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Hey there RotoBallers! After an explosive Week 1, we are ready to get back to it and win some more money in Week 2. Many offenses came to play in the season opener, with the Ravens leading the way with 59 points and Tennessee surprising with 43 points. It wasn't all great, however, as the Browns stumbled their way to just 13 points in a game that many thought they would win.
The goal of this weekly column will be to locate some of the best DFS stacks each week. Stacking, or pairing a quarterback with one of his pass-catchers, is a great way to maximize point scoring. This method is generally viewed as a strategy in tournaments, but I also have no problem using safe, high-floor stacks in cash games, as well.
The top Week 2 DFS stacks will be listed below, loosely sorted by my preference. This article will center on the main slate (1:00 PM and 4:00 PM Sunday) games across both DraftKings and FanDuel. Each stack will reference two pass-catchers along with their quarterback. The pass-catchers will be listed in preferential order but sometimes a three-man stack is in play as full-game stacks led to several wins in the Milly Maker in 2018. If you feel strongly about how an offense will perform in a given week then consider loading up on several offensive players from that offense. All references to team defense DVOA come from Football Outsiders while cornerback and wide receiver matchups and grade references come from Pro Football Focus.
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Week 2 DFS Stacks
Kansas City Chiefs @ Oakland Raiders
QB Patrick Mahomes ($7,500 DraftKings, $9,000 FanDuel)
WR Mecole Hardman ($4,800 DraftKings, $4,700 FanDuel)
WR Travis Kelce ($7,300 DraftKings, $8,000 FanDuel)
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs took on a quality Jacksonville defense in Week 1, lost their top play-maker in Tyreek Hill early in the game, and still went on to score 40 points. The Chiefs should have no trouble moving the ball against Oakland in Week 2. Mahomes accounted for 576 yards, six touchdowns, and just one interception in these teams' two meetings in 2018. He will be highly-owned but Mahomes is the top-rated quarterback option on this week's slate.
While Sammy Watkins is a strong play and worth using, an interesting pivot is rookie Mecole Hardman. Hardman was only targeted once in Week 1 but he was in on 77.9% of the team's offensive snaps. With a full week to game plan for him instead of Tyreek Hill, look for Andy Reid to lean on Hardman more in Week 2.
Travis Kelce had a quiet (for him) week in the season opener, catching three passes for 88 yards. He still saw a healthy number of targets but the Jaguars were able to focus their efforts on him once Hill injured himself. Look for Kelce to post a huge afternoon against an Oakland defense that allowed the sixth-most points on DraftKings and fourth-most on FanDuel in 2018.
New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins
QB Tom Brady ($6,400 DraftKings, $7,800 FanDuel)
WR Julian Edelman ($6,900 DraftKings, $7,100 FanDuel)
WR Josh Gordon ($5,800 DraftKings, $6,300 FanDuel)
The Ravens absolutely shredded a Miami team that has a chance to be historically bad this season. Meanwhile, New England met little resistance in a 33-3 whipping of the Steelers. Look for Tom Brady to come out firing against the division-rival Dolphins in Week 1. Brady was on point last week, completing 24-of-36 passes for 341 yards and three touchdowns. Last year in these teams' two meetings, Brady went for 632 yards, six touchdowns, and two interceptions.
With Antonio Brown's status for Week 2 unclear, fantasy gamers will want to focus on Brady's two other pass-catchers against Miami. Bump Julian Edelman up a bit on full PPR sites like DraftKings while Josh Gordon is the better play on 1/2 PPR sites like FanDuel.
Gordon actually draws the best matchup of the group as he will face off against Miami right corner Eric Rowe. Rowe has graded out at just a 42.9 by Pro Football Focus since the beginning of the 2018 season, second-lowest projected starting cornerback in Week 2 behind only the New York Giants' DeAndre Baker. Gordon is in a blow-up spot here in Week 2.
Houston Texans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
QB Deshaun Watson ($6,600 DraftKings, $8,500 FanDuel)
WR Will Fuller ($5,300 DraftKings, $6,100 FanDuel)
WR Kenny Stills ($4,100 DraftKings, $5,300 FanDuel)
The Texans lost a Week 1 heartbreaker in New Orleans when Wil Lutz booted a 58-yard field goal as time expired. All we care about, however, is rostering explosive offenses and Houston showed that they are just that. DeShaun Watson accounted for all four of Houston's touchdowns in the game and is primed for another big outing in Week 2 at home against the Jaguars. Jacksonville's defense is still living off their dominant 2017 campaign but they are not nearly as ferocious as they were back then. As one of the premier dual-threat quarterbacks in the league, Watson's rushing ability gives him a high weekly floor.
DeAndre Hopkins is one of the top wide receivers in the game and is rarely a bad play in any fantasy format. That being said, he's kind of a bad play against a Jalen Ramsey-led secondary. Instead, look to pivot to Will Fuller, who showed in Week 1 that he is fully back from a torn ACL in 2018. Fuller made the catch of the week on a deep, 54-yard bomb. He should get more attention from Watson in Week 2 while Hopkins contends with Ramsey. We saw what Sammy Watkins did in Week 1, primarily against coverage from D.J. Hayden.
If Keke Coutee (ankle) is out again, look toward Kenny Stills to round out your three-man stack. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle expects Stills' role to expand as he continues to learn the playbook. Stills still managed to haul in a touchdown pass in Week 1 and offers some of the same deep threat, splash play upside that Will Fuller does. Just make sure Coutee isn't active because he would put a cap on Stills' projected target share.
*Update: Coutee is trending toward playing after logging a full practice on Wednesday. If he is active, Stills is just a GPP dart-throw and a two-man Watson/Fuller stack is the preferred play.
Under-owned Week 2 Stack
Oakland Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs
QB Derek Carr ($5,100 DraftKings, $6,600 FanDuel)
WR Tyrell Williams ($4,400 DraftKings, $5,900 FanDuel)
TE Darren Waller ($3,300 DraftKings, $5,400 FanDuel)
Many are likely to roster the high-powered Kansas City passing attack but don't sleep on an Oakland offense that was plenty frisky in a 24-16 win over the Broncos on Monday night. Based on the early results, the Chiefs still don't play defense as evidenced by a 275-yard, two-touchdown performance from Jacksonville sixth-rounder Gardner Minshew in Week 1. Derek Carr was solid in the opener, completing 22-of-26 passes for 259 yards and a score. We know he will have plenty of opportunities to drop back against the high-scoring Chiefs.
Tyrell Williams took over as the team's No. 1 receiver after Antonio Brown finally got his wish and was jettisoned out of town. Williams went off for six catches, 105 yards, and a touchdown in the win. He will run most of his routes at left corner Charvarius Ward, who has graded out at a below-average 61.5 over at PFF since the beginning of 2018. Williams has excellent speed and should see plenty of deep shots as the Raiders will need to stay aggressive to keep up with the Chiefs on the scoreboard.
Darren Waller was hyped up by Jon Gruden all offseason but you are forgiven if you didn't quite believe what you were hearing. It turns out Gruden was telling the truth as Waller caught 7-of-8 targets for 70 yards in the season opener. The converted wide receiver has exceptional speed for a tight end and should operate as the 1B to the 1A of Tyrell Williams in the passing game pecking order. The Chiefs were notoriously bad against the tight end position in 2018, allowing the second-most fantasy points per game to the position on FanDuel and the most on DraftKings.
Thanks for reading, go win some money this weekend!
