Best Ball Strategy: Stacks At A Discount

Hello and good morning fantasy football world (even if it’s not morning when you read this… good morning). Someone somewhere is either sipping coffee or orange juice.

 Maybe you’re reading this and went with the coffee and orange juice combo at your favorite breakfast hangover cure location. After a night of partying back in my college days, it was common practice for my friends and I to hit up a local breakfast location. Reasons: 

1.     Food after a heavy night of drinking is a necessity to expedite the path to sobriety

2.     Nothing beats piecing together the drunken night like reminiscing over a hot breakfast 

 We were always overly loud when we would enter the restaurant, and the noise only elevated when we were seated and started to reminisce. Laughing uncontrollably at each piece of information that the other had to add to the story, nine times out of ten, we were all still mostly drunk. 

I would always get a coffee and orange juice. Caffeine for mental clarity and Vitamin C to repair the damage to my body tissue from the night before. While the choice of beverage was easy, the selection for my meal was not. 

Since I was usually still pretty drunk, every item on the menu looked satisfying (don’t act like you haven’t been there). I was never prepared with a final decision when it was time to order, which always led to a spontaneous last minute decision. The one thing I did know: I needed something cheap. More times than not, I would either crumble under the pressure and get your standard eggs and bacon (sad) or I would follow my sweet tooth and get pancakes. 

What’s great about pancakes is that they’re sweet, they’re cheap, and the stacks fill you up. Really, it’s the perfect choice for a broke college student that needs a full fill of food to absorb all the alcohol from the night before while satisfying his taste buds. 

Just like pancakes are a hot cheap stack for a college student, in best ball drafts, we love stacks of quarterbacks, wide receivers, and tight ends that we can target in the later rounds. 

Yeah, everyone would love to have a Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce stack, but that's an expensive price point (rounds 1 and 3, respectively, on average). So instead of providing expensive stacks to target, these are 10 of my current favorite cheap(er) stack options that you can get in draft rounds 8 or later. 

Note: I am using @DraftersFantasy ADP, but generally speaking the rounds for these players are overall pretty comparable across fantasy platforms.

1. Philadelphia: Carson Wentz (QB), Desean Jackson (WR), Jalen Reagor (WR)

   • ADP: Wentz is being drafted as the 11th QB at the end of the 8th round (ADP 94), Jackson is being drafted at the end of the 11th round (ADP 130), Reagor is being drafted at the end of the 12th round (ADP 142).

   • Snapshot Insight: Wentz is one of my favorite quarterbacks to target in all drafts. Jackson and Reagor both have massive big play potential and with Alshon Jeffery being expected to start the year on the PUP list, that means someone needs to fill the void as the WR1 in Philadelphia. I actually prefer having both Jackson and Reagor with Wentz if I can pull it off near ADP.

2. Detroit: Matthew Stafford (QB), Marvin Jones Jr. (WR), Danny Amendola (WR)

   • ADP: Stafford is being drafted as the 13th QB in the early 10th round (ADP 112), Jones is being drafted late 8th/early 9th round (ADP 89), Amendola is being drafted in the 18th round (ADP 206).

   • Snapshot Insight: It was only three years ago in 2017 when Jones was a first tier (top 12) wide receiver. Yeah, I’d prefer to have Kenny Golladay, but Jones is being drafted almost 6 rounds later. As for Amendola, Stafford has always preferred targeting slot WRs over TEs, which is why I prefer drafting Danny A. 6 rounds after T.J. Hockenson. Note: In the last five years no Detroit TE has finished as a TE1 (top 12).

3. New York Giants: Daniel Jones (QB), Darius Slayton (WR), Sterling Shepard (WR), Golden Tate (WR)

   • ADP: Daniel Jones is being drafted as the 14th QB in the early 10th round (ADP 113), Darius Slayton is being drafted in the middle of the 9th round (ADP 103), Sterling Shepard is being drafted in the 9th round (ADP 107), Golden Tate is being drafted in the 11th round (ADP 128).

   • Snapshot Insight: Danny Dimes has a tough schedule to start the season, but he’s proven to have a high ceiling, producing multiple 30 point games in 2019. If you like Danny Dimes, you have to love that you can get any one of his wide receivers after the 8th round. I personally am not jumping on any of these guys at their ADPs. If they fall past their ADPs and I have Danny Dimes, yes, please. I’ll stack any of them. Golden Tate is obviously the best value play if you believe any of these three wide receivers could be Danny Dimes' go-to wide receiver in 2020.

4. Minnesota: Kirk Cousins (QB), Irv Smith Jr. (TE)

   • ADP: Cousins is being drafted as the 20th QB in the late 13th round (ADP 153), Smith Jr. is being drafted in the 15th round (174 ADP).

