6 Underrated Stacks for Fantasy Football Managers to Consider

The NFL is always changing. And fantasy football changes right along with it. Over the past several years, there’s a new strategy that has gained popularity—especially in best-ball formats.

“The Stack.”

It’s not complicated—fantasy managers simply draft a quarterback and a wide receiver from the same team. The appeal isn’t hard to see—last year, Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow led the NFL in passing yards and passing touchdowns. Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase led the league in receiving yards and touchdown catches.

Having both rostered didn’t suck.

Of course, a stack like Burrow and Chase isn’t cheap on draft day. Neither is Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown of the Philadelphia Eagles. But where the real value (the magic word in fantasy football) lies is finding a quarterback and wide receiver on the same team who are both coming off draft boards later than they should. Or where at least half the stack is undervalued.

That’s the case with these stacks. And all should provide a solid return on investment in 2025.

Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr., Arizona Cardinals

AP Photo/Rick Scuteri

Kyler Murray

Marvin Harrison Jr.’s 62 catches for 885 yards and eight scores wasn’t a horrible rookie season by any standards. But given the sky-high expectations for the fourth overall pick in last year’s draft, a WR30 finish in PPR points was a disappointment. Kyler Murray’s QB10 fantasy finish was OK, but not much more than that.

Murray and Harrison spent a chunk of the offseason working out together in an effort to improve their chemistry, and Murray told reporters he expects that extra work to pay dividends in 2025.

“Being more open, being more comfortable with the guys in the locker room, being more comfortable with me, being more comfortable just to speak his mind within the receiving room with (Israel Woolfork and Drew Terrell).”

While addressing the media, Arizona offensive coordinator Drew Petzing also said the Redbirds want to feature Murray’s mobility more in the upcoming season.

 "I think those are game-changing plays,” he said. “He's one of the few people in this league that can do it physically at a high level and create some of those. So, we want to make sure we're taking advantage of that."

Granted, Harrison doesn’t benefit in fantasy if Murray takes off, unless it’s with a scramble-drill catch. But mobile quarterbacks have increased appeal in fantasy football, and it wasn’t that long ago that Harrison was widely considered a generational prospect and the next “big thing” at wide receiver.

Just because he didn’t rampage across the league in Year 1 doesn’t mean he isn’t. That breakout could still be coming—especially if he and Murray improve their rapport.

Matthew Stafford and Davante Adams, Los Angeles Rams

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

Davante Adams

Matthew Stafford has had a great NFL career, but he’s not exactly a hot commodity in fantasy—a QB19 finish a year ago isn’t causing any draft-day stampedes.

But the Rams made an effort to upgrade Stafford’s passing-game weapons this offseason with the addition of 32-year-old wideout Davante Adams, and former Rams great Andrew Whitworth said on The Rich Eisen Show that Adams still looks the part of one of the league’s most dangerous pass-catchers.

“When you look at Davante and Stafford, I think it’s going to be something where you look at his ability – I’ve been to a couple OTAs – to just separate and get off the line and just watch how good this guy still is at his age. I'm not worried about what his number of days he’s been alive is because this dude looks like one of the best receivers in the NFL still. He’s still that kind of talent. Talking to him personally, that means a lot to him. He wants to be one of the best receivers in the league every single year. He doesn’t want to be playing if anybody thinks he’s a liability or he’s not that. He’s passionate to prove he’s still that guy and I think Stafford, just by his demeanor and happiness, is pretty happy to see him out on the football field.”

Puka Nacua is still the No. 1 wide receiver in L.A., with a price tag to match—an average draft position of WR4 at Footballguys. Adams, on the other hand, has a more palatable price of WR18, despite having finished in the top 12 in PPR points each of the past five seasons.

If Adams can make it six in a row, the Rams will have one of the most productive passing attacks in the NFL. And Stafford and Adams will both be bargains.

Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

AP Photo/Chris O'Meara

Baker Mayfield

On some level, it seems weird to call the Baker Mayfield/Mike Evans stack in Tampa Bay “underrated.” After all, Mayfield was third in the league in passing yards last year with 4,500. All Evans did in 2024 was surpass 1,000 receiving yards for the 11th time in as many seasons—an NFL record.

But right now, Mayfield’s ADP is QB7, and Frank Taddeo of Sports Illustrated wrote that is a position of value.

“Successful managers need to take advantage of grabbing an under-appreciated talent who led the NFC in passing touchdowns. Think about that for a minute: in a season of elite production by Jared Goff, Jayden Daniels, and Sam Darnold, Mayfield topped them all in arguably the most important category in fantasy football.”

Evans, meanwhile, is being drafted 19th among wide receivers on average, which is…wait, what? Yes, Chris Godwin remains in Tampa. Yes, the Buccaneers drafted Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka in the first round back in April. But Evans has been robotically consistent in the NFL. Just once in 11 years has he been targeted fewer than 110 times. He has never caught fewer than 70 passes. Evans has surpassed 10 receiving touchdowns more years than not—including 11 scores a year ago.

