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A look into the top 2024 fantasy football QB-TE stacks. Andrew Ball dives into the fantasy football QB-TE stacks you must have for your team in the 2024 season.
Stacking your fantasy football quarterback with their top wide receiver can sometimes be a cheat code, earning a near-automatic win when the pair connects for a touchdown or two. The same idea can be applied to a QB-TE stack, but those aren't necessarily as cost effective.
In standard fantasy football formats, managers start one quarterback and one tight end. Spending picks in the first five rounds on both positions can hamper the versatility, top-end talent, and depth of the more important positions: running back and wide receiver. While stacking Patrick Mahomes with Travis Kelce or Lamar Jackson with Mark Andrews is great on paper, it'll cost you.
Below, we'll look at the best QB-TE stacks heading into the 2024 season that won't break the bank.
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Kyler Murray, Trey McBride - Arizona Cardinals
In their first game together of the 2023 season (Week 10), Kyler Murray connected with Trey McBride eight times for 131 yards. Once Zach Ertz was lost for the season (he's now a member of the Commanders), McBride flourished in his solo, starting role. Murray only amplified his productivity. From Week 10 through the end of the regular season, McBride posted 14.9 PPR points per game, third among the position.
Trey McBride after Week 5 last season:
🏈 73 catches
🏈 746 yards
🏈 3 TDHe's in for a MONSTER 2024 👀 pic.twitter.com/cvRtfXKSoY
— NFL on DAZN (@NFLonDAZN) June 1, 2024
That's exactly where he's coming off draft boards this summer, behind Sam LaPorta and Travis Kelce. A TE1 finish is a reasonable outcome given the state of the Arizona offense. It added Marvin Harrison Jr. with the fourth overall pick but the rest of the depth chart won't demand targets. Michael Wilson, Zay Jones, and Greg Dortch are complementary pieces.
For a quarterback with rushing upside, another fantasy football cheat code, Murray is undervalued again. He's being selected as a back-end QB1 near Brock Purdy. Murray was the QB9 in fantasy points per game once he returned from his ACL recovery. His 30.5 rushing yards per game were the second-lowest mark of his career. That number should only rise with more time removed from the knee injury.
The addition of Harrison Jr. and Murray returning to form will only help McBride and the offense as a whole. There were struggles in the red zone with McBride being the only viable target when the field shortened. Harrison Jr. and Jones (to a lesser extent) will open up the middle of the field for McBride. The Arizona offense may take one of the biggest leaps in football from last season and owning a part, or even better two parts, of the offense can lead to fantasy football success.
Kirk Cousins, Kyle Pitts - Atlanta Falcons
Say what you will about Kirk Cousins' lack of postseason success, but the soon-to-be 36-year-old repeatedly has fantasy success. Because of the Achilles injury, age, and new team, Cousins is being billed as a mid-range QB2. It's a fair assessment. We don't know how athletes respond to an Achilles tear until we see them on the field. All signs, however, point toward Cousins being ready for Week 1 and Atlanta gave him 180 million reasons to play football.
Cousins was on his way to one of the best statistical seasons of his 12-year career before the injury. He completed nearly 70% of his pass attempts (third best in the NFL) with a touchdown rate of 5.8% (fourth best). He was the QB8 in fantasy points per game. New Atlanta offensive coordinator Zac Robinson was with Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell in Los Angeles. Expect a similar fast-paced, play-action-heavy offense that suits the strengths of Cousins. Yes, Justin Jefferson helped boost Cousins' numbers. He'll do that with any quarterback he plays with in his career. Drake London is no Jefferson, but he's an excellent receiver.
Raise your hand if you've been personally victimized by Kyle Pitts. The Falcons tight end racked up 1,026 receiving yards as a rookie but scored just once. In the subsequent two seasons, his combined receiving yards finished short of that mark from his debut campaign. The touchdown numbers have increased by just one every year. Point blank, Pitts has failed to live up to the lofty expectations.
