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Top Dynasty Owner QB-WR Stacks

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By Steven Van Tassell

Let’s continue with trying to help everyone win their Dynasty Owner League Championship by analyzing stacking a bit more and tackling the far more common practice of stacking a top tier QB and WR. As mentioned in last week’s article on Top QB-TE stacks (https://dynastyowner.com/2021/06/top-dynasty-owner-qb-te-stacks/), stacking is a tried and true fantasy football strategy, but one that is more difficult in Dynasty Owner than a typical redraft or dynasty league because of Dynasty Owner’s use of salaries and a salary cap – just like in the NFL. If you’re not familiar with stacking, then check out that article for an explanation.

As mentioned in last week’s article, our 2020 Chase for the Ring Champion Viktor and his Barbee Kilgore team (League #35395) had a three-player stack from the Kansas City Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. In a “regular” dynasty league, Viktor would have kept that trio for years and years. However, because of the increase in Mahomes’ salary from just over $4.1 million in 2020 to $45 million in 2021, he can’t afford this three-player stack anymore in 2021 and had to drop Mahomes for free and traded Tyreek Hill away. It’s a shame for Viktor, but good news for the other teams in his league and another thing that makes Dynasty Owner so much different than any other dynasty league.

This week’s article will focus on QB-WR stacks. Just like the previous article, in order to be listed as a stack, the duo had to have at least 300.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points with the QB scoring at least 200.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points and the WR scoring at least 100.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in the 13-game Dynasty Owner regular season. A total of 41 QB-WR combinations qualified based on these criteria, which is significantly more than the number of QB-TE stacks.

All stats are based on the Standard Dynasty Owner scoring system as outlined in the updated Dynasty Owner Constitution. Standard Dynasty Owner scoring gives you .1 points for every yard rushing or receiving, .1 point for every 2 yards passing, 1 point per reception, 6 points for a rushing, receiving or passing touchdown and 2 points for a successful 2-point conversion (rushing, receiving, or passing). Interceptions or fumbles lost cost you 3 points, while a fumble that is recovered by the player’s team is a loss of only 1 point. Bonus points are available for 100-199 yards rushing (2 points), 200 yards rushing or receiving (6 points), 300-399 yards passing (1 point) and 400 yards passing (4 points). There is also a 3 point bonus for clutch scoring, which is a score that results in a lead change in the final two minutes of the 4th quarter or overtime. Kickoff and punt return touchdowns are worth 6 points for the player and kickoff and punt returns are worth 1 point for every 40 yards.

For the purposes of this article, all 2020 statistics listed are from the Dynasty Owner regular season (Weeks 1 – 13). Projected statistics for 2021 are provided by Rotowire, posted on the Dynasty Owner app and website, and taken from the Mock Draft lobby at Noon on June 22nd. Salaries listed are from the 2020 and 2021 Dynasty Owner season respectively.

The Top and Best Value QB-WR Stack of 2020

Because the top QB-TE stack was Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, it shouldn’t be surprising that the top QB-WR stack of 2020 was Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill. The duo combined for 703.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in 13 Dynasty Owner regular season games, an average of 54.1 points per game. Unlike the Mahomes-Kelce which performed at a high level nearly every week, the Mahomes-Hill stack was more up and down with a high of 108.8 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in Week 12 and three more weeks of 60.0 or more points. On the flip side, they scored less than 50.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points five times and less than 40.0 points twice.

PlayerPositionTeam2020 Salary2020 Points2020 DD / PT*
Patrick MahomesQBKC$4,106,447423.1$9,706
Tyreek HillWRKC$18,000,000279.9$64,309
TOTALS  $22,106,447703.0$31,446

* DD/PT stands for Dynasty Dollars per Point (2020 Salary divided by Points)

Even though their salaries were over $22 million in total, the Dynasty Dollars per Point (DD/PT) value was only $31,446 which ranked as the 8th best QB-WR value in 2020. Of course, because of Mahomes’ salary increase to $45 million for 2021, last season was the last chance for Mahomes and any WR to be a top value for quite a while.

Not only was Patrick Mahomes involved in the top scoring QB-WR stack he was also involved in the best value stack. All Dynasty Owners are striving for value because of the salary cap and the best value stack of 2020 was Mahomes and Mecole Hardman. Hardman barely finished with enough Dynasty Owner fantasy points in 2020 to qualify as he only had 102.6 points, or 7.9 points per game. Similar to Hill, he was very up and down as he only scored more than 10.0 points in four out of 13 games.

PlayerPositionTeam2020 Salary2020 Points2020 DD / PT
Patrick MahomesQBKC$4,106,447423.1$9,706
Mecole HardmanWRKC$1,248,763102.6$12,171
TOTALS  $5,355,210525.7$10,187

Overall, the Mahomes-Hardman stack was good for a total of 525.7 Dynasty Owner fantasy points and a DD/PT value of only $10,187. Due to the increase in Mahomes’ salary to $45 million for 2021, the Mahomes-Hardman stack is definitely not going to be the best value in 2021. However, the Mahomes-Hill stack could possibly be the top scoring one again albeit at a cost of $63 million in 2021, or almost half of the entire 2021 salary cap of $127.75 million.