And that WR19 asking price? The last time that Evans failed to finish that high in PPR points was 2017, when he was WR22.

In six of the seven seasons since, Evans has been a top-10 fantasy option.

Undervalued quarterback plus undervalued wideout equals value sandwich.

Mmmmm. Sandwiches.

Justin Herbert and Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers

AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith

Justin Herbert

Ladd McConkey of the Chargers is the most expensive wide receiver in this piece—after catching 82 of 112 targets last year for 1,149 yards and seven scores on the way to a WR10 finish in PPR points, McConkey is coming off draft boards 11th at his position on average.

Even at that price, Kevin Tompkins of Fantasy Pros sees more than a little value with the second-year pro.

“With McConkey notching double-digit PPR games in all but one game from Week 8 through the rest of the season, he was insanely efficient as he made the most of his opportunities. McConkey’s 2.38 yards per route run (YPRR) proved he can be massively efficient, and he can only get better. The Chargers haven’t exactly stocked the cupboard with other target-earning options to challenge McConkey’s burgeoning reign as the top target in the Chargers’ passing game.”

The Chargers didn’t completely ignore the receiving corps in the offseason. Veteran Mike Williams is back in Los Angeles. The Bolts also drafted Tre Harris and Oronde Gadsden in April. Those additions should help the Chargers stretch the field more, but make no mistake—McConkey is the top dog in this passing attack.

If anything, the new weapons should help Herbert and the Chargers open things up in the passing game a little more. Last year, Herbert was a so-so 14th in fantasy points, and fantasy managers apparently don’t expect much more in 2025—his ADP is one slot lower.

All it would take is a couple more fantasy points per game for Herbert to threaten to crack the top 10 fantasy quarterbacks. If he pulls that off, it’s a safe bet that McConkey’s production will increase as well.

Bo Nix and Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos

AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post

Courtland Sutton

Denver’s Bo Nix was the sixth quarterback drafted last year. After a slow first month of his career, Nix exceeded those expectations from both an NFL and fantasy perspective. By season’s end, he was eighth among quarterbacks in fantasy points.

As it happens, that’s also Nix’s ADP in 2025. But Yahoo’s Matt Harmon still sees value with the second-year pro in that spot.

“While it’s not the most advanced analysis in the world, my enthusiasm for drafting Nix is essentially a reflection of my optimism about the 2025 Broncos offense; Nix being the cleanest way to get exposure to that unit. The pass-catchers look like they’re headed for another rotation year beyond Courtland Sutton, although Evan Engram could change that equation. Rookie running back RJ Harvey is a guy I want to take but could end up going higher than I’ll have him ranked and may find himself in a slight committee backfield. Nix is the guy who gets to execute Sean Payton’s well-designed passing concepts and showed well as a downfield passer off play-action last season. He also brings a running element that is needed to bring a weekly floor as a fantasy option.”

Where the real value lies with this stack is with Sutton, who turned an 81/1,081/8 stat line a year ago into a WR11 finish in PPR points. His 135 targets were more than Jacksonville’s Brian Thomas Jr. received. Yes, the arrival of Engram may eat into that target share a little. But Sutton is still all but assured of leading Denver in targets, and with an ADP of WR22, Sutton is going off draft boards later than he should.

Drake Maye and Stefon Diggs, New England Patriots

AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

Drake Maye

Figure we have to add at least one deep discount stack. Although it’s worth bearing in mind that this stack is available at such a low price for a reason—it’s in no way a sure thing.

At first glance, there isn’t a ton to get excited about where New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is concerned—he was just 22nd in fantasy points at the position a year ago. But as Michael Florio wrote for RotoBaller, after the Pats revamped the line in front of him and the weapons around him, Maye has the potential to be one of 2025’s biggest bargains under center.

“We saw the flashes and potential as a rookie, but with a better-supporting cast, Maye has the potential to finish as a QB1 as a sophomore and beyond. And being a QB1 may just be the floor (no pun intended), as the ceiling is he becomes a mainstay as a top-5 fantasy QB. The upside is very high, and we have just scratched the surface with what the production could look like.”

Among the weapons the Patriots brought in is veteran wideout Stefon Diggs. Yes, Diggs is 31 years old and coming off an ACL tear. But as recently as two years ago, Diggs caught 107 passes, flirted with 1,200 receiving yards, scored eight touchdowns and was WR12 in PPR points.

Expecting numbers like that from Diggs this year isn’t especially realistic. But Maye and Diggs are both available in the eighth round or later.

At that modest cost, returning value shouldn’t be especially hard. And if they truly hit?

Jackpot.

Gary Davenport is a two-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association Football Writer of the Year. Follow Gary on X at @IDPGodfather.