Instead of including a favorite value play in this week’s piece, I’m doubling up on stacks while also featuring my favorite stud.

Create Optimal DraftKings lineups using our DFS Lineup Optimizer tool

Favorite Stud

Aaron Jones (RB – GB): $7,600 at Lions
Is Jones going to be chalky this week? He almost assuredly will be. Will he be as chalky as he should be? Maybe not. Derrick Henry is in a potential smash spot, and even as the most expensive back on the slate, Dalvin Cook should garner some attention as a standalone play or as part of a stack in what — as you’ll soon see — I expect to be a fantasy-friendly shootout. Further, teammates Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams are also likely to be chalky in their own right, and gamers might be unwilling to pony up for a three-man Packers stack.

With that in mind, if Jones is on even a few less rosters than he should a dreamy matchup, consider that a win for using him in GPPs. Speaking of that matchup, no team has coughed up more DraftKings points per game to the running back position than the Lions, per Pro-Football-Reference. Backs are ripping off a solid 4.60 yards per carry against the Lions this year, and any thoughts of them flipping the switch in the wake of head coach Matt Patricia being canned went up in smoke with the Bears backfield duo of David Montgomery and Cordarrelle Patterson steamrolling them for 131 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries while adding five receptions on six targets for 43 receiving yards.

This is literally the cushiest matchup Jones could ask for, and with the Packers serving as 7.5-point favorites, per the consensus line at BettingPros, the game script should be outstanding, too. I’m completely enamored with Jones, and the only thing preventing me from tabbing him as my favorite option at the position — priced considered — is a back about to be discussed as part of one of my two favorite stacks this week.

Favorite Stack 1

• Jonathan Taylor (RB – IND): $5,800 at Raiders
• Colts (D/ST): $3,200 at Raiders

Taylor returned from his one-game absence while on the reserve/COVID-19 list and made his impact felt by setting a new high in yards from scrimmage with 135 of them. It was his second-straight game of 90 rushing yards or more, and his second in a row of reaching triple-digit yards from scrimmage. In his last two games combined, he’s toted the rock 35 times for 181 yards and hauled in all seven of his targets for 68 receiving yards and a score.

The Colts continue to deploy a running back by committee utilizing Nyheim Hines and sprinkling in Jordan Wilkins, but Taylor’s heating up and doing his part to command a steady diet of rushing attempts while owning a seven-game streak catching multiple passes. He should be poised for a third straight monster game against a Raiders defense that was just clowned by the Jets vaunted running back duo of Ty Johnson (22-104-1 on the ground and 2-13-0 on two targets) and Josh Adams (8-74-0 on the ground). The Colts are 3-point favorites, but after the way the Raiders struggled last week against the winless Jets — albeit on the road — and the Colts bounced back with DeForest Buckner returning on defense, I think there’s blowout potential that belies the small spread.

The ideal game script for Taylor is a lead in which he can salt the game away carrying the ball, and that would be the ideal game script for the defense piling up sacks and turnovers with Derek Carr stuck in predictable passing situations. This is a correlation stack with the added benefit of the Colts defense potentially being underutilized with the Cowboys standing out as a likely popular punt play at $800 cheaper. For full disclosure, I do like and will be using the Cowboys defense at just $2,400 against the backup-QB-led Bengals on numerous GPP rosters, but the Colts defense has contrarian appeal — namely when chasing ceiling paired with Taylor.

Favorite Stack 2

• Tom Brady (QB – TB): $6,900 vs. Vikings
• Antonio Brown (WR – TB): $5,500 vs. Vikings
• Rob Gronkowski (TE – TB): $4,800 vs. Vikings
• Adam Thielen (WR – MIN): $7,000 at Buccaneers

Normally I’d include pivots and add-on options in this section of late, but do you really need me to tell you Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Dalvin Cook, and Justin Jefferson all have merit for mixing into this game stack for gamers multi entering GPPs? Of course not, you know that. Instead, I’m focusing solely on my favorite four-man stack headlined by the trio of Brady/Brown/Gronkowski coming off of the bye and running it back with Thielen the other way.

In theory, the bye should help the veteran trio since they’re not exactly spring chickens anymore. Further, a week off could be just what in-season addition AB needs to spark a blowup game. For his part, he’s already quickly been integrated into the offense with an eight-target and 13-target game on the ledger, but he’s yet to surpass 70 yards receiving in a game. He’s passed the eye-ball test and looked spry, and he has a matchup that’s tailor-made for big plays.

The Vikings are tied for the highest average explosive pass rate allowed at 10%, according to Sharp Football Stats. They’ve also struggled mightily with receivers specifically, coughing up the third-most DraftKings points per game to the position. Additionally, with Mike Evans backsliding from a limited practice participation on Wednesday to a non-participant on Thursday, Brown could be used more frequently as a deep threat and soak up additional targets if Evans is forced to sit this game out.

Gronk also missed practice on Thursday, but his lack of participation wasn’t injury-related. At the time of writing, there’s nothing suggesting he’s in any danger of missing the game for whatever reason he had a non-injury related missed practice. For the year, he ranks second on the team in targets (62), fourth in receptions per game (3.1), and third in receiving yards per game (42.1) while adding four touchdown grabs. Those numbers are weighed down a bit by a slow start, too.

In eight games since Week 5, he’s averaging 11.7 points per game in point-per-reception (PPR) formats, as you can see on our Fantasy Football Leaders landing page. DraftKings awards a full point per reception. Further, Gronk’s been a tiny bit better than his per-game average in PPR formats at DraftKings, too, as there’s also a three-point scoring bonus for 100 receiving yards or more, a mark he hit in his last game with a 6-106-0 line against the Chiefs.

As for Brady, he’s the beneficiary of being the trigger man in an offense with a bevy of weapons. He’ll take at a Vikings defense that’s tied for the sixth-most passing yards allowed per game (261.7) and tied for the fifth-most passing touchdowns coughed up (24).

Running it back the other way, Thielen edges out Jefferson as my preferred pick. Both benefit from facing a Buccaneers secondary that’s been torched for the ninth-most DraftKings points per game by receivers. Thielen has a few small advantages over Jefferson, starting with a salary that’s $400 cheaper than the rookie. The veteran also bests the rookie in intended air yards (1,085 to 1,052), average depth of target (12.5 yards downfield to 12.4 yards downfield), and target share (28.4% to 24.4%), according to Sports Info Solutions. Thielen also has 10 red zone targets compared to Jefferson’s eight, per Lineups. Added it all up, and I slightly prefer Thielen, but I’ll likely have some Jefferson squads, too.

Create Optimal DraftKings lineups using our DFS Lineup Optimizer tool

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | SoundCloud | iHeartRadio

Beyond our daily fantasy football content, be sure to check out our Daily Fantasy Football Tools. From our Value Plays – which allows you to identify players who are projected to outperform their salaries – to our DFS Cheat Sheets – that helps you get a quick read on the day’s players – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.

Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.