Brace yourselves, fantasy football fans. Most of you might be out of the playoffs, but there is still a 14-game main DFS slate on Sunday that will offer us plenty of chances to win big. Daily fantasy football contests are a popular way for those eliminated in season-long leagues to stay in on the action, and in Week 17, there are plenty of high-upside options who can be targeted in DraftKings and FanDuel lineups. One of the best ways to give your lineup tournament-winning potential is to stack sets of teammates.
Stacks often give your lineups a chance to earn "double points," but they can also create key lineup differentiation. A lot of DFS players like to spread the wealth, but those that target specific games and matchups with multiple players often have higher ceilings. Sure, they can sometimes have lower floors, but it's a risk that most fighting for top prizes are willing to take.
There are going to be many stacking opportunities in NFL Week 17. There are several top-tier playoff teams playing weaker competition, including the Bucs (at Jets), Bills (vs. Falcons) and 49ers (vs. Texans), so they merit extra attention as you try to build the perfect DFS lineup.
MORE WEEK 17 DFS: Best values | Lineup builder
DraftKings pricing continues to be more variable than that of FanDuel which makes it easier to create stacks. That said, stacking is still a viable strategy on FanDuel. It's just important to find worthwhile sleepers in the lower price range to balance your lineup.
Below are some of our favorite sets of teammates for DraftKings and FanDuel lineups. Be sure to follow our Twitter account @SN_Fantasy to see all of our DFS content heading into kickoff every week.
Week 17 NFL DFS Picks: Top cash game stacks for DraftKings, FanDuel
QB Dak Prescott, WR CeeDee Lamb, & WR Amari Cooper, Cowboys vs. Cardinals (DK/FD Stack)
Is Dak Prescott back? He looked excellent against Washington last time out and threw for more than 300 yards and four touchdowns in the first half of Dallas' blowout win. He barely had to throw at all in the second half and exited before the fourth quarter.
It's hard to say that Prescott's mini-slump is definitively over, but this is a matchup in which to trust him. The Cardinals are banged-up in the secondary and simply haven't been good against quarterbacks in recent weeks. They have surrendered an average of 25.8 fantasy points per game in their past three outings and have given up a total of eight passing touchdowns. Prescott should be able to take advantage of that porous coverage.
If we're trusting Dak, we'll also want to trust two of his top receiving weapons. For cash games, Lamb and Cooper have the highest floors, as Lamb has logged double-digit points in four straight games while Cooper has at least 16.1 fantasy points in two of his past three outings. If you want to go for a cheaper option like Michael Gallup or Dalton Schultz, you can, but rolling with these three in what should be high scoring game seems like a sensible decision despite being costly.
WEEK 17 PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
QB Matthew Stafford, WR Cooper Kupp, & WR Odell Beckham Jr., Rams at Ravens (DK Stack)
Here's another triple stack of high-end offensive players in a great matchup. Matthew Stafford is coming off one of his worst games of the season, as he threw for under 200 yards and tossed three picks in the Rams' win against the Vikings. He should find more success against the Ravens.
Baltimore is missing several of its top cornerbacks. They have been without Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters for a while now, but Anthony Averett got hurt last week, so even with Jimmy Smith and Tavon Young in the fold, the Ravens' secondary isn't in great shape. They just let Joe Burrow and the Bengals throw for 525 yards and four touchdowns against them, so the Rams' passing offense could be in for a big day here.
Kupp is a must-start if you're starting Stafford, as Kupp has posted four consecutive 100-yard receiving games and has been targeted at least 10 times in all but one game this season. He is also averaging a touchdown per game during the Rams' winning streak.
For your third weapon, there are a few choices including Tyler Higbee and Van Jefferson, but we'll go with Beckham Jr. this time. Beckham has posted a touchdown in four of his last five games with the Rams and he figures to have a shot at that as he gets more and more comfortable in the Los Angeles offense.
WEEK 17 STANDARD RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
RB Ronald Jones & Buccaneers D/ST, Buccaneers at Jets (DK/FD Stack)
Jones logged a season high in snaps played in Week 16 with Leonard Fournette out. He played 53 percent of the snaps (35 total), both season highs. He also had 20 carries but turned them into just 65 yards and a touchdown.
While Jones was a solid fantasy producer last week, he should be better this week. The Jets have allowed more than 2,500 scrimmage yards and 26 total TDs to running backs this year. They are the worst fantasy defense against backs, so Jones should have an easier time getting going in a more favorable matchup. If you want to take a cheaper route, Ke'Shawn Vaughn should also get a solid workload, and he showed off his dynamic, playmaking ability with a 55-yard TD run last week.
