• Fantasy Football Value Stacks in the Draft — Dynasty Leagues

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    Trying to figure out how to maximize your dynasty fantasy team's potential without paying top dollar? Look no further than the fantasy football stack.


    Stacks seem to be a more divisive topic in fantasy football than Joe Mixon (who I believe will easily beat out his current ADP, but that's neither here nor there). Stacks can spark up heated debates, and for good reason. They can be volatile pieces in your starting lineup but, when chosen correctly, their boom potential can rocket you towards a championship.

    Stacks

    For those of you who are unaware, a stack is what happens when you have two or more players from the same team who can contribute to a boom/bust potential. (This strategy could have easily been called a "pile," but that just doesn't have the same effect.)

    Before we go any further, I'm not saying that you should go out and reach for players to complete a stack. In fact, I'm saying the opposite. I'm talking value stacks. I mean, who wouldn't love to stack up Patrick Mahomes with Travis Kelce AND Tyreek Hill. That's a no-brainer. However, most of us won't have the draft capital to do so.

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    I'm not going to just tell you that should stack your team and flutter away. I'm not that much of a jerk.

    The stacks I'll be discussing here come at a value. These will be players who I feel can outperform the outlook the public has on them and who you won't have to spend high draft capital for. Some of the best stacking opportunities also come up serendipitously.

    The ADP I'll be using as a reference is the IDP Guys ADP.

    In this article, we'll go over three dynasty stacks. Read my other article here for three redraft stacks. A little variety, just because I like y'all so much.

    Dynasty

    Dynasty is a long-term game. You have to be able to look towards the future as well as focusing on the now.

    As the great Denzel Washington once said after memorizing someone else's words while being recorded, "Chess not checkers."

    Let's jump right into it.

    New England Patriots — Mac Jones and Damien Harris

    Look, I'm sorry. I had to put the patriots on the list again. It hurt me to do so but when it comes to Fantasy, you can't play with your emotions. I don't care if they've smacked around your favorite team for the past two decades. Go on, ask me if I care...I DON'T.

    What I do care about is that they drafted a QB with the 15th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. What I do care about is that this QB will, in the future, be replacing an aging Cam Newton. Maybe not this year, but soon.

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    What I also care about is that said aging QB (which stats I've mentioned previously and copy/pasted here again) posted rushing stats of 137 attempts - 592 yards - 12 TDs (9 of which were inside the 5). That's all got to go somewhere, why not Damien Harris? Or did you think it was going to Mac Jones who's entire college career had a total of 42 rushing yards in three years?

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    Mac Jones is going around the QB22 while Harris is off the board as the RB35. If you were to grab these players, you could be getting on the ground floor of (and I hope this isn't the case) the New England Patriot's next dynasty.

    Miami Dolphins — Tua Tagovailoa and Mike Gesicki

    Tank for Tua. That's what everyone was chanting before the 2020 NFL Draft. Everyone saw the talent out of the Alabama QB who won a National Championship in 2018.

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    In the fast-paced time we're living in, nothing gets to sit and marinate. Before the draft, it was Tank for Tua and now that the dolphins have played him for half a season, everyone is ready to show the 23-year-old the door. Talent like that doesn't go away.

    People can discuss all they want about whether or not it was the right move to bench Fitzpatrick while he was heating up for a rookie who was coming off of an injury midway through a playoff push. There are points to be made on both sides.

    Maybe if Ryan Fitzpatrick wasn't doing as well as he was when he got benched, the public perception around Tua would have changed.

    @blakeponson has addressed Tua's challenge ahead of him but pointed out the team's skill positions can help him take that next step in his article

    The new help that team will gain from Will Fuller and Jaylen Waddle is scaring people away from the Dolphins 25-year-old tight end, Mike Gesicki. I disagree.

    People can say that there's not enough ball to go around for one of the biggest red-zone threats on the team. I don't buy it. I believe the Dolphins will continue to find ways to utilize their Tight End especially after bringing on two-speed threats to the team.

    I'd like to mention that A) Will Fuller has yet to play an entire season in 5 years and 2) even though Waddle and Tua have history, he's still a rookie. And I know with the emergence of Justin Jefferson and Ceedee Lamb, that probably doesn't mean much but only 5 rookies finished within the top-50 fantasy receivers.

    One more caveat I'd like to address, currently Will Fuller and DeVante Parker's contracts end after the 2021 season. Food for thought. Remember that Dynasty is a long-term commitment.

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    The 23-year-old from Alabama is being drafted around the QB16 spot. The 25-year-old tight end is going around the TE9 position. If they were to surpass expectations laid before them, your dynasty squad would have a lock on the QB/TE position for years to come.

    Detroit Lions — Jared Goff and TJ Hockenson

    Jared Goff, once the face of the Los Angeles franchise on the precipice of winning a Super Bowl, has moved onto the next chapter of his career. He will enter the 2021 season as the starting quarterback for the Detroit Lions.

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    Many will be quick to cast him aside for fantasy purposes. But he offers that which much not have, stability, for both the Detroit Lions and your fantasy team. Which, especially for a superflex league is something that cannot be overlooked.

    In the past four years, he's been a top 20 fantasy QB with three of them being in the top 15. In his best Fantasy season, he finished as QB6. I realize of course that he had excellent weapons with Woods, Kupp, and Gurley when he was one of the best running backs in the league. There will be a slight drop-off going from the Rams to the Lions.

    However, he does have an emerging running back in Swift, a stable of young receivers ready to prove their worth, and one of the best young TEs, T.J Hockenson.

    Hockenson is going around the 5-7th round depending on how many teams are in your league. Last year he finished as the TE5 and he is ready to make a year three leap. He will be the focal point of the offense in the air.

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    One of our fellow writers here, @hayeb3, wrote an article about the outlook of the Detroit Lions. Great piece of writing that you should check out.

    Conclusion

    ADP is there for a reason. I get it. I'm not suggesting that anyone reach for these stacks in their draft just for the sake of 'having a stack'. That is incorrect. What I'm saying to you is if these players drop to you, the Value is ripe for the taking.

    I believe all of these players have a real shot at outperforming their ADP. Of course, they might not all end up top 5 in their positions. But these stacks have a chance of helping any team reach a championship.

    That's what we're here for at the end of the day.


    Thank you for reading! Follow me on Twitter at @FFCAnabalon, and if you enjoyed the random assortment of letters and punctuation marks above, you can find more of my work here at idpguys.org

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