Stacking In Best Ball Fantasy Football: The Basics
NFL best ball fantasy football is similar to NFL DFS in a few ways. Top DraftKings players know how to stack in DFS, and best ball drafters also need to understand the strategy if they want to win money in a tournament. We would not say that a team without a stack is bad, but all of us at FantasyUnleashd are keenly aware of stacking opportunities in every draft. Understanding a few basics to player stacking in best ball can give drafters a better chance at building a winning roster.
Before jumping into the “Stacking In Best Ball 101 guide,” I think it would be helpful to use “stacking” and “correlation” nearly interchangeably in this article. Stacking at its core is about squeezing more fantasy points out of the most advantageous situations. In other words, these players are connected in some way, AKA correlated.
Like all best ball strategies, how much to stack and with what players is an open argument among fantasy analysts. One thing that we do believe in 100% is that understanding average draft position (ADP) for your platform always helps, and if you’re drafting on Underdog, the FantasyUnleashd Podcast is dedicated to timely and accurate ADP data.
HOW MANY PLAYERS SHOULD I STACK IN BEST BALL
There appears to be a clear danger in “over-stacking” players in best ball. Early data suggests that smaller stacks can be effective enough to win large tournaments in fantasy football best ball.
That means a simple single stack, consisting of just a quarterback and wide receiver combo from the same team, is a viable strategy. You can also do a double or triple stack, where you draft multiple running backs, wide receivers, or tight ends from the same NFL offense.
If you’re absolutely insane, you can try a QUAD STACK.
With any team stack, you could consider intra-divisional stacks, targeting players within the same NFL division. This way you guarantee two match-ups between your primary stack and correlating pieces during the season. This is a straightforward way to find runbacks when you stack in best ball. Another option is to target match-ups during the best ball playoffs, such as weeks 15-17.
STACKING QUARTERBACK & RUNNING BACK
A more unique style of stacking some players like to use is the QB-RB combo. Stacking quarterbacks with running backs may seem like a sneaky strategy, but it may just flat-out stink if you’re overpaying for these situations.
FantasyUnleashd Chairman Cash has been targeting cheap running backs or RB2s when he employs the QB-RB stacking strategy for his 2022 best ball teams.
One thing to consider is that this type of stacking/correlation isn’t just trying to capitalize on when the QB throws a pass to a certain player. Instead, we can view this as a “team stack,” where you’re simply targeting players from the same offense because you believe they will score many fantasy points over the course of the NFL season.
STACKING TIGHT ENDS ON BEST BALL TEAMS
One drafting strategy some fantasy players use for best ball is stacking a quarterback with a tight end. Stacking a quarterback and tight end can often be done easily since most tight ends have late ADPs, meaning they go later in drafts and are easier to target.
For 2022 best ball drafts, drafters can target late stacks such as Aaron Rodgers and Robert Tonyan, Kirk Cousins and Irv Smith, Tua Tagovailoa and Mike “The Sicko” Gesicki, among others. It may not be optimal to stack top tier tight ends in best ball drafts with elite quarterbacks given how much draft capital it requires, though the Lamar Jackson and Mark Andrews stack does fall nicely into place.
Our Chairman, Cash, has an in-depth analysis on how and when to draft tight ends in best ball.
WHEN TO STACK PLAYERS IN BEST BALL
Our answer is simple: when it’s at market value. Pay attention to ADP. You do not want to reach for a stack. Well, you do not want to OVERREACH for a stack. It may not be a bad idea to pay up a 3-6 spots in ADP to get correlation in your lineup. However, too many players force stacks by reaching a round or more, erasing the advantage of stacking in the first place.
Savvy drafters with a firm understanding of the ADP can even “plan downstream” based on their draft position. For instance, if you get the number 1 overall pick, you can consider who will be available at the 4/5 turn, and draft accordingly.
WEEK 17 CORRELATION
I already mentioned the idea of targeting week 17 in best ball stacks. If possible, it can be sharp to mix in opponents for your main stack during the playoff weeks, like weeks 15, 16, and 17. But like stacking more generally, do not reach on ADP to land a certain week 17 match-up when drafting a best ball team.
One note is that the most attractive week 17 matchups on paper don’t always turn out to be the most lucrative from a fantasy perspective. This means it can be better to have an understanding of all week 17 matchups, instead of just of a few high profile ones.
Some best ball grinders believe that overthinking week 17 is a mistake, and you should instead just focus on drafting well-correlated teams that have a chance to make it to the finals of a best ball tournament.
HOW TO STACK IN BEST BALL
We discussed multiple ways to stack players for fantasy football best ball drafts. Roster construction and ADP are always most important, but properly utilizing stacks like single stacks consisting of the QB and WR can be extremely advantageous, especially when used with logical runbacks, such as players from the same division. This is intra-divisional stacking.
You can also experiment with a team stack approach where you acquire multiple players from the same offense that you think will outperform their ADP. With that said, it’s important to know that it’s generally seen as acceptable to draft a team’s top WRs without the QB. For instance, you’re not dead in the water if you have Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins without Joe Burrow. Your team can still advance to the best ball playoffs.
You can read more about best ball drafting strategies here, and make sure you listen to the FantasyUnleashd Podcast for the best ADP info in the entire known universe. See you all in the Underdog Fantasy lobbies.
