In recent years, stacking in best ball became commonplace, with Mike Leone finding that 10.5 teams per 12-team drafts tended to have at least one stack. Many of us who have played best ball for a while, along with DFS, have been familiar with the upside of stacking in tournament best ball.

Still, with the explosion of popularity best ball experienced, stacking caught on and became something that was possibly slightly overused at times. The simplest way to break down stacking is to say that if you have several pieces of an offense, you’re relying on fewer things going right for your fantasy team to benefit.

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Best Ball Draft Stack Advice

Whichever draft pick you’re randomly assigned in your draft will give you a higher chance of landing on certain team stacks than others. While arguments can be made for leaning against average draft position (ADP) and taking different stacks, you’ll often find yourself landing on these stacks when selecting from certain slots. This article will highlight the easiest stacks to achieve based on your picks.

Best Ball Draft Stack Advice: 1.01-1.02

From the first slot in the draft, we have several options. Typically, it’s easiest to execute stacks on the turn with our back-to-back picks providing a big advantage. One of the first teams that stands out is the Chicago Bears, who have gone from uninspiring for fantasy football to one of the most intriguing. Caleb Williams‘ ADP of 94.5 lines up perfectly with the 8.12, aligning with DJ Moore who goes at the 2.12 but on the opposite side of the board to Rome Odunze. If you find yourself in a draft and Odunze slips, it might be worth seeing if you can pair him with Williams.

CeeDee Lamb is the consensus 1.02 currently, with an ADP of 2.1, bringing him in line with Dak Prescott at 6.12, Jake Ferguson at 8.09 and Jalen Tolbert at 18.12. On the opposite side of the board, Brandin Cooks goes at 12.01.

Best Ball Draft Stack Advice: 1.03-1.04

As the draft board starts to move away from the turn, players tend to spread out slightly more, but there are still some stacks more prevalent at certain positions. Ja’Marr Chase‘s ADP of 4.1 pulls Joe Burrow perfectly in line at the 7.03, but Tee Higgins lands at the 4.01, suggesting people drafting Higgins have so far been less focussed on adding Burrow than those who stack Chase with Burrow. Adding both of the Bengals’ top receivers feels like something worth doing while there is an air of trepidation over Higgins’ future.

The Miami Dolphins’ top pairing of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle line up perfectly with Hill at the 1.03 and Waddle at the 2.10, along with De’Von Achane at the 3.02, but Tua Tagovailoa‘s ADP sits at 10.3, suggesting drafters might be pairing the wide receivers with other quarterbacks and stacks that potentially have more upside. Tagovailoa is a fine pick as part of a 3-QB build, but we’ve seen enough to know there are higher-end options out there.

Best Ball Draft Stack Advice: 1.05-1.08

The middle of the board opens up many opportunities with ADP more fluid in this portion of the draft and values often falling into this range. The Kansas City Chiefs are a far more stackable offense in 2024 than in 2023. Currently, six Chiefs players are drafted in the first 80 picks. Adding running backs to your stack can be a way to get unique but Isiah Pacheco‘s ADP is currently adjacent to Patrick Mahomes’, meaning, unless you take them early at a turn, you won’t be able to stack both. Otherwise, this is an easy team to stack, if you can land Travis Kelce as the first part. The question isn’t whether you can do it, but which of the wide receivers will be the most valuable.

The Buffalo Bills so far haven’t aligned with quarterback Josh Allen‘s ADP, making them an interesting team to stack. Allen sits at the 3.07 in ADP, but all his skill players sit by one side of the turn or the other, meaning you’re reliant on Allen slipping further in drafts, or his skill players doing similar. As the rounds go on reaching becomes less of an issue and these pass-catchers are more likely to fall to you when you have the quarterback, but engineering a way to build big Bills stacks now could be profitable.

The Tennessee Titans have surrounded Will Levis with plenty of savvy veterans and seem ready to do everything they can to make a fair assessment of whether the second-year quarterback can be their future or not. Currently, Levis goes in the mid-17th round, meaning it’s easy to set this stack up and then add Levis last, but only DeAndre Hopkins‘ ADP aligns perfectly. The rest of the Titans pass-catchers are sat at one side of the board or the other, but with the Titans being where they are as a team, it’s not unusual to see these players slide and find yourself a relatively easy stack.

Best Ball Draft Stack Advice: 1.09-1.10

One of the easiest stacks to find your way into currently is the Arizona Cardinals, who are top-heavy in skill, followed by a lot of cheap ambiguous players later on. Kyler Murray‘s ADP puts him at the 7.09, with Trey McBride at the 5.08 and Marvin Harrison Jr. at the 2.02. Because of how easy this stack is to acquire you might want to think about how else to get different when landing this one.

Amon-Ra St. Brown falls at the 1.05, but otherwise, the Detroit Lions largely live in this range of the draft with Jahmyr Gibbs at the 2.01, Sam LaPorta at 4.05 and Jared Goff at 11.10. One way to get a different stack than the majority would be to reach slightly for Goff after adding St. Brown early.

Best Ball Draft Stack Advice: 1.11-1.12

The Texans are being pushed up draft boards like there’s no tomorrow. When that happens a team typically becomes harder to stack. C.J. Stroud has fallen slightly after being in the fifth round during early best ball drafts. This is likely due to teams trying hard to stack him with one of his top-three options, but currently, neither Nico Collins (3.03) nor Stefon Diggs (3.05) fall nicely to Stroud at the 6.02, but Tank Dell does at the 3.09, just two spots away.

The Commanders could be a fun team for best ball this year with Jayden Daniels arriving into the NFL hot off a season where he combined for almost 5.000 total yards and 50 total touchdowns. With that said, Terry McLaurin currently resides on the opposite side of the board to Daniels, so it requires a fall or a reach on at least one player’s part. Jahan Dotson does align perfectly with Daniels and the third-year player should find more joy in the downfield passing game with Daniels than he did with the subpar Sam Howell.

Conclusions

All these stacks can be easier to find at different sections of the draft but finding ways to be unique and build teams our opponents aren’t can give us great leverage in the playoff weeks. Don’t be afraid to take strong stances this far out from the beginning of the season.

More Fantasy Football Draft Advice

• Erickson’s Must-Have Best Ball Draft Targets (Premium)
• Fitz’s Must-Have Best Ball Draft Targets (Premium)
• DBro’s Must-Have Best Ball Draft Targets (Premium)
• Hoppen’s Must-Have Best Ball Draft Targets (Premium)

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