Top DFS Stacks on FanDuel and DraftKings: Week 9

Stacking players is a stairway to the top of daily fantasy tournaments, maximizing upside by creating the sort of volatility that can help your roster post a crooked score—one way or another.

Below are some of the most intriguing stacking plays I found while sifting through the week's matchups. Most of these options will leave room for high-ceiling studs. The goal, naturally, is to get a lot for a little. So let's get into it.

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Seattle Seahawks (-3) @ Buffalo Bills; O/U 55

QB Russell Wilson, Seahawks ($8,000 FD/$7,600 DK)

WR Tyler Lockett, Seahawks ($7,400 FD/$6,800)

WR Stefon Diggs, Bills ($7,600 FD/$7,400 DK)

Technically it's illegal for me to exclude the Seahawks in this space. As a law-abiding citizen, I will comply.

Maybe this is a good law, seeing that the Seattle-Buffalo game has the week's highest over/under.

The argument for Wilson is straightforward: he's unleashed, his coaches have been as aggressive as any in the league, and he has two of the NFL's most explosive pass catchers at his disposal. He's averaging a career-high yards per attempt and brings rushing upside into every contest. Wilson goes up against a Buffalo defense that has quietly allowed 20.6 schedule-adjusted points to quarterbacks—more than all but six teams this season. The Bills' secondary is banged up and begging to be exploited by Seattle's aerial attack.

Now you're screaming at your screen, why Lockett over Metcalf? Two reasons: Lockett is $700 less on FanDuel and $1,000 less on DraftKings, and Lockett will see a lot of coverage from one of the NFL's worst slot cover men. Taron Johnson has been targeted in the slot more than any corner in the league—45 times, to be exact. He's allowed 36 catches for 392 yards on those targets. Johnson is being roasted weekly: Hunter Renfrow, Cooper Kupp, Isaiah Ford, and Jamison Crowder have all posted fat stat lines against Buffalo while operating primarily from the slot. Lucky for us, Lockett has played nearly 60% of his snaps from the slot this year and has seen half of his targets when running routes from the slot.

We'll run it back with Stefon Diggs, who is dominating the team's target share with 29% of Josh Allen's targets coming his way. This game environment—the Seahawks favored and primed to carve up the Buffalo secondary—could boost Diggs' opportunity if the Bills find themselves chasing points for two or three quarters. Fairly equal pass route distribution—operating from the left, right, and the slot—Diggs should avoid Quinton Dunbar for most of this game. Even if he doesn't get away from Dunbar, Diggs can thrive with a pass-heavy approach against a Seahawks defense allowing a jaw-dropping 21.6 wide receiver receptions per game. Diggs and the entire Buffalo offense should get an opportunity bump if the Bills follow a season-long trend and record an unusually high number of offensive snaps against Seattle. Seahawks opponents, after all, are averaging a league-high 75 offensive snaps per game, or 12 more snaps than the Bills' offense averages this season.

Diggs—who has Week 9's highest projected ceiling, per 4for4—has blown up in Buffalo's two track meets in 2020. In Week 2, he caught eight of 13 targets for 153 yards and a score against Miami, and in Week 4, Diggs went for 115 yards on six grabs against Vegas.

Los Angeles Chargers (-1) vs Las Vegas Raiders; O/U 52

QB Justin Herbert, Chargers ($7,900 FD/$6,800 DK)

WR Keenan Allen, Chargers ($7,500 FD/$7,000 DK)

TE Darren Waller, Raiders ($6,400/$5,800 DK)

The pieces fit with this stack, and this game just so happens to have the week's third-highest over-under, just a point behind KC-Panthers.

Keenan Allen has a monstrous 31% target share since Justin Herbert forced Anthony Lynn to make the right decision and start the rookie. Allen has—quite incredibly—averaged 13 targets per game in five full games with Herbert under center. While Mike Williams has developed some rapport with Herbert in recent weeks, Allen remains the target hog in the Chargers' offense. This week, Allen goes up against slot corner Lamarcus Joyner, who has allowed 22 catches for 250 yards on 32 targets this season.

Allen lines up in the slot on 44% of his snaps; the master route runner should have an easy time getting open against Joyner in what should be a high scoring back-and-forth affair. He would hardly be the first slot receiver to see a barrel full of looks against Vegas. Jarvis Landry last week had 11 targets against the Raiders, one week after Chris Godwin saw nine targets against the Silver and Black.

Darren Waller would be the natural beneficiary of a high-scoring game against the Bolts. LA has allowed the fifth-most schedule-adjusted fantasy points to enemy tight ends on the strength of 4.5 tight end receptions per game. Running the third-most routes per game among tight ends, hardly anyone is more involved in their team's passing attack than Waller. He has a 28% target share, 13% higher than the next closest pass catcher, Hunter Renfrow. Tight ends are averaging seven targets per contest against LA in 2020. That's in large part because linebacker Kyzir White has struggled mightily in coverage this season.

Only five linebackers have been targeted more often than White in 2020, as he's given up 34 receptions for 341 yards and three touchdowns.

You do the math. Waller has a shot to pile on the receptions and yardage against the Chargers this week.

Detroit Lions (-4) @ Minnesota Vikings; O/U 51.5

RB Dalvin Cook, Vikings ($8,700 FD/$7,900 DK)

TE T.J. Hockenson, Lions ($6,000 FD/$5,100 DK)

This game retains its high-scoring potential even after having 1.5 points trimmed off its opening total. And in one of two kinds of game script, Dalvin Cook and T.J. Hockensen could see ample opportunity to put up difference-making stat lines.

This, of course, is a secondary stack you might want to use along with a larger stack that includes a quarterback. The more we stack games in the same lineup, the less we need to get right.

Cook, when healthy, has been as lethal as 2019 Christian McCaffrey, averaging right around what CMC averaged when he set the league aflame last season. Cook is as close to game script-proof as a running back can be, and when script turns positive for Minnesota, everyone in the empty stadium knows where the ball is going to go. Defenses still can't stop Cook, who has at least 22 touches in each of his past four games.

Detroit is an objectively good fantasy matchup for backs. Only the Packers and Texans are giving up more schedule-adjusted fantasy points to running backs than the Lions. Teams have consistently attacked Detroit on the ground—45.5% of plays against the Lions this season have been rushes. That's the sixth-highest rate after eight weeks. The Vikings will almost assuredly let Dalvin Cook (please let me get away with one horrific dad joke) if game script is anything close to neutral in this one.

Slowly but surely becoming a centerpiece of the Detroit offense, Hockensen has a 17% target share—second on the team—coming into Week 9. The team leader in target share, Kenny Golladay, is out this week with what could be a serious hip injury. Golladay's absence could (should) funnel a few more targets Hockensen's way and make the big tight end Detroit's primary red zone target, as Golladay for two seasons has dominated red zone looks for the Lions.

Hockenson this week plays a Minnesota defense that hasn't given up a ton of tight end receptions (4.57 per game). Minnesota has, however, been gouged for big plays by enemy tight ends, allowing the fourth-most tight end receiving yardage. Since Week 2, the Vikings have allowed a whopping 79.3 yards to tight ends (and I rarely use whopping). More than 23% of the receiving yardage gained against the Vikings this year has gone to tight ends, a top-five rate in the NFL.

Hockenson and the rest of the Detroit offense could benefit from a bump in offensive snaps against a Vikings defense that has allowed 67.9 plays per game, the fifth-highest mark in the league. Cook running wild on the burnable Detroit front seven would, at worst, give Hock the opportunity to exploit a Minnesota defense that's been exposed by lesser tight ends.