3 NFL FanDuel Stacks for Week 8

Stacks fuel upside in FanDuel contests. To that point, colleague Brandon Gdula took a deep dive into hit rates and correlation for stacks. It's worth a read.

Usually, I'll lay out my four favorite stacks in this space. However, this week, I'm leaning heavily into a trio of three-person stacks instead. So here are the stacks I'm honing in on this week.

Atlanta Falcons

Matt Ryan ($7,200), Cordarrelle Patterson ($7,300), and Kyle Pitts ($6,800)

Matty Ice headlined my value plays piece, which I penned earlier this week. As I noted in that article, Ryan has distanced himself from the wretched stench of an ugly Week 1 performance. In his last five games, he's averaging more than 300 passing yards per game with 12 touchdown passes. According to Sharp Football Stats, from Week 2 through Week 7, the Atlanta Falcons are passing at the third-highest rate (64 percent) when the margin ranges from trailing by seven points to leading by seven points. So, allow me to reiterate -- I love Ryan as a value option who is in good form in a pass-happy offense.

Now, let's move to his stacking partners. Pitts is a reasonably obvious selection. Despite already having a bye, Atlanta's rookie phenom ranks eighth in routes (207) among tight ends this year, per Pro Football Focus. In addition, according to Pro Football Reference, his 78.5 receiving yards per game rank 13th among all players and tops among tight ends. He rounds out his glorious profile with 5.2 receptions per game and 10.7 yards per target (tied for the 12th-best mark). Our projections call for Pitts to finish as the top scorer at tight end while he ranks as the fourth-best point-per-dollar value at the position. Thus, he's an excellent pick.

Patterson is a sneaky good selection, too. The explosive veteran's superb performance to begin the year earned him a playing-time bump coming out of the Week 6 bye, resulting in a season-high 63.0 percent snap share. The rise in playing time allowed him to tie his season-high of 14 rush attempts while setting a new high with 60 rushing yards.

There's also some correlation in stacking him with Ryan. The do-it-all back's five targets in Week 7 ranked fourth on the Falcons. Moreover, Patterson routinely aligns as a receiver. According to Pro Football Focus, in Week 5, C-Pat aligned inline twice, in the slot three times, and wide 14 times. Last week, he aligned inline once, in the slot six times, and wide 17 times.

Therefore, Patterson's a legitimate running back-receiver hybrid. I don't often advise stacking a running back with their quarterback, but Patterson's not your garden variety running back.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tom Brady ($8,300), Chris Godwin ($7,200), and Rob Gronkowski ($6,500)

The New Orleans Saints aren't anyone's idea of a soft matchup for passing attacks. However, they rank as the fourth-best run defense in our power rankings, and teams have been inclined to avoid the Saints' stout run D by airing it out. As a result, the Saints' defense has faced only 146 rush attempts, compared to 227 pass attempts, per Pro Football Reference. So, rounding up, teams are passing at a 61 percent clip against the Saints. Meanwhile, according to Sharp Football Stats, teams are passing -- on average -- at a 59 percent rate.

However, it's unlikely you even need to twist the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' arm to take to the air. They're passing at the highest rate (66 percent) when the offensive scoring margin is between trailing by seven points and leading by seven points. Still, if this matchup encourages Brady and company to air it out more often this week, we'll take it. Brady's dialed in this year, ranking first in passing yards per game (325.0) and touchdown passes (21). So, obviously, he's an elite option.

Unfortunately, Antonio Brown is out for this game, but that narrows the target pecking order. Additionally, Mike Evans will likely oppose talented cornerback Marshon Lattimore a lot this weekend. While I don't think it's wise to overrate receiver-cornerback matchups, Lattimore's been a thorn in Evans' side regularly in their NFC South showdowns.

Thus, I expect Brady to take the path of less resistance by utilizing Godwin. Last week, Godwin set a season-high for receiving yards (111) while hauling in 8 of 11 targets and adding his fourth touchdown of the 2021 campaign. Finally, Gronk is on the injury report and listed as questionable. If he plays, though, he's a red zone-driven option.

According to FantasyPros, Brady's 63 passing attempts in the red zone are 14 more than the second-highest mark. Brady also leads the NFL in pass attempts inside the 15, 10, and 5. In summation, Brady is chucking it with regularity in scoring territory, and he loves his long-time running mate in that area of the field.

Gronk's playing spry this year and is not entirely touchdown-dependent, evidenced by per-game averages of 5.3 receptions and 61.3 receiving yards. According to our heat map, the Bucs have the third-highest implied total (27.00 points) on the main slate, leaving plenty of meat on the bone for a Bucs double-stack to pay off handsomely.

Buffalo Bills

Josh Allen ($8,800), Stefon Diggs ($7,300), and Gabriel Davis ($4,700)

This three-person stack puts a contrarian twist on the obvious Allen-Diggs combo.

First, Allen and Diggs are elite options. According to our projections, they are the top point-per-dollar plays at their respective positions. In addition, Diggs projects to finish second in scoring among receivers, and Allen projects to top quarterbacks in scoring in Week 8.

Allen and the Buffalo Bills are passing at the fifth-highest rate (64 percent) when the scoring margin ranges from trailing by seven points to leading by seven points. But that doesn't tell the whole story. According to Football Outsiders, the Bills are playing at the third-fastest situation-neutral pace. Also, the Bills don't take their foot off the accelerator, passing at a 48 percent rate when leading by eight points or more, three percentage points above the league average for that split. Thus, I'm not concerned about the Bills being commanding 14.0-point favorites.

The matchup is mouthwatering this week, as the Miami Dolphins rank as the third-worst pass defense, per our metrics. Allen was underwhelming when the Bills and Dolphins played in Week 2. However, he's shaken off the early-season rust, averaging 318.5 passing yards and 33.75 rushing yards over the last four games while passing for 12 touchdowns and rushing for two more.

As for Diggs, according to Sports Info Solutions, he ranks seventh in intended air yards (780) and eighth in target share (26.4 percent). Buffalo's number-one receiver has been more good than great this year. Still, the underlying numbers tell the tale of a player due for an eruption game. So, why not this week in a cushy matchup?

Finally, Davis is the sneaky against-the-grain pick in this stack. Breakout tight end Dawson Knox is out. Therefore, the Bills might increase four-receiver usage and include Davis in the offense more often this week. According to Sharp Football Stats, the Bills are already using 10-personnel (one running back, zero tight ends, and four receivers) at the second-highest rate (11 percent). However, the Bills used the 10-personnel grouping at a 15 percent rate last year.

Obviously, an uptick in playing time would bode well for Davis. Regardless, the second-year wideout can pay off even if that doesn't come to pass if his already notable scoring-territory usage gets a lift with Knox out. Allen has attempted 23 passes within the 10. He's directed four of those passes Knox's way, four to Diggs, and four to Emmanuel Sanders. Lurking beyond that trio is Davis with two targets, resulting in one touchdown grab.

If the big-bodied receiver can soak up some of Knox's vacated work near the end zone, he's a decent bet to splash paydirt. At Davis' salary, merely scoring a touchdown should do the trick for providing FanDuel gamers value.

Joshua Shepardson is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to proviing DFS gameplay advice, Joshua Shepardson also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username bchad50. 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.