Other Top Scoring QB-WR Stacks of 2020 and Likely 2021

The top seven scoring QB-WR stacks of 2020, including Mahomes-Hill, are still intact for the 2021 season. This is pretty different from the QB-TE stacks in which only three of the top six stacks are still together. All seven of these QB-WR stacks scored over 550.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points combined (42.3 points per game) and six of them had more than 590.0 points (45.4 points per game). Out of the remaining six stacks, all but one of them will also have the same combined salary in 2021 as they did in 2020. The only exception is Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins of the Arizona Cardinals as Hopkins’ salary is increasing by a little over $11 million.

If those combinations can do it again in 2021, then Dynasty Owners would be advised to go draft Josh Allen and pair him up with either Stefon Diggs or Cole Beasley. Diggs will give your more Dynasty Owner fantasy points, but Beasley is the better value because his contract is almost half as much as Diggs’ ($7.25 million for Beasley versus $14.4 million for Diggs).

PlayerPositionTeam2020 Salary2020 Points2020 DD / PT
Josh AllenQBBUF$5,295,760377.2$14,040
Stefon DiggsWRBUF$14,400,000220.7$65,247
TOTALS  $19,695,760597.9$32,942

Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs will cost just under $20 million in 2021, but likely much more in 2021 after Allen either gets a new contract or plays for his fifth year option of $23.02 million. Either way, he’ll cost more in 2022 and they won’t provide nearly as much value as they did in 2020 ($32,942 DD/PT) or could provide in 2021 at their current salaries.

For those Dynasty Owners who have Allen but not Diggs, they could pair Allen up with Cole Beasley who still has two years left on his $7.25 million annual salary. That pairing scored 42.6 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game compared to 46.0 points for Allen and Diggs, but costs less on a per point basis.

PlayerPositionTeam2020 Salary2020 Points2020 DD / PT
Josh AllenQBBUF$5,295,760377.2$14,040
Cole BeasleyWRBUF$7,250,000176.7$41,030
TOTALS  $12,545,760553.9$22,650

Of course, Beasley is threatening to retire due to his belief that the NFL COVID-19 protocols are not fair to unvaccinated players. If this happens then that potential 2021 value stack is no longer.

Two of the top scoring 2020 stacks (Russell Wilson and DK Metcalf of Seattle and Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins of Arizona) will cost Dynasty Owners just over $36 million in 2021, or about 28% of the $127.75 million salary cap. Each one produced around 600.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in the 2020 regular season and are projected to have a similar number of points in 2021. As a result, both will provide similar value in 2021.

PlayerPositionTeam2021 Salary2021 Projected2021 DD / PT
Kyler MurrayQBARI$8,789,661473.8$18,551
DeAndre HopkinsWRARI$27,250,000306.9$88,791
TOTALS  $36,039,661780.7$46,163
PlayerPositionTeam2021 Salary2021 Projected2021 DD / PT
Russell WilsonQBSEA$35,000,000460.4$76,021
DK MetcalfWRSEA$1,146,513305.5$3,753
TOTALS  $36,146,513765.9$47,195

The other two QB-WR stacks which both produced over 590.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in 2020 are from the Green Bay Packers (Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams) and Seattle Seahawks (Russell Wilson and Tyler Lockett). Both cost about $75,000 DD/PT in 2020 with Rodgers-Adams providing more Dynasty Owner fantasy points (648.3 versus 591.7 for Wilson-Lockett) and slightly better value ($74,040 for Rodgers-Adams versus $76,475 for Wilson-Lockett). While both QBs have three more years left at their current salary, Adams will be a free agent in 2022 and is extremely likely make more than his current $14.5 million salary and Lockett has signed an extension that will increase his salary in 2022 by $7 million. Both stacks should produce plenty of Dynasty Owner fantasy points in 2021 (provided Rodgers plays for Green Bay), but will be more expensive to own than the other QB-WR stacks that produced a similar number of points in 2020 and are projected to do the same in 2021.

Any Good Value Stacks for 2021 and Beyond?

As mentioned before, the top QB-WR value stack from 2020 is no longer a value with Patrick Mahomes’ salary increasing to $45 million. The second best value stack of 2020 is also not intact as Texans QB Deshaun Watson got a salary increase to $39 million and WR Will Fuller also got a salary increase, but had to go to Miami to get his $10.625 million salary. The Watson-Fuller stack only cost $11,018 DD/PT in 2020 and the only other QB-WR stack that cost less than $20,000 DD/PT consisted of Lamar Jackson and Marquise Brown (386.8 Dynasty Owner fantasy points, $5.315 million in salary, $13,740 DD/PT). However, with 2021 being the last year of Jackson’s rookie deal and the Ravens bringing in new WRs who should overtake Brown as the top WR in Baltimore, that’s not an advisable long-term stacking option.

The sad fact is that there aren’t any value QB-WR stacks that appear to be rock solid for 2021 and beyond. Either the QB is too expensive, such as Justin Jefferson being paired up with Kirk Cousins and his $33 million salary, or the WR is too expensive, such as Justin Herbert having his top WR be Keenan Allen who has an annual salary of $20.025 million. The teams with rookie QBs such as Jacksonville, New York, San Francisco, Chicago and New England all don’t have a single clear top WR option to pair with that QB.