   • Snapshot Insight: Smith Jr. has been an intentional draft target for me the last three weeks at TE. The reason being, I want to gain shares and increase my ownership (currently 15%) because I do think he is the late tight end that could end the year as a top 5 tight end. Shouting out James Brimacombe (@Eaglezzz) on this one because he actually tweeted it out. I couldn’t agree more as it has been a strategy I’ve also been targeting.

5. Pittsburgh: Ben Roethlisberger (QB), Diontae Johnson (WR), Eric Ebron (TE)

   • ADP: Roethlisberger is being drafted as the 18th QB in the 12th round (137), Johnson is being drafted in the early 9th round (ADP 99),  Ebron is being drafted in the 14th round (ADP 163).

   • Snapshot Insight: I’m a Steelers homer and I’ll make that clear. However, the market overall has been high on Johnson as his ADP has continued to rise. Big Ben has proven before that two wide receivers on his team can be top 12 wide receivers (Antonio Brown and Juju Smith-Schuster in 2018). I don’t expect Johnson to be a #1, but there is no doubt he can end the year in the top 24. Ebron could have 10 touchdowns. Ebron is my preferred stack between the two if I had to choose because again, he is going in the 14th round!

6. Carolina: Teddy Bridgewater (QB), Robby Anderson (WR), Curtis Samuel (WR), Ian Thomas (TE)

   • ADP: Bridgewater is being drafted as the 20th QB in the 13th round (ADP 150), Anderson is being drafted in the 10th round (ADP 115), Curtis Samuel is being drafted in the 12th round (ADP 140), Ian Thomas is being drafted in the 13th round (ADP 152).

   • Snapshot Insight: Anderson has been a top 24 air yard leader the last four years because his specialized skill set is to run verticals. Players that consistently run verticals eventually have breakout weeks. I like Thomas as a sneaky tight end breakout candidate. I’ll take either or both with Teddy. Curtis Samuel is my third choice if he slips past his ADP.

7. New England: Cam Newton (QB), Devin Asiasi (TE)

   • ADP: Newton is being drafted as the 24th QB in the 14th round (ADP 163), Asiasi is legitimately free and doesn’t even have an ADP on drafters. It is worth noting that Newton’s ADP has jumped higher since being acquired by the Patriots (I’ve seen him go in rounds 9 and 10).

   • Snapshot Insight: This one is hot off the press with Newton recently signing with the Patriots. Remember when the Patriots innovated offensive play calling with 12 man sets utilizing Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez? Remember how Greg Olsen (TE) was Newton's favorite target the last five years in Carolina? Remember when the Patriots drafted two tight-ends in the 2019 draft as their #1 and #2 picks in the third round? Asiasi was the first chosen tight end and the better of the two. It is risky, but it is also cheap.

8. Jacksonville: Gardner Minshew II, Laviska Shenault Jr., Chris Conley 

   • ADP: Minshew is being drafted as the 26th QB in the 14th round (ADP 162), Laviska Shenault Jr. is being drafted in the 16th round ( ADP 187), Chris Conley is being drafted in the 18th round (ADP 205).

   • Snapshot Insight: Yeah, as you can see there is no Dede Westbrook on this list. If I draft Minshew, I’d prefer either drafting the potential of Shenault or the downfield ability of Chris Conley. Both of which you can get after Dede Westbrook.

9. Green Bay: Aaron Rodgers (QB), Allen Lazard (WR)

   • ADP: Aaron Rodgers is being drafted as 12th QB in the 9th round (ADP 98), Allen Lazard is being drafted at the end of the 14/15 round turn (ADP 169).

   • Snapshot Insight: I don’t like Aaron Rodgers this year. I don’t like Aaron Rodgers this year. I don’t like Aaron Rodgers this year. I will not draft Rodgers unless he falls nearly three rounds from his ADP. I do however like that Rodgers speaks highly of Lazard. I also like that Lazard could be his #2 WR. Historically speaking, when WR #2 breakout in Green Bay, they really breakout.

10. Cincinnati: Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins

    • ADP: Burrow is currently being drafted as the 16th QB in the 11th round (ADP 131) and Higgins is being drafted in the 15th/16th round (ADP 180).

    • Insight: Burrow was the Heisman winner in 2019 and Tee Higgins is a big bodied receiver that I believe could end up having a late year emergence like DK Metcalf did in 2019. 

Conclusion

There is nothing better than being able to acquire hot stacks for cheap in best ball. Heck, if I could triple stock a double stack at a value in rounds after the 8th, I would. But the reality is:

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I’m with Lloyd on this one.

I hope these stack ideas bring some value for your best ball strategy. See you in the lobby.

If you're a college student, take my advice: always target a cheap filling breakfast after a night on the town. Pancakes are a hot stack for cheap.