As for the Bucs' defense, the Jets have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to defenses this year and are tied for the league lead with 26 total takeaways. Feel free to exploit them here and ride these Buccaneers in a very favorable matchup.
Week 17 DraftKings, FanDuel Picks: Best stacks for daily fantasy football GPPs/tournaments
QB Trey Lance, RB Jeff Wilson Jr. (or Elijah Mitchell), & WR Deebo Samuel, 49ers vs. Texans (DK/FD stack)
This stack could be a sneaky-good one, as it's attacking the true weakness of the Texans' defense. Houston has allowed an average of 141.3 rushing yards per game this season. That's tied for the second-worst mark in the NFL behind only the Steelers. Lance, Wilson and Samuel are all threats on the ground, so all three make sense, especially considering the value we're getting on Lance.
Lance is expected to start in place of Jimmy Garoppolo, who is dealing with a thumb injury, but he costs just $5,000 of salary cap space on DraftKings and $6,400 on FanDuel. He is a bargain in both considering he racked up 89 rushing yards in his lone start of the season. He should have similar, if not better, production against a weak Houston defense.
Meanwhile, Wilson has averaged 77 scrimmage yards and has two touchdowns in his past three games. Those numbers aren't earth-shattering, but he should feast against a defense that allows 4.7 yards per carry. He also gives us key lineup differentiation, as we're going with a non-traditional QB-RB-WR stack.
Finally, Samuel has been getting extra work out of the backfield with Elijah Mitchell (knee) out, so he could rip a long gain if he continues to get carries. He also could open up things for Wilson and Lance to run a lot, so we'll roll with him in the hopes that he finds the end zone and gets consistent enough targets to live up to the hype.
QB Joe Burrow, WR Tyler Boyd, & TE C.J. Uzomah, Bengals vs. Chiefs (DK/FD stack)
Burrow and the Bengals have a good matchup in Week 17 against the Chiefs. Kansas City's defense has been strong of late, but the Bengals' stacked passing attack should turn this game into something of a shootout. Burrow will have to throw a lot to keep pace with Patrick Mahomes and Co., so rolling with him is a fine choice. That said, a lot of people are going to be on the Burrow bandwagon after watching him shred the Ravens' defense. As such, if you're going to play him, you need to stack him with a couple of his lesser-heralded players to get the most out of this game.
Tyler Boyd seems like a good place to start. Boyd has quietly averaged 4.3 catches for 80.3 yards in his past four games. He has scored in back-to-back contests, as well, so it's clear that Burrow is looking for him in key spots. He'll have to compete with Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins for catches, but he could certainly outproduce those two given the attention the Chiefs will give them.
To earn further lineup differentiation, we'll also roll with Uzomah. The veteran tight end has two multi-TD games this season and can pop off when in good matchups. The Chiefs have surrendered 849 yards and six TDs to tight ends this season, and they rank as a below-average defense against them. As such, Uzomah could have a solid day and should pay off his low-tier price tag at the very least.
There's definitely risk in fading Chase and Higgins, but it could easily pay off. Uzomah is the biggest wild card, but if he can score, that would be a big boost a the ever-volatile tight end position.
QB Josh Allen & RB Devin Singletary, Bills vs. Falcons (DK stack)
The Bills have both Cole Beasley and Gabriel Davis on the reserve/COVID list right now, and it's already being reported that Davis will be out. As such, the Bills might go with a run-heavy game plan against the Falcons' defense, so Allen and Singletary seem like a nice pairing.
The Falcons have allowed the seventh-most rushing yards to quarterbacks this year (332), so targeting Allen — one of the league's best scramblers — in this spot makes a lot of sense. He has averaged 32.7 fantasy points per game over his past three, so if he continues at that clip, he'll have a good chance to be the top QB on this week's slate.
That said, many will pair Allen with Stefon Diggs. Instead, we'll go with Singletary, who has averaged 16.7 touches per game in the Bills' past three outings for 87.7 yards per contest. He is catching passes — four per game — in that stretch and the Falcons have allowed 653 receiving yards to running backs. That makes Singletary, the best receiver in the Bills' backfield, the biggest threat in this week's game.
This stack could pay off in a non-traditional way. We're banking on rushing yards from Allen and receiving yards from Singletary, and if we get those, this duo should reward us.
