NFL DFS Lineup Advice: Best Stacks (Week 16)

NFL Week 16 had its tone set with an instant classic during Seattle’s comeback win over the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football. The playoff push is fully on right now, so expect a lot of highly entertaining matchups, especially with bye weeks in the rearview mirror.

Here are the most notable games on Sunday from both a playoff-seeding context and fantasy football context. Los Angeles Chargers vs. Dallas, Tampa Bay vs. Carolina, Cincinnati vs. Miami, Atlanta vs. Arizona, Jacksonville vs. Denver, and Pittsburgh vs. Detroit. We’ll explore three of these matchups for Sunday’s early and late afternoon slates.

We’re back and hunting the best stacks for NFL Week 16 DFS contests below. Follow me on X at Matt_MacKay_ for more NFL analysis and free picks.

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NFL DFS Week 16: Best DFS Stacks

DraftKings Salary: $50,000 | FanDuel Salary: $60,000

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Carolina Panthers

The NFC South is at stake when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers kick off at U.S. Bank Stadium in Charlotte on Sunday. The Buccaneers are -3 point road favorites with a 45.5 point total, coming off a loss via blown lead against Atlanta.

The Panthers also suffered a tough loss on the road to the Saints last week. We should see a lot of production from both offenses in this matchup, with Tampa Bay leaning on its rushing attack in a plus matchup, while Bryce Young and the Panthers’ passing attack could pop off against a weak Buccaneers secondary.

Bucky Irving and Sean Tucker are facing a Panthers’ run defense that presents as a top-eight matchup for fantasy running backs. Tucker has been vulturing goal-line touches from Irving lately, so stacking Irving-Tucker allows us to pair Irving’s rushing and receiving production, with Tucker’s finishing ability.

We’re going to unload on a Young-McMillan-Coker stack and invest in Carolina’s passing attack. Tampa Bay just gave up over 350 passing yards to Kirk Cousins. We’ve seen Young go off against the Falcons in Week 11, so let’s add his top two wideouts.

McMillan’s three-game touchdown streak came to an end against the Saints in Week 15. Expect the Panthers’ top-ten rookie wideout to return to form in a plus-matchup, with Young slinging him eight to 12 targets. Coker returned against New Orleans and finished with 4-60-1 on four targets, so he’s a huge value at his current salary.

Atlanta Falcons vs. Arizona Cardinals

The Falcons and Cardinals are playing for pride and paychecks this weekend. Yet, we should see a ton of points from both offenses out in the Desert.

Drake London is questionable with a potential return from a multi-week knee injury. Kirk Cousins balled out against Tampa Bay last week and it resulted in Kyle Pitts having a career outing, so we’re obligated to plug in the Falcons’ TE1 against an Arizona defense ranked 24th against fantasy tight ends in 2025.

After rolling out the Cousins-London-Pitts stack at a relatively high premium, we’re going right back to the Brissett-Wilson stack. Jacoby Brissett has been highly productive and tasked with a heavy passing volume due to playing in negative game scripts.

Brissett has logged 20 or more fantasy points in five straight starts. His favorite target is Michael Wilson, the Cardinals’ third-year wideout, who could see his enormous 27 percent target share cut down with Marvin Harrison Jr. back in the lineup.

Wilson has 19 or more fantasy points in three of his last five matchups. Atlanta’s pass defense is another top-ten matchup that Brissett and Wilson can exploit, so let’s run this Cardinals stack back once more.

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Detroit Lions

The Steelers and Lions are playing for their postseason lives in Week 16, taking us back to a much more high-stakes environment. Detroit is back home and draws a good matchup against the Steelers’ secondary, ranked 22nd against fantasy wideouts, so expect QB Jared Goff ready to dial up another 300-yard passing performance.

We’re going to pay up and roll out the trio of Goff-St. Brown-Williams. Jameson Williams in particular is the biggest value in DFS this week, recording 9-10 targets in three straight starts for the Lions. This has led to a touchdown in two of these three games. St. Brown has 27 targets across Detroit’s last two matchups, so he’s a must-start, despite the expensive salary.

On the other sideline, Aaron Rodgers has leaned on Kenneth Gainwell through the air to move the chains in Arthur Smith’s offense. The Steelers have won back-to-back games to position themselves atop the AFC North division but a win in Detroit would give them a massive insurance boost to stay ahead of the Ravens.

Gainwell logged seven targets in Week 15 against Miami, turning all of them into receptions for 46 yards. Gainwell also added 13 carries for 80 rushing yards, showcasing his versatility and expanded role for Pittsburgh’s offense.

Gainwell led all Steelers players in targets against the Dolphins and has hit seven targets in consecutive starts, hauling in all 14 passes with a pair of steady hands. Rodgers has great rapport with his running back and will continue to feed him touches against a Lions defense that has not defended the pass well this year.

Rodgers-Gainwell is a cheap stack that could pay dividends. It also feels game script-proof, which is even more incentive to build your lineups with this tandem to balance the more expensive Lions triple stack.

Matthew MacKay is a featured writer for BettingPros and FantasyPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @Matt_MacKay_.