Whether it’s best ball or NFL DFS, one popular and effective strategy for fantasy football is stacking multiple players from the same team. Stacking players makes your team more interdependent, which raises both your risk and your ceiling on a weekly basis. For example, if you have both Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill going off, you’ll be almost unbeatable, but if you have the Dolphins in a sub-zero game in Buffalo, it makes the matchup twice as chilly.
Coming out of the NFL Draft, there are several key rookies to factor in as you start to plan your draft strategy and pick your teams. I covered my Top 3 Sleepers from Round 1, my top late-round fantasy sleepers and some rookies that I’m avoiding at their ADP in earlier posts for FantasyLabs. In this post, we look at some strong best ball stacks in which rookies will play a pivotal role.
While you still want to avoid overpaying for these players, I would bump them up a few spots in your best ball rankings once you draft teammates in earlier rounds.
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2024 Fantasy Football — Best Ball Summer is Here
As you prepare for your upcoming fantasy football season, be sure to stay tuned to FantasyLabs for all the rankings, sleepers and content you need to find success in a variety of formats. If you love the process of drafting your fantasy football team but don’t love the season-long management, Best Ball is the perfect format for you. In this format, entrants draft a team of players in a snake draft on best ball sites like Underdog and Drafters.
Throughout the season, there are no waivers, substitutions, or trades. Each week your top scorers at each position automatically become your starting lineup. It’s a “set it and forget it” style of play that gives you plenty of enjoyment all season long if you get the right players on your squad.
Popular Best Ball Fantasy Football Stacks
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Los Angeles Chargers
- Baltimore Ravens
- Los Angeles Rams
- Miami Dolphins
- Cincinnati Bengals
If you’re looking to build these popular stacks this season, be sure to add these 2024 NFL rookies to your plans.
Rookie Sleepers for Your Best Ball Stacks
WR Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs’ offense recovered from the loss of Tyreek Hill last season and is a strong stackable option with Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Isaiah Pacheco firmly entrenched as key fantasy targets in early rounds.
At receiver, things are a little murky with Rashee Rice facing an extended absence due to suspension. If he is suspended for a long time, his value will slip and Marquise Brown will rise in the rankings. Whether you have one or both of those receivers on your radar, rookie Xavier Worthy is worth considering as well.
The Chiefs traded up and snagged Worthy with the No. 28 overall pick in the Draft out of Texas. Last season, Worthy racked up 1,014 yards and five touchdowns on his 75 catches last year. He then rocketed up draft boards after running the fastest 40-yard dash in the history of the NFL Combine. Even though he’s not the biggest target or the most polished route runner, he should be a good fit for the Chiefs offense.
Over the past few seasons, Kansas City has found ways to make speedy receivers extremely productive. To be sure, Tyreek Hill is the archetype, but even if Worthy doesn’t reach Hill’s level, the rookie will bring a great vertical threat and plenty of big-play and big-game potential. If you’re building around the Chiefs, Worthy is worth paying a little extra for at his ADP of WR37 on Underdog since he and Mahomes could click for monster performances.
WR Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers
It might have been hard to build a Chargers stack before the NFL Draft since they were so needy at wide receiver. Everyone loves and trusts Justin Herbert at QB, but this offseason Keenan Allen, Austin Ekeler, Mike Williams and Gerald Everett all departed for other teams and J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards, Will Dissly and Hayden Hurst arrived.
Before the draft, the Chargers hadn’t added anyone at receiver after losing both Allen and Williams. They had Joshua Palmer, Quentin Johnston and Derius Davis atop the depth chart. The team obviously identified the need since they drafted three receivers, led by McConkey and also picked up D.J. Chark as a free agent signing after the draft.
From that group, McConkey has a great chance to emerge as the top WR on the depth chart. Stacking him with Herbert could give you a great combo and adding other pieces won’t be cost-prohibitive.
McConkey brings a lot of versatility and can line up all over the formation. He isn’t the biggest target at 5’11” but he has a big catch radius and profiles as both a good possession receiver and a strong downfield threat. Fantasy owners know the volume that Herbert sent Allen’s way over the past few seasons, and if McConkey comes close, he’ll end up as a steal in Best Ball drafts.
