Welcome to the Fantasy Points Brain Trust — your weekly destination for expert takes from some of the sharpest minds in fantasy football. Each week, our team of writers and content creators will tackle some of the biggest questions in the game, giving you actionable insights to dominate your 2025 drafts and win your fantasy leagues.
This Week’s Topic: What is the top best-ball stack to draft? Identifying the best sets of teammates to combine on a single best-ball roster.
ADP Data from Underdog Fantasy.
Stacking. Correlation. You hear about it all offseason. But which QB-Receiver pairing is optimal? Should you be drafting a full-on stack? Find out which teammates Fantasy Points analysts are betting on to provide league-winning upside and give you the edge you need to compete for major overall tournament prizes.
LA Rams: Matthew Stafford + Puka Nacua/Davante Adams
ADP: Stafford QB24 (158.8 Overall), Nacua (7.8), Adams (30.8)
Elite QBs are appealing and well-priced this season on Underdog, but one of my favorite stacks to build doesn’t require early investment at the quarterback position. The LA Rams look poised to be one of the league’s better offenses in 2025, featuring one of the best WR pairings in football: Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. In Sean McVay’s offense, expect creativity, aggressive play calling, and plenty of fireworks — with tons of targets for this dynamic WR duo. Nacua averaged 9.6 targets per game last season, while Adams has earned 140+ targets in five straight seasons. They’ll challenge for the highest consolidated target share between two teammates in the NFL.
Both cost a premium pick at ADP, but both are worth it. Drafting one (or both) is a strong foundation for your team, and it becomes even stronger when you pair them with Matthew Stafford, who remains dirt cheap in drafts. Stafford’s low cost gives you flexibility: you can still invest in an elite QB early, or build a three-QB roster with multiple solid options from QB2 land. To further round out the stack, there are near-free final-round options like Tutu Atwell (ADP: 207.9) and Terrance Ferguson (211).
Greatest Show on Turf Part 2? I’m here for it.
- Theo Gremminger
Minnesota Vikings: J.J.McCarthy + Justin Jefferson/Jordan Addison/T.J. Hockenson
ADP: McCarthy QB18 (128.7), Jefferson (3.1), Addison (63.5), Hockenson (87.9)
I wagered on J.J. McCarthy to go over 3400.5 passing yards, and the second-year QB will go down as one of my most-drafted players. There’s a risk backing basically a rookie quarterback, but Kevin O’Connell’s offenses have ranked in the top six in passing yards and in pass rate over expectation in each of his first three seasons as head coach. Sam Darnold revived his career as Minnesota’s quarterback last season, averaging 7.9 YPA and 254.1 passing YPG. Justin Jefferson finished as the WR3 (18.7 FPG) with Darnold, and he’s off the board as the WR2 after Ja’Marr Chase.
Addison has been one of my favorite targets in the sixth round, even with a 1-3 game suspension potentially looming. He scored 19 TDs in his first two seasons and saw 8+ targets in seven of his final nine games last season (postseason included). His late-season surge came even when T.J. Hockenson returned to the lineup after his ACL injury. Hockenson is a bounce-back candidate in the eighth round after he failed to score a TD on 62 targets. His route share should rise after it dipped from 76.4% in 2023 to 68.6% in 2024 as they eased him into the lineup. McCarthy has a higher fantasy ceiling than Darnold because of his running ability, and Minnesota’s talented trio of receivers and O’Connell’s pass-heavy scheme could carry you to some big prizes at the end of this season.
- Tom Brolley
Miami Dolphins: Tua Tagovailoa + Tyreek Hill/Jaylen Waddle/Achane
ADP: Tagovailoa QB22 (150.5), Hill (26.4), Waddle (52.9), Achane (15.9)
Three years ago, this stack would have netted you the WR5 and the WR12 in half PPR scoring. Two years ag,o it would have gotten you the WR1 and WR22. Last year, Achane was RB11.
The uncertainty about the offense is scaring people off, but that uncertainty also includes outcomes where all of these guys return to a former form. Jonnu Smith's trade makes Tyreek, Waddle, and the remaining players on the team even more attractive. Tua also hasn’t finished lower than QB18 since Hill joined the team three years ago and is being drafted as the QB22.
This is an extremely easy stack to obtain in any combination you want, and there are multiple ways the players you select can pay off their ADP in a potentially huge way. I think tacking on a Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and/or Malik Washington also makes sense.
- Chris Wecht
Kansas City Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes + Travis Kelce + Any WR
ADP: Mahomes QB6 (85.7), Kelce (98.1)
Despite their success in recent years, the Chiefs' offense has been downright boring. Among QBs with 100 or more dropbacks in 2024, Mahomes’ 6.7 average depth of target was higher than only Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Tua Tagovailoa, and Gardner Minshew. And not coincidentally, Mahomes finished as the QB11 in FPG, a year after finishing as the QB13.
So, why exactly am I targeting Mahomes as the QB6? And his stacking partners on top of that?
