Here’s to another week of football! With more football comes more fantasy football, and with more fantasy football means more Fantasy Stacks. This week’s breakdown includes a new surprise, a look back at a couple of quarterbacks discussed in the past, and one stack that appears to have some frustration boiling over. Before we get into that, though, let’s take a look at how Week 5’s stacks went.
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Looking Back at Week 5
The first of the Fantasy Stacks that I wrote about last week went off! Joe Burrow had a solid day, throwing for 317 yards and three touchdowns, all three of which were caught by Ja’Marr Chase. They finished the day with 24.38 points and 52.2 points, respectively. Anthony Richardson and Michael Pittman got off to a good start, but Richardson ended up leaving the game with an AC joint sprain in his shoulder. This ended with Richardson scoring just over four points while Pittman broke into double digits with 10.2 PPR points. Finally, there was the stinker that Jordan Love put up with Romeo Doubs, where they only connected once for four yards; that was a swing and a miss, to put it lightly.
Kirk Cousins and Jordan Addison
The first of this week’s Fantasy Stacks is a bit of a surprise, but with the recent news on Justin Jefferson going to IR, I am very interested to see what Kirk Cousins can do with Jordan Addison. Outside of a wonky game against Carolina where Kirk only threw 19 times, he has been one of the best passers in the league. He has thrown for multiple touchdowns in every game and has averaged 20.8 points over the first five weeks. Cousins has been as consistent as they come, which is one of the things I am always preaching when it comes to fantasy. I expect him to continue being Mr. Consistent this weekend against the Chicago Bears.
Cousins’ counterpart in this week’s Fantasy Stacks is not one I was expecting to write about this year, but in light of recent developments, Jordan Addison should be an easy plug-and-play. Addison has been averaging almost six targets per game, which includes that fluky game against Carolina, where he only had one reception. On either side of that game are matchups with eight and nine targets each, showing that Cousins has a lot of trust in his rookie receiver. Now that Jefferson is going to the IR for a hamstring injury, I expect Addison to become a focal point of the offense. They drafted him in the first round for a reason, now is his chance to prove he was worth the pick.
The Bears have historically been a tough matchup for the Minnesota Vikings, but their defense appears to be lacking this year. With Justin Fields starting to show up in the last couple of games, I expect this game script to turn into one where both offenses are throwing to keep up with one another.
Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp
The next of the Fantasy Stacks to talk about is revisiting half of one of our old stacks: Matthew Stafford. Stafford has maintained a solid performance each week since writing about him back in Week 3. He is QB15 and has averaged 15.6 points per game. Stafford has not competed for any records this season, but the points are there, and his receivers have been putting up numbers. He has a track record of focusing on one receiver, but he showed last week that he is more than capable of supporting his cast of receivers after throwing to his top two receivers 23 times. I expect him to have one of his best games of the year facing off against the Arizona Cardinals this next weekend.
As stated, Stafford was able to give both of his big receivers enough targets to make them both playable this last week. Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp both finished in the top eleven of receivers this last week as of the writing of this article. The impressive part of this is that it was Kupp’s first game this season after returning from injury. There were some concerns that the team was going to bring Kupp along slowly. Instead, he turned 12 targets into eight receptions and 118 yards. If this was them starting him off slowly, then I am truly excited to see what Kupp does moving forward.
I am expecting this game to turn into a bit of a shootout, as well. The Cardinals’ defense has given up the fifth most receiving yards in the league so far, with a total of 1,257. The Rams are in the middle of the road but have already given up more than 1,000 yards receiving, as well. Expect both teams to be throwing early and often.
Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs
For the last of our Fantasy Stacks, let’s talk about two of my favorite players and two guys who are at the top of the boards for their respective positions: Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs. Allen is QB1 as of the writing of this article, and he has been dominating at the game. He has averaged 24.7 PPG so far this season, putting up points through the air and on the ground. The Bills quarterback has thrown for a touchdown in every single game and has run one in each of the last three games. Outside of the first week, when he threw three interceptions, he has scored over 20 points every week, which is the kind of consistency you want in fantasy.
Allen’s favorite target is far and away Stefon Diggs, as he is averaging ten targets a game through the first five weeks of the season. Diggs is WR2 on the season and has averaged 23.8 PPG through the first five weeks of the season. He is putting up career numbers and does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Despite putting up another huge game this last week, Diggs was seen on the sideline appearing to be… frustrated:
— sports (@ilikesportsvids) October 8, 2023
Much like how I expected Chase last week to have a big game after his frustrations bubbled to the surface in an interview, I believe Diggs is going to go off this next week against the New York Giants. Diggs is passionate about the game, and he is going to make a statement on the field next week. The Giants have given up the thirteenth most yards this season, and it would probably be more if it was not for the fact that their offense has been struggling so much.
What is Your Favorite Fantasy Stack?
How about you? What is your favorite Fantasy Stack of the week? What is a Fantasy Stack I should investigate for next week? Let me know in the comments below!
For more from Richard and his Razzball content, find him on Twitter @gingerbe3rdman.
