Week 1 of the NFL season is finally here. To gain leverage in GPPs, a strategy that must be used by every DFS player is stacking. Rostering a quarterback with one or more of his pass catchers gives your lineup the upside it needs to have a chance at finishing near the top of the leaderboards. The NFL DFS advice below will evaluate how to utilize NFL DFS stacks for Week 1 DraftKings and FanDuel lineups by finding the top the stacking options from Awesemo’s Top Stacks Tool. The Top Stacks Tool will breakdown the stack in terms of its overall projection of being the No. 1 stack of the week, the ownership of the quarterback, if it is a value or not and the overall leverage you will receive on the rest of the field.
NFL DFS Top Stacks for Week 1 on DraftKings + FanDuel
Top Stack: Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs are rating as the best offense to stack from Awesemo’s Top Stacks Tool for Week 1. The Chiefs are 6.5-point favorites over the Browns and have a massive implied total of 30.5 points. This is high mark of this 13-game slate by nearly 3 points, and this game’s total is also the largest on the board (54.5 points). Last season the Chiefs threw the ball at the second-highest clip in the league, and Patrick Mahomes ranked fourth in yards per attempt (7.9). No quarterback is projected for more fantasy points in Awesemo’s rankings this week, and given Mahomes is the most expensive player at his position on both DraftKings and FanDuel, his ownership is expected to stay under 10% on both sites.
As for options to pair with Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce are the obvious choices. Hill garnered a 23.2% target share last season, was fourth in the league in air yards (1708) and ranked second in touchdowns receiving (15). Kelce led the Chiefs with a 25.3% target share and 21 red-zone targets that he converted into 11 touchdowns. The Browns struggled mightily at defending tight ends last season, and in the Divisional Round Kelce lit them up for eight catches, 109 yards and a touchdown. While Kelce is the safer target in this matchup, Hill arguably brings the highest ceiling of any skill player on the slate. Paying up to be contrarian with the Chiefs is a sharp move to gain leverage this week, and all three studs can be in one lineup.
Awesemo Top Stack Projection: 21.8%
Awesemo Ownership Projection: 5.0%
Value: 14.2
Leverage: 16.8%
Top Stack: Buffalo Bills
Even in a difficult spot against the Steelers, who gave up the third-fewest yards per attempt last season (6), the Bills are the second-best NFL DFS stack according to Awesemo’s Top Stacks Tool. Vegas has Buffalo tied for the second-highest implied total of the main slate (27.5 points). Plus, this game’s total is up to 48.5 points and the Bills are 6.5-point home favorites. For the 2020 season, Buffalo threw the ball at the fourth-highest rate, and Josh Allen averaged 7.7 yards per attempt and eclipsed 25 DraftKings points in 11 of his 18 starts.
Without question the most optimal player to stack with Allen is Stefon Diggs, who led the NFL is yards receiving a year ago (1,535). Diggs also finished the 2020 season third in both air yards (1,713) and target share (29.3%), and he torched the Steelers for 10 catches, 130 yards and a touchdown his lone meeting against the club. Diggs has the second-highest receiver projection on the slate and ranks as a top-eight value at his position for both DraftKings and FanDuel.
In addition to Diggs, Cole Beasley and Emmanuel Sanders are good values this week. Running 88.4% of his snaps from the slot last season, Beasley had a 19.9% target share and flashed some nice upside for DraftKings full-PPR scoring, with five games of 10 or more catches. Sanders joined the Bills this summer, but he should fit in nicely as the third receiver in a pass-first offense, and going from Drew Brees to Allen as his quarterback should result in some big performances this season. Brees ranked 37th in average depth of target last year compared to Allen’s 10th. Sanders is the riskiest of the three Bills wideouts, but he is also the cheapest of the group and will come with the lowest ownership.
Awesemo Top Stack Projection: 14.6%
Awesemo Ownership Projection: 5.1%
Value: 11.2
Leverage: 9.5%
Value Stack: Atlanta Falcons
If looking for a cheaper NFL DFS stack for Week 1, the Falcons stand out in this matchup against the Eagles. A year ago Atlanta was an extremely pass-heavy offense, ranking sixth-to-last in script-adjusted rush rate, resulting in Matt Ryan nearly throwing it 40 times a game. He ranked 13th in yards per attempt (7.3), and Ryan should see plenty of volume in this likely shootout against the Eagles. Of the 26 teams on the slate, the Falcons have the sixth-highest implied total at 25.75 points. When Atlanta had an implied total of 25 points or greater last season Ryan averaged 22 DraftKings points per game. For both DraftKings and FanDuel, he is very reasonably priced and is slated for less than 5% ownership, according to Awesemo’s projections.
While Julio Jones is out of town, there are still many appealing options to stack with Ryan. First and foremost, Calvin Ridley should be one of the league’s top fantasy wideouts as the new alpha in Atlanta. He led the NFL in air yards last season, and in the seven games sans Jones, Ridley saw 11.2 targets a game and turned them into 109.2 yards per game. Via Awesemo’s projections, Ridley has the highest fantasy projection of all wide receivers in action this week.
Rookie Kyle Pitts was the highest tight end draft pick in NFL history this summer. In his final season with Florida Pitts caught 43 passes for 770 yards and 12 touchdowns in only eight games. He will immediately serve as the No. 2 option in the Falcons offense and should easily outperform his inexpensive price tags. Lastly, Russell Gage is an option worth considering for Atlanta stacks and should come with little to no ownership. With Jones absent for the final four games last season, Gage averaged 17 DraftKings points per game thanks to a 20.8% target share from Ryan.
Awesemo Top Stack Projection: 6.9%
Awesemo Ownership Projection: 4.4%
Value: 5.9
Leverage: 2.5%
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