NFL

4 NFL FanDuel Stacks for Week 14

Josh Shepardson  —  @BChad50 Dec 10th, 2021

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.

Every week, I'll lay out my four favorite stacks in this space. Here are the stacks I'm honing in on this week.

Buffalo Bills

Josh Allen ($8,800), Dawson Knox ($6,000), and Cole Beasley ($5,900)

The Buffalo Bills are a great bet to air it out often in a projected shootout with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

First, according to Pro Football Reference, Bucs have defended 759 plays, and the opposition has passed at a 63 percent rate.

Second, according to Sharp Football Stats, when the offensive scoring margin ranges from trailing by seven points to leading by seven points, Buffalo has passed at the second-highest rate (67 percent).

Thus, the Bills are likely to lean into their pass-happy tendency. Unfortunately, Allen has been inconsistent this season. Nevertheless, he is eighth in passing yards per game (268.0) and fourth in passing touchdowns (26), bolstering his contributions with 35.2 rushing yards per game and three touchdowns. As a result, he is projected to lead quarterbacks on FanDuel's main slate in scoring this week.

Knox and Beasley are enticing matchup-driven stacking partners. Both short-area targets for Allen excel against zone coverage, which Tampa Bay runs at the fourth-highest rate this year, according to Dwain McFarland of Pro Football Focus.

McFarland hits the nail on the head for this being a great spot for Beasley. Meanwhile, as I noted in 5 NFL FanDuel Value Plays to Target in Week 14, according to Pro Football Focus, Knox has the second-highest quarterback rating (134.4) on passes against zone coverage out of 26 tight ends targeted at least 10 times in 2021.

Finally, the modest salaries of Knox and Beasley offset Allen's slate-high salary among quarterbacks, allowing gamers to jam in other elite players around this high-upside stack.

Dallas Cowboys

Dak Prescott ($8,100), CeeDee Lamb ($7,800), and Amari Cooper ($6,700)

The Dallas Cowboys have an impressive high-upside three-person stack, as well. Dallas deploys a pass-happy uptempo offense. They pass at the seventh-highest rate (60 percent) when the offensive scoring margin ranges from trailing by seven points to leading by seven points. In addition, according to Football Outsiders, the Cowboys play at the second-fastest situation neutral pace.

The combination has allowed Prescott to pass for the fifth-most yards per game (288.2) and tie for the seventh-most passing touchdowns (23).

Further, he has a drool-inducing matchup. According to our power rankings, the Washington Football Team is the second-worst defending the pass. Washington's struggles have yielded the most FanDuel points per game to quarterbacks this year.

My favorite stacking partner with Prescott is Lamb. However, since I include him in a forthcoming game stack, I'll discuss him in that space. Instead, let's take a look at Cooper. Sadly, the Cowboys have played only three games (Week 1, Week 10, and Week 13) with Lamb, Cooper, and Michael Gallup. Still, the small sample is promising for Cooper's outlook.

According to Pro Football Focus, in those three games, Cooper has been first in routes (112) and second in targets (23), receptions (19), receiving yards (231), and touchdown receptions (2).

Additionally, Cooper has showcased he can still pop off for the Cowboys even with Lamb's emergence, posting two games with over 120 receiving yards and reaching paydirt -- twice in one of the contests and once in the other. Cooper has also tallied two more games with at least 60 yards and a touchdown.

Finally, the matchup is excellent. Washington allows the third-most FanDuel points per game to the opposing receivers.

Dallas Cowboys at Washington Football Team

CeeDee Lamb ($7,800) and Antonio Gibson ($7,400)

I promised analysis for Lamb, and here it is.

As you've likely deduced, Lamb is the man ahead of Cooper in all of the statistics I highlighted for the three games Lamb, Cooper, and Gallup have played together this year. In those games, Lamb has run 109 routes and netted 33 targets, hauling in 20 receptions for 287 yards and 3 touchdowns. The second-year wideout has played 60.7 percent of his snaps from the slot when the trio of receivers play together, thriving to the tune of 2.63 yards per route run.

Like Prescott and Cooper, Lamb will benefit from this matchup and the team's offensive tendencies. Unsurprisingly, he's a standout in our projections. We are projecting Lamb for the fifth-most FanDuel points among receivers on the slate.

Gibson is a top-notch bring-back option for the full three-person stack or as part of a skinny stack with Lamb. The Football Team should be able to utilize their run-heavy approach of late with the game's spread at a modest four points favoring the visiting Cowboys, per our heat map.

The Football Team is riding a four-game winning streak since their Week 9 bye, running the ball at a 47 percent clip when the offensive scoring margin ranges from trailing by seven points to leading by seven points, notably four percent higher than the league average. Gibson has carried the ball 95 times for 358 yards and 2 touchdowns during the four-game winning streak.

Thankfully, the matchup is conducive to feeding him the ball again this week. The Cowboys are the ninth-worst rush defense in our power rankings. There is also the potential J.D. McKissic will miss his second straight game as he's still in the NFL's concussion protocol.

Regardless, Gibson set season-highs for targets (seven) and receptions (seven) in Week 12 when the two backs last played together. Moreover, Gibson's 18 routes bested McKissic's 16 routes in that game. So, I'll use Gibson this week with some semblance of confidence even if McKissic clears the NFL's concussion protocol.

We are projecting an RB7 finish on this week's main slate and a tie for the fourth-highest value score -- a measure of points per one-thousand dollars of salary -- at the position.

New Orleans Saints at New York Jets

Alvin Kamara ($9,000) and Elijah Moore ($6,300)

First, Moore is a carryover from 5 NFL FanDuel Value Plays to Target in Week 14. Unfortunately, he still hasn't practiced this week. Nonetheless, he has a chance to return to practice Friday, and I'm still holding out hope based on head coach Robert Saleh saying he is "hopeful" Moore will practice and play earlier in the week.

I won't rehash why I love Moore this week. Instead, I'll note that I won't bail on using him out of fear his quad injury hampers his performance if he suits up. Though, maybe others will fade him, enhancing his GPP appeal.

On the other side, Kamara is an elite pick in his return from a four-game absence. The do-it-all back has logged full practices the first two of the week. The timing for his return is ideal for two reasons. First, Mark Ingram and Ty Montgomery are on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Second, the matchup is drool-inducing for Kamara.

The New York Jets are allowing the second-most FanDuel points per game to running backs by a whopping 4.9 points per game. The New Orleans Saints are 5.5-point favorites, potentially presenting Kamara a positive game script to run the ball. Regardless, the matchup is outstanding for him through the air, as well, as the Jets have allowed the fourth-most receptions (85) and second-most receiving yards (753) to running backs this season.

Kamara has averaged a robust 105.1 scrimmage yards and 4.0 receptions per game, scoring seven touchdowns in only eight games. He is equipped to steamroll the Jets. Further, he should have fresh legs after missing the last four weeks, allowing his knee to recover. Finally, we are projecting an RB2 finish with the sixth-highest value score on the slate, making him an excellent selection in all game types.


Joshua Shepardson is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing 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.