WR Devontez Walker, Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens are another great stack that will be popular on draft day led by QB Lamar Jackson, TE Mark Andrews and newly acquired RB Derrick Henry. Like the Chiefs, there is some opportunity to add in value with a rookie receiver.
The Ravens had success with rookie Zay Flowers last season and brought back Rashod Bateman and Nelson Agholor as well at receiver. To add more depth, though, they snagged another receiver in the fourth round when they drafted Walker with the No. 113 overall pick out of North Carolina.
Walker brings more of a vertical, down-field threat than the Ravens’ other options and could work his way into playing time down the road. He’s not expected to see quite as much playing time as McConkey and Worthy out of the gate, but if you’re building a Ravens stack, Walker makes sense as a late-round addition in case he clicks with Jackson and makes an instant impact. At least, he should be good for a few chunk plays and big games as a result.
RB Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams
The Rams offense should be a productive one this season with coach Sean McVay and Matt Stafford continuing at the reigns. While Kyren Williams emerged as a top RB in the offense last year and will go very high off draft boards, grabbing Corum late will be a great handcuff and could be a move that pays off even if Williams doesn’t get hurt.
Corum is expected to slot in behind Williams on the depth chart after the Rams snagged him in the third round. Williams has a long history of injuries, though, and is coming back from offseason hand surgery. He sustained a serious high-ankle sprain during the first play of his NFL career and spent time on IR last year as well. Corum is a very similar running back in style to Williams and should be able to step right in if injury does strike.
Over the last two years with Michigan, Corum scored an impressive 47 touchdowns. While some of that success was due to the system, he’s landing in another great system to take advantage of his talents in the NFL. Whether you balk at Williams’ ADP and go with Corum as the alternative or use him as a handcuff, he definitely should be included on any stack that features the Rams.
RB Jaylen Wright, Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins are another very productive offense with a fascinating running back situation. Last year, they platooned Raheem Mostert and rookie De’Von Achane with tons of success while also throwing the ball extremely effectively with Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
Despite all their success, they still added Wright with a fourth-round pick out of Tennessee. Wright will fit in nicely alongside his speedy teammates after running a 4.38 40-yard dash. In 2023 he was the fastest Vol in program history to reach 1,000 rushing yards in a single season and finished with an average of almost 7.4 yards per carry and 84.4 yards per game. He definitely brings the big-play, home-run potential that the Dolphins love to feature in Mike McDaniel’s system, and he could be a standout if he can get on the field.
Wright could get playing time if Mostert, Achane or both struggle with injuries as they have in the past. He could also work his way into the rotation due to his excellent pass protection. If he gets time as a third-down back early in the season, it will only take a big play or two for him to quickly emerge on the fantasy radar. The Dolphins are deep in playmakers at both receiver and running back, but make sure to target Wright as a piece of your Miami stacks this season.
TE Erick All, Cincinnati Bengals
Most of the tight ends drafted highly ended up in awkward stacking spots, but one deeper cut that makes sense is Erick All. All is barely being drafted in most formats right now, but he could emerge as the Bengals top tight end. Getting him in a stack with Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and the newly arrived Zack Moss could be a great way to round out your draft in best ball or season-long.
The Bengals took All, who is from the Cincinnati area, in the fourth round out of Iowa, the same TE factory that cranked out T.J. Hockenson, Noah Fant and Sam LaPorta over the last few years. All started his college career in Michigan where he was a captain before becoming a Hawkeye as a graduate transfer. He had 21 catches and was leading the team in receiving yards (299) and touchdown receptions (3) last fall before suffering a torn ACL in the seventh game of the season.
After his recovery, he’ll step into a pretty big opportunity since we know that coach Zac Snyder’s system can make tight ends valuable for fantasy. C.J. Uzomah and Hayden Hurst both had good seasons before departing as free agents. This year, All will compete for playing time with Drew Sample, free agent signing Mike Gesicki and Tanner Hudson. He definitely is a high-risk pick since he is coming back from knee surgery and had season-ending back surgery in 2022. However, grabbing him at the end of your draft as a flier TE with upside could pay off if he can get on the field and earn attention from Burrow as the final piece of a strong Bengals stack.