The outlook on Pitts is once again sunshine and roses. Cousins targeted tight ends on nearly 27% of his pass attempts last season and helped develop T.J. Hockenson into one of the league's elite. The new coaching staff in Atlanta won't treat Pitts like an afterthought like the previous regime did (whether it was injury related or not).
“He’ll be a focal point of what we want to do”
Raheem Morris on Kyle Pitts usage in 2024
— 𝙁𝙖𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙈𝙪𝙨𝙚 (@ATLFalconsMuse) April 15, 2024
With a sixth-round draft capital for Pitts, fantasy managers can invest in running backs and wide receivers early. Selecting another quarterback to platoon with Cousins, given the injury, is a smart strategy.
Dak Prescott, Jake Ferguson - Dallas Cowboys
What do you get when you add last year's QB3 with the previous year's TE9? Somehow, an inexpensive 2024 stack.
Dak Prescott has always had eyes for his tight ends. From Jason Witten to Dalton Schultz to Jake Ferguson, a tight end has finished second on the team in targets in half of Prescott's eight professional seasons, including last year. Ferguson turned 102 targets into 71 receptions for 761 yards and five touchdowns.
Jake Ferguson racking up the YAC on the third down conversion 😤 @mundoNFL
📺: #PHIvsDAL on NBC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/YCEDNi5Ozb pic.twitter.com/aEErn34ccZ— NFL (@NFL) December 11, 2023
Sometimes fantasy football isn't about swinging for the fences, but rather playing it safe: Ferguson and Prescott are low-risk picks. Discounting injury plagued seasons, Prescott has finished outside of the top 10 in fantasy points once (and it was 11th in 2017). He's being drafted as the QB9 this season.
Guess who else is also coming off the board ninth at his position? Ferguson ran the third-most routes by a tight end last season. That means he's blocking less and earning fantasy points more often. The Cowboys will also continue to rely on their passing game in the new season.
Tony Pollard is gone and the team brought back Ezekiel Elliott to replace him. Elliott was wildly inefficient as a runner for the Patriots last season. Trust Prescott and Ferguson as stabilizers for fantasy rosters and touchdown receptions will be the added bonus that pushes fantasy managers to victory.
Jared Goff, Sam LaPorta - Detroit Lions
Sam LaPorta is currently the TE1, according to ADP, after one of the more surprising rookie seasons of all time. The second-round pick racked up 86 receptions (fourth among tight ends), 889 yards (fifth), and 10 touchdowns (first), which led to the 239.3 PPR points. That was nine more points than the second-best fantasy football tight end, Evan Engram.
Sam LaPorta just broke the TE rookie reception record (82) 🔥
pic.twitter.com/lRNCcXD7Ue— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) January 7, 2024
LaPorta will cost managers a second-round pick this summer, akin to Mark Andrews of seasons past. All of the advanced metrics point to LaPorta being a great tight end for years to come. However, touchdowns aren't as easy of a stat to predict year-over-year. Travis Kelce has alternated between double- and single-digit touchdown seasons since 2017. In the end, touchdowns are the most important stat for tight ends, a position that typically doesn't do as well in the receptions and yards department.
If a fantasy manager were to invest in the early selection of LaPorta, adding his quarterback to the roster would be relatively inexpensive. Jared Goff is being selected on the QB1/2 fault line. That makes him a perfect companion for the heavy investment of LaPorta. Fantasy managers can take the tight end early, load up on talent at the money positions, and select Goff in the middle-to-late rounds.
Nothing has changed in the Detroit offense from last season. Amon-Ra St. Brown and LaPorta will be the primary targets. They'll own one of the best rushing attacks in the league with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. The offensive line is elite and Jameson Williams may contribute from time to time. Goff doesn't play outside until Week 9. He averaged 24 more passing yards per game on nearly five fewer attempts in domes versus outside. The differences in touchdowns are even more dramatic (24 in 11 games versus five in five). Expect a strong start to the season from the Detroit offense.
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