Stacking is a popular strategy in DFS and best ball leagues, where ceiling wins leagues and the ability to capitalize on explosive performances are exactly what you need in large formats with top-heavy prize pools. It is also a viable strategy in head-to-head season-long leagues, as a massive game from Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase proved to be a winning combination for several managers in 2024.
The downside, however, is that, unlike DFS or best ball, you’re only facing one opponent each week. You don’t have a large pool of competitors to outscore, and you can’t rely on the depth of your roster to make up for a poor performance from your stack, which is something best ball often allows.
While I would love to have the Burrow and Chase stack again, it is more palatable to my risk tolerance to look for possible late-round, lower value stacks, featuring quarterbacks and tight ends/wide receivers who can be found after round eight based on expert consensus rankings (ECR).
If these tandems bust due to injury or negative game script, the hope is that the other studs you loaded up with to start your draft will be able to help mitigate some of the loss in production, as the wide receiver/tight end in the stack is likely a Flex option.
- Fantasy Football Draft Kit
- 2025 Fantasy Football Expert Rankings
- Fantasy Football ADP
- Fantasy Football Trade Tools
Late-Round Fantasy Football Stacks to Draft
Chicago Bears
- Caleb Williams (QB – CHI) | ECR: 96 (QB13)
- Colston Loveland (TE – CHI) | ECR: 137 (TE15)
From all accounts so far in camp, it has been a rocky transition from Shane Waldron and Thomas Brown to Ben Johnson for Caleb Williams, but that should be expected from a young player like Williams. There is also the concern that there are not enough targets to go around in Chicago for Colston Loveland to get enough receptions to make him fantasy viable. It also does not help that the first-round tight end from Michigan has missed time with injuries, setting back his chemistry with Williams further.
Now that I have spent a decent amount of time dogging both players, the rushing ability Williams showed in college and as a rookie, the improvement along the offensive line and the history of Ben Johnson making a fantasy-viable tight end in his time in Detroit, give me more than enough of a reason to invest in this stack.
Green Bay Packers
- Jordan Love (QB – GB) | ECR: 109 (QB17)
- Tucker Kraft (TE – GB) | ECR: 101 (TE10)/Matthew Golden (WR – GB) | ECR: 129 (WR59)
An injury-riddled 2024 season burned fantasy managers of Jordan Love, who were hoping the young quarterback would build on his 2023 campaign in which he finished eighth in fantasy points per game. Instead of improving to a top-five quarterback, Love saw a drop across the board in nearly every metric, including a sizeable drop in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.
For owners looking to draft quarterbacks late, Love has his disappointment baked into his ranking and could easily return to a top-12 fantasy quarterback. The Packers, despite a disappointing season from Love for fantasy purposes, still ranked eighth in points per game and fifth in yards per contest.
You have your choice of pairing him with his tight end in Tucker Kraft, who posted 50/707/7 last season with an average of four targets per game. Or, if you are feeling a little more adventurous, you can draft Matthew Golden, the rookie from Texas, who finally convinced the Packers to use a first-round pick in the draft on wide receiver. Although the receiver corps is crowded, and I personally like Jayden Reed at 92 overall more, Golden as a bench flier with a stack of Love is not a terrible way to end your draft.
New England Patriots
- Drake Maye (QB- NE) | ECR: 108 (QB18)
- Stefon Diggs (WE – NE) | ECR: 95 (WR42)
Stefon Diggs is one of my favorite wide receiver values this season, making him a no-brainer stacking option with second-year quarterback Drake Maye. Camp reports have Diggs moving well in camp, and we know the Patriots did not sign him to a three-year, $63.5 million contract to not make him the top receiver target in Josh McDaniels’ offense.
Although I am cheating a bit by including this stack in the article, with Diggs being a late eighth-round pick, I will make up for it with the next stack that is likely not on anyone’s draft board.
As far as Maye, his rookie campaign was a bit rocky, but there are some signs to like for fantasy managers. He was on pace for 550 rushing yards, and I anticipate McDaniels will be able to maximize his legs to the fullest. I recommend pairing Maye with Dak Prescott or another veteran who you can pivot to if needed, but Maye has a chance to creep into top-12 quarterback range if he improves on what we saw in 2024.
Las Vegas Raiders
- Geno Smith (QB – LV) | ECR: 162 (QB25)
- Jakobi Meyers (WR – LV) | ECR: 86 (WR39)
Geno Smith is not currently being drafted, even in Superflex leagues, and I do not think he is someone I would draft in single-quarterback leagues. However, he did finish as the QB13 last season and enters a situation in Las Vegas where he will have solid skill position players to throw to, a coaching staff that knows him well and will maximize his skillset and a likely game script where the Raiders will be chasing points often in a competitive AFC West.
Smith is more of a streaming option, but don’t be surprised if he puts up more than a few top-12 performances this season as he peppers Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers with targets.
Speaking of Meyers, it is not often that you can get a guy who finished with over 1,000 yards and a borderline WR2 season as a WR3 or WR4 for your team. Not to mention his situation improved drastically from last year, and he is being valued less than he was when Aidan O’Connell was throwing him passes.
Of all the players mentioned in this article, Meyers is my favorite and someone I am targeting in every draft. Make sure he is on your draft radar. If you play in a league with deep benches where managers stash a second quarterback, Smith may surprise you and could be a viable spot starter at times in 2025.
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