  • In Jacksonville, it could be D.J. Chark (1 year, $1.112 million) or Laviska Shenault (3 years, $1.924 million) who is the top WR in 2021 for Trevor Lawrence, or maybe it’s veteran Marvin Jones (2 years, $6.25 million). Which one (or two) of those three WRs do you choose as the stack?
  • Zach Wilson could throw the ball a lot to either Elijah Moore (4 years, $2.235 million) or Denzel Mims (3 years, $1.36 million) and provide plenty of value. However, the Jets also gave a big contract to Corey Davis (3 years, $12.5 million) and if he becomes Wilson’s top option, the Wilson-Davis stack not nearly as affordable or valuable.
  • Trey Lance has two great low-cost WRs to throw to in San Francisco with Deebo Samuel (2 years, $1.81 million) and Brandon Aiyuk (3 years, $3.13 million), but if TE George Kittle (5 years, $15 million) is healthy, he’s probably the real #1 receiver on the team.
  • Chicago has Allen Robinson as the clear WR1, but he’s on a 1 year, $17.88 million deal so he’s expensive and might not be in Chicago long enough to pair up with Justin Fields. Darnell Mooney (3 years, $894,263) could be the long-term option, but that stack likely won’t be star caliber in 2021.
  • If Mac Jones becomes the starter in New England, it looks like his top receiving options are either expensive TEs in Jonnu Smith (4 years, $12.5 million) and Hunter Henry (3 years, $12.5 million). Out of the WR corps, only Kendrick Bourne is signed for more than two years (3 years, $5 million) so he’s the only long-term affordable option.

If we expand the QB pool to second year QBs, then we have a few more options, but three of those guys (Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts) don’t have a clear WR1. Justin Herbert does, it’s just that Keenan Allen makes $20.025 million per year, so their combined salaries are almost $27 million. For the other three teams, it’s take your pick on who’s going to be the top WR.

  • Cincinnati has three WRs on long-term deals. Tyler Boyd (3 years, $10.75 million), Ja’Marr Chase (4 years, $7.55 million) and Tee Higgins (3 years, $2.17 million) are all quality WRs, but which one (or two) do you pick to stack with Joe Burrow?
  • Miami also has a lot of WRs. Will Fuller (1 year, $10.625 million) is expensive Both Davante Parker (3 years, $7.625 million) and Jaylen Waddle (4 years, $6.77 million) are lower cost and signed for as long as Tua, but which one of them is going to be better is an open question.
  • Jalen Hurts is the cheapest QB option out there at only $1.51 million, but his WRs weren’t very good last year and TE Dallas Goedert might be his top receiver. Both Jalen Reagor (3 years, $3.318 million) or rookie DeVonta Smith (4 years, $5.035 million) might be the WR1 for the Eagles in 2021 and beyond, but nobody is sure which one it will be.

There are so many options that it’s difficult to make the correct prediction and get both players on their rookie deals. If you make the correct selection, your Dynasty Owner team could have a great value QB-WR stack for several seasons. If you don’t choose the correct pairing, it won’t cost a lot of money but might waste a couple of prime years with a QB on a valuable rookie contract.

Conclusions

There are so many possible QB-WR stacks. This article only scratched the surface of the ones that could help lead your Dynasty Owner team to a title (and maybe a spot on the Chase for the Ring leaderboard). While there are several options that should produce lots of Dynasty Owner fantasy points in 2021, most of them are expensive already.

In terms of value, the sheer number of possibilities make it difficult to project the best value QB-WR stacks for 2021 and beyond. Dynasty Owners are left with a choice – choose a likely guaranteed high scoring stack at a premium salary, or try and determine which young QB-WR combination will be the second coming of Joe Montana and Jerry Rice. It’s not as easy as it looks!

Dynasty Owner has great content coming to help you draft your dynasty. We can also provide guidance as you continue to tweak your roster after your rookie or start-up draft is over so you can win your league. My articles and videos to get you ready for your 2021 Dynasty Owner start-up league team will be released now on Wednesdays. Keep an eye out for new articles from the rest of our team of Dynasty Owner writers as well. Matt Morrison – The Jerk (@Dynastyjerk) is doing a deep dive on individual teams that you can check out earlier on in the week now as they will appear on Mondays. Jay Pounds (@jaypoundsnfl) looks at how to rebuild your Dynasty Owner roster and everyone will still get his insights on Fridays. All of the articles and videos will be released at 1 PM (Eastern).

Please read all of their articles and follow all three of us plus Dynasty Owner (@Dynasty_Owner) on Twitter. Hopefully this article is helpful for everyone who has a 2021 start-up draft coming soon, and at least interesting and stirs up some trade thoughts for those of you who have already drafted or have an established team. Thanks, and have a great day!

Steven Van Tassell is the Head of Content for Dynasty Owner

Follow us on Twitter: @SteveVT33 and @Dynasty_Owner

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