4 NFL FanDuel Stacks for Week 9
On the Week 9 FanDuel main slate, there are seven games projected for an over/under of 48.5 points or more, which makes for some nice team and games stacks across the league. There are also ten teams projected to score at least 26.0 points this week, which should lead to some high scoring players.
In this article, I will reflect my favorite DFS stacks for this week. These decisions are made by using player projections, Vegas implied team totals, and player draft percentage projections.
Houston Texans
Deshaun Watson ($8,300) and Brandin Cooks ($6,100)
The first stack that I like this week is a Houston Texans stack between quarterback Deshaun Watson and wide receiver Brandin Cooks. It was just four weeks ago we saw the Texans face the Jacksonville Jaguars - where they went on to win by a score of 30-14 – and now they get to face their division rival once again here in Week 9.
The Texans are currently implied to score 28.5 points in this game, which is the third-most on the main slate, and they’re favored to win this game by 6.5 points. I like attacking the passing game for the Texans, as that’s accounted for 15 of their 19 offensive touchdowns this season (78.9%).
Deshaun Watson has been a man on a mission since the firing of Texans’ ex-head coach, Bill O’Brien. The Texans had lost four straight games to start the season under O’Brien, where Watson had been very average in terms of fantasy production, scoring just 76.4 FanDuel points in total. Since then, Watson has looked like his old self, scoring 83.0 FanDuel points over his last three games.
He’s got another great matchup this week against the Jags to expand on his current fantasy production. The Jags are currently allowing 31.4 points per game to their opponents, which is the second-most across the league. They’re also allowing 23.3 FanDuel points per game to opposing quarterbacks, which is the third-most across the league.
I like stacking up Watson with wide receiver Brandin Cooks this week against a shaky Jags' secondary. While the start to the season for Cooks was slow, like the rest of the Texans team, he’s really started to find his groove along with Watson over the past three games.
Over the course of those three games, Cooks’ target share has been 27.27%, which ranks as the fifth-best across the league. He’s had at least nine targets in each of those three games and has scored touchdowns in two of three. That’s ultimately led to outings of 26.1, 17.3, and 9.5 FanDuel points over that stretch of games.
The last time the Texans played the Jags back in Week 5, Cooks had 12 targets, 8 receptions, 161 receiving yards, and a touchdown. I like going back to him once again in this soft matchup against the Jaguars.
Los Angeles Chargers
Justin Herbert ($7,900) and Keenan Allen ($7,500)
I’m going back to the well once again here with Los Angeles Chargers' quarterback, Justin Herbert, and his favorite target, Keenan Allen. They’re facing off against the Las Vegas Raiders this week at home, in a game that has the third-highest over/under of 51.5 points.
Since taking over as the Chargers’ starting quarterback, Herbert has been lights out. He’s played six full games so far this season and has thrown for over 300 yards or multiple touchdowns in each of those games. He’s averaging 25.3 FanDuel points per game and has shown a ceiling score of 38.48 FanDuel points and a floor game of 15.7 FanDuel points. Not bad for a rookie.
He shouldn’t have any issue replicating his 300 yard or multiple touchdown performances against the Raiders this week, who are allowing 29.0 points per game to their opponents – the eighth-most across the league.
Per our numbers, Herbert is currently projected to have a top seven performance at the quarterback position this week, and he offers a top five FanDuel value. He’s also projected within the top 10 of rushing attempts, yards, and touchdown percentage at his position as well. He’s shown that he’s able to rack up fantasy points both passing and rushing the ball on multiple occasions this season.
I like stacking Herbert up with Keenan Allen this week for several different reasons. For starters, Allen leads the team with 74 targets this year (30.2%) - which is 28 more than the next Chargers’ pass-catcher, Hunter Henry. Allen has also seen double-digit targets from Herbert in five of six games.
Per Pro Football Focus (PFF), Allen has a very soft matchup this week against Raiders’ cornerback Lamarcus Joyner. Of 117 qualified cornerbacks this season, Joyner currently ranks as the 103rd best cornerback – or rather the 14th worst cornerback in the league. PFF is giving Allen a 40% advantage in this matchup, which ranks as the sixth-best wide receiver/cornerback matchup in Week 9.
