If you want to win one of the large best ball contests on Underdog, stacking is basically a must. If you’re lucky enough to make it all the way to the final week, you’re essentially competing in a one-week DFS contest for potentially millions of dollars. You’re going to need to outscore all of your remaining opponents to take home the top prizes, and the easiest way to do that is to correlate your lineups.

With that in mind, it’s no surprise that stacking has become a default strategy for most Underdog drafters. Using your early selections to dictate which quarterbacks should be on your radar is commonplace. For example, the team that selects Ja'Marr Chase will very likely look to pair him with Joe Burrow, unless the Tee Higgins team beats him to the punch.

Let’s dive into a few potential stack targets that stand out as values in early Underdog drafts.

Top QB/Pass Catcher Stacks for Underdog Best Ball

Kansas City Chiefs

• WR Rashee Rice: 30.2 ADP
• QB Patrick Mahomes: 90.0 ADP
• TE Travis Kelce: 110.6 ADP

For all the Chiefs’ struggles last year, their top players actually turned in pretty respectable fantasy seasons. Mahomes finished as the QB4 in terms of fantasy points per game, while Kelce was TE9 in PPR points per game. Despite those finishes, Mahomes is currently coming off the board as QB12 on average, while Kelce is being selected as TE13.

That said, the real selling point of this stack is Rice. His ADP is set to skyrocket after news came down that he would receive no further discipline from the NFL. If he has the potential to play all 17 games next season, he’s a slam-dunk top-10 option at the position; Dwain McFarland moved him up to the No. 6 WR and No. 12 Flex option in his most recent rankings.

Rice’s ADP is already starting to creep up, but he’s still available at a significant discount at an ADP of 30.2. Until he starts coming off the board at the Round 1-2 turn, he’s a priority selection.

The big caveat is whether or not Mahomes will be healthy enough to start in Week 1. He suffered a torn ACL in Week 15 last year, but he is reportedly targeting a Week 1 return. Andy Reid recently told reporters that he wouldn’t bet against Mahomes being ready, and who am I to disagree?

Premium

Go FantasyLife+

Your league is unique. Your advice should be too. Get personalized tools, rankings, and projections tailored to your fantasy football league settings.

Learn More

Jacksonville Jaguars

• WR Parker Washington: 72.5 ADP
• QB Trevor Lawrence: 83.5 ADP
• WR Jakobi Meyers: 88.7 ADP

The Jaguars are one of my favorite “affordable” stacks on Underdog. There is no real marquee player that you need to target. In fact, Bhayshul Tuten (54.2 ADP) is the only member of the team typically coming off the board in the first five rounds, and he just barely makes the cut.

On paper, Lawrence is coming off a pretty typical season last year. He didn’t see a huge jump in terms of passing efficiency, averaging just 7.2 adjusted yards per attempt.

However, Lawrence was phenomenal down the stretch last year. Over his final seven regular-season games, he racked up 18 touchdown passes and more than 265 passing yards per game, good for an average of 9.2 adjusted yards per attempt. Add in another four scores on the ground, and Lawrence was the No. 1 QB in terms of fantasy points per game from Weeks 11 through 17.

The biggest change for Lawrence in Week 11 was the emergence of Washington and Meyers as his top two receivers. Meyers racked up a 94% route participation and 26% target share during that sample size, while Washington seized playing time from the injured Travis Hunter and ineffective Brian Thomas. Washington, in particular, was a league-winner last year, finishing as a top-10 scorer at receiver in Weeks 16 and 17.

While Thomas could reassert himself as a featured receiver in 2026, that’s being built into his price tag. He’s coming off the board before both Washington and Meyers, which doesn’t make a ton of sense with how they performed last year. Regardless of which pass catchers you prefer, buying in on Lawrence in Liam Coen’s QB-friendly offense seems like a smart decision.

New Orleans Saints

• WR Chris Olave: 27.4 ADP
• QB Tyler Shough: 118.6 ADP
• TE Juwan Johnson: 156.7 ADP

Shough was not supposed to put himself in the Offensive Rookie of the Year race last season. He spent the first eight weeks of the season as the Saints’ backup QB, and as a 26-year-old rookie, expectations weren’t particularly high when he did see the field.

However, Shough absolutely cemented himself as the Saints’ QB of the future with his work as a starter. He led the team to a 5-4 record in his nine starts, and he was far better than expected as a passer. He averaged 7.6 adjusted yards per attempt as the starting QB, despite working with minimal supporting talent.

For fantasy purposes, Shough finished as QB13 in fantasy points per game from Weeks 9 through 17. That’s pretty darn impressive. Quarterbacks tend to make their biggest statistical leaps in their second professional season, which makes Shough an intriguing target at a QB20 price tag.

Olave is the clear-cut, no-brainer stacking target with his quarterback. He had a 29% target share from Weeks 9 through 17 last season, and he averaged 18.8 PPR points per game during that stretch. That was the third-best mark at the receiver position during that timeframe, with only Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba averaging more points per game.

Johnson could also be a solid value option at TE to pair with Shough and Olave. He was TE9 in terms of PPR points per game with Shough as the starting QB, and he scored double-digit PPR points in five of eight contests. As long as things don’t change too much following the draft, each member of this stack looks like a decent value.

Arizona Cardinals

• TE Trey McBride: 19.3 ADP
• WR Michael Wilson: 78.0 ADP
• QB Jacoby Brissett: 157.2 ADP

This stack is built around McBride, who basically broke the tight end position in fantasy football last season. From Weeks 1 through 17, he amassed more than 300 PPR points. No other TE even managed to crack 200, so he gave his owners a gigantic edge at the position.

McBride’s fantasy numbers went from good to elite with Brissett taking over as the team’s starter last season. With Kyler Murray under center from Weeks 1 through 5, McBride averaged 12.5 PPR points per game. That was the seventh-best mark at the position. From Weeks 6 through 17 with Brissett at QB, McBride’s production skyrocketed to 21.8 points per game. The big difference was that Brissett was willing to use McBride much more frequently near the goal line. He had just 8 touchdown catches in his first 54 career games before erupting for 10 scores in an 11-week stretch with Brissett under center.

With Murray now in Minnesota and Brissett already anointed the team’s starting QB in 2026, the sky is the limit for McBride for fantasy purposes.

Who to pair with Brissett and McBride is the bigger question. Marvin Harrison Jr. has the draft pedigree, but Wilson was the far more productive player in 2025. He went absolutely nuclear down the stretch, averaging 21.2 PPR points per game from Weeks 11 through 17. His best performances came in games with Harrison sidelined, but it’s possible that Wilson could overtake his more-heralded teammate in the pecking order next year. I’d much rather pay his price tag than Harrison’s, who is coming off the board on average a full round earlier.

Join Our Newsletter

Trusted by 400,000+ fantasy football players. Get access to Fantasy Life's free award winning newsletter and tools, all in one step.

Email Address

Subscribe

By registering or logging in, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.