in fantasy since taking over for the benched Marcus Mariota and offers some rushing upside which gives him a solid floor.
A.J. Brown turned in one of the most impressive rookie seasons in recent memory. The rookie wideout finished with 52 catches for 1,051 yards and eight touchdowns on just 84 targets. He could avoid lockdown corner Stephon Gilmore, who PFF expects to shadow Corey Davis this weekend. That would leave J.C. Jackson to cover Brown on the majority of his routes. Jackson had a solid season but did wind up with PFF's lowest grade of the starting New England corners (68.4). Consider taking a look at tight end Jonnu Smith if you want to fill out a three-man stack against the Patriots. New England has been more vulnerable to opposing tight ends than they have to wide receivers, allowing the eight-fewest fantasy points per game to the former as opposed to the fewest PPG to the latter.
Thanks for reading, go win some money this weekend RotoBallers!