On top of his heavy target percentage and an easy matchup against Joyner, Allen is also projecting very well in our models this week. He ranks second in terms of projected FanDuel points and offers the best FanDuel value at the wide receiver position.
All things are looking up for Allen once again this week, which is why I’m going back to the well with him and Herbert.
Pittsburgh Steelers
James Conner ($8,200) and Pittsburgh D/ST ($5,000)
When you have a matchup that looks as good as the Pittsburgh Steelers matchup this week against the Dallas Cowboys, it’s hard to ignore stacking up someone from their side in this game. I particularly like stacking up running back James Conner with the Steelers' Defense. The Steelers are currently favored to win this game by 14.0 points and expected to hold the Cowboys to less than two touchdowns (13.75 points) – the perfect recipe for a running back/defense stack.
The Cowboys' defense has been decimated in every which way so far this season. They’re allowing 33.2 points per game to their opponents – which is the most across the league – and allow 1.4 rushing touchdowns per game – which is tied for the fourth-most.
Conner sustained an injury in the Steelers’ Week 1 game against the New York Giants, but he has been full strength ever since. He has posted a stat line of 104-489-5 rushing in his six games to follow. He’s topped 100 rushing yards in three of those six games and has a rushing touchdown in five of six. Now, he gets his easy matchup to date against a vulnerable Cowboys team.
Per our algorithm, Conner is expected to have 19 rushing attempts, 85 rushing yards, and 0.74 rushing touchdowns in this game. He ranks within the top five of projected FanDuel points at the running back position and has one of the best ceilings amongst all running backs this week, considering his matchup.
The Cowboys have allowed a very generous 5.1 yards per carry to opposing running backs this season, which ranks as the third-most in the NFL. Considering Conner has totaled at least 15 carries in each of his last six games, he is bound to have a big day.
Stacking up Conner with the Steelers defense correlates perfectly in this matchup. This defense is arguably the best in the NFL and has already racked up 13 total takeaways so far this season. Now they get to face the Cowboys’ fourth-string quarterback this week, who has yet to even be named, per head coach Mike McCarthy. Yikes.
Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks
Josh Allen ($8,200), Stefon Diggs ($7,600) and Tyler Lockett ($7,400)
The last stack that I like this week is a game stack between the Buffalo Bills and the Seattle Seahawks. I think you can run this stack in several different ways, but my favorite way is with Bills’ quarterback, Josh Allen, and his number one receiver, Stefon Diggs, and then running it back with Seahawks’ slot receiver, Tyler Lockett.
Now, we’ve seen Josh Allen go through a bit of a slump in his past four games. He started the season off on a high note, where he averaged 30.08 FanDuel points per game in his first four games. However, this is a get right spot for Allen against a Seahawks secondary that has been shredded by opposing quarterbacks this season.
The Seahawks defense has allowed a generous 26.7 FanDuel points per game to opposing quarterbacks this season, which is the most across the league. They’ve allowed for opposing quarterbacks to throw for over 300 yards passing or multiple touchdowns in every single game and do not seem to have an answer for shutting down their opponents' passing attack.
As you can imagine, that’s correlated very well for opposing wide receivers as well, which is why I like stacking up Allen with Stefon Diggs. In fact, the Seahawks are allowing 47.0 FanDuel points per game to opposing wide receivers, which is 8.0 points more than any other team in the league.
Diggs has clearly been Allen’s number one target this season, receiving 28 more targets than any other Bills’ pass catcher. Those targets have translated into major receiving yards, as Diggs currently sits second among all wide receivers with 695 receiving yards on the year.
Per our projections, Diggs ranks third among wide receivers with 15.4 FanDuel points, and he also offers a top three FanDuel value at his position.
I like running this stack back with Seahawks’ slot receiver, Tyler Lockett. Per PFF, Lockett has a much better matchup than his teammate D.K. Metcalf – who is expected to be to be shadowed by one of the league’s best cornerbacks, Tre'Davious White. Lockett, on the other hand, is expected to line up against Bills’ slot cornerback Taron Johnson, who hasn’t been great so far this season, to say the least. PFF is currently giving Lockett a 29% advantage in this matchup.
This game currently has a 54.5 point over/under - which is the most across the entire main slate – and has shootout potential written all over it.
Griffin Swanson is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Griffin Swanson also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username GriffDogg_. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel. (edited)