For the first time in forever, they’re cheap. That includes Kelce, who is now available as late as the 10th round in some Underdog drafts. I was completely out on Kelce last year, but I am willing to click him as part of a TE room in my best-ball drafts, and he’s extremely easy to stack with Mahomes.
I’ll prioritize Mahomes, especially if I’m grabbing Rashee Rice in the 2nd round or Xavier Worthy in the 4th. I prefer Rice at cost, but both are fair values.
We have Mahomes projected as the QB6 — right in line with his ADP — and 5th in the NFL in pass attempts. I do believe that with better health this year from Rice, along with a more experienced Worthy, the Chiefs’ offense will be its most explosive in quite some time. And investing in it is the cheapest it’s been since Mahomes took over as starter in 2018.
- Joe Dolan
San Francisco 49ers: Brock Purdy + George Kittle/Jauan Jennings
ADP: Purdy QB11 (103.4), Kittle (45.7), Jennings (63.9)
Purdy has finished as the QB2 and the QB9 by fantasy points per dropback over the past two seasons, one of the most predictive stats at the position. He’s underratedly mobile, having averaged more fantasy points per game on scrambles than Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts last year (2.8). And don’t underestimate the power of play caller Kyle Shanahan; the vast majority of successful later-round QBs over the past several years have played in this system. Purdy should additionally be fine without all of his old weapons; he produced top-5 QB numbers in games without them last year, with star LT Trent Williams also missing nearly half of the season. But the departure of Deebo Samuel and the injury to Brandon Aiyuk have resulted in the most-enticing prices we’ve seen on this offense in years.
A lack of other weapons points to greatness for Kittle; he’s averaged 19.6 and 16.3 FPG in six and nine games each without Samuel and Aiyuk (respectively) over the past three years. Kittle is also by far the most efficient TE of the Fantasy Points Data era and still possesses big-play ability rivaled only by Rob Gronkowski in recent times.
As for Jennings, he ranked top-8 among WRs in FPG (17.9) and first-read target share (33.7%) across nine games that either Aiyuk or Samuel missed last season. He ranked with the league’s top receivers in efficiency metrics like YPRR and 1D/RR over the full season, convincingly playing the “X” role in Aiyuk’s absence. He’ll have plenty more opportunities in 2025 to continue consolidating targets with Aiyuk likely starting the season on PUP and Samuel traded to Washington. I wouldn’t hold his surprising Year 4 breakout (which accounts for as many as 15% of WR breakouts since 2000) against him; we’ve already seen him maintain production over a full season, and it would have been near-impossible for him to break out earlier with such a previously-loaded group of skill players.
- Ryan Heath
Chicago Bears: Caleb Williams + Rome Odunze + Colston Loveland
ADP: Williams QB12 (110 overall), Odunze WR33 (60), Loveland TE13 (133)
The Bears are implied to score 22.8 points per game this season, which is the largest projected increase by the Weeks 1-17 lookahead lines. Chicago’s 4.9 PPG expected improvement is a full point better than the Jaguars (3.9) – also headlined by an improved coaching staff.
I’m expecting a similar efficiency boost for Caleb Williams that Jared Goff saw in his three years with Ben Johnson at OC. Compared to his previous six seasons, Goff’s TD% jumped to 5.5% (up from 4.3%) and his passing yards per attempt increased to 7.9 (up from 7.3). Williams also offers some sneaky scrambling upside – he averaged 28.8 rushing yards per game as a rookie.
Odunze should improve in his second season and has asymmetric upside at his ADP. Odunze is taken near the Round 5-6 turn on Underdog, which is a wide open pocket of players. Let’s not forget how high-quality a receiver he is. As a rookie, Odunze averaged more yards per route run (2.53) and first downs per route run (0.13) than his teammate D.J. Moore (2.46 YPRR | 0.11 1D/RR) on their catchable targets (screens removed). Despite an improved situation with better coaching and the departure of veteran Keenan Allen, Odunze’s ADP has remained unchanged compared to last season (when he was taken 62 overall).
Colston Loveland just looks like a stud. At 133 overall, he’s being drafted around handcuff RBs and depth WR5-6 types. As a 19-year-old sophomore, Loveland averaged a stellar 2.38 yards per route run (PFF). That’s the sixth-best season by a TE at 19 years old since 2016. Last year, Loveland improved further. He earned a whopping 29% of the targets and averaged 2.67 YPRR while playing with terrible quarterbacks. It was the sixth-best season by YPRR for a 20-year-old TE over the last 10 years. By comparison, Brock Bowers’ efficiency metrics were eerily similar at the same ages. Bowers averaged 2.37 YPRR as a 19-year-old and then 2.65 YPRR in his final season at UGA.
Beyond having a stacked receiver group, I love how the Bears remade their interior offensive line. Veteran G Joe Thuney is still a stud, G Jonah Jackson knows Johnson well, and new C Drew Dalman is a considerable improvement.
