Top Sleeper Stacks for 2024 Fantasy Best Ball Drafts: Don’t Overlook the Saints, Commanders

Beauty can be found in all aspects of the NFL. Whether it be the competition between teams and players, individual plays, or the mental battle of coaches, the NFL is incredible. To me, one of the most beautiful things is how little we, as fans and fantasy players, actually know about the NFL and its teams.

Actually, we “know” a lot and so little at the same time. We discuss advanced metrics such as yards per route run, completion percentage over expected (CPOE), and expected points added (EPA). These metrics give us a good understanding of how players and teams will perform in the future. However, hundreds of factors contribute to success in the NFL, making it impossible to predict how each player and team will perform.

These unknown factors drive the beauty of the NFL. Every year, some teams perform exactly at the level that we expect. Meanwhile, many teams fail to meet expectations, whether in a positive or negative direction.

In fantasy football, identifying the teams that outperform expectations is critical and can lead to dominant rosters.

In Best Ball, with the importance of stacking, identifying undervalued teams and attacking late-round stacks is more crucial than in any other format. If you are new to Underdog Fantasy Best Ball, check out my previous article that covers the importance of stacking on Best Ball rosters.

Last season the prime example of this was the Houston Texans. Captained by rookie QB CJ Stroud and featuring breakout receivers Nico Collins and Tank Dell, selecting Texans in the late rounds proved to be one of the keys to success in Best Ball last year.

Let’s look at some potentially overlooked offenses that could return massive value to Best Ball teams.

WASHINGTON COMMANDERS

With just Terry McLaurin solidified in the mid-rounds, the Washington Commanders provide interesting stacking options.

Although the Commanders’ offense struggled in 2023, it has undergone a complete overhaul. The new regime features Dan Quinn as the head coach, Kliff Kingsbury as the OC, and Jayden Daniels at quarterback.

On his own, Daniels’ rushing upside makes him an incredibly intriguing selection in drafts. Given his Round 9 price tag, it’s impossible to overlook the Commanders’ newest weapon.

The other weapons in this offense also provide upside at their low prices. Brian Robinson Jr. is off the board as the RB33. In 2022, Robinson finished the season as the RB22 in FPPG. Yes, Austin Ekeler is in town, but I still expect B-Rob to handle most of the rushing and goal-line work. Robinson’s role will lack receiving upside, but he will still find success in 2023 with little receiving work.

Luke McCaffrey is also an interesting stacking partner with Daniels in the final rounds of drafts. Following McLaurin and Jahan Dotson (who was suspect in 2023) on the depth chart, there isn’t much competition between McCaffrey and the slot role in the Washington offense. He will likely not be highly utilized early in the year. However, it is very realistic for McCaffrey to play a role in this offense during the fantasy playoffs when production matters most.

Washington also features a juicy Week 17 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons. It would not be shocking if the Washington offense takes a big step forward in 2024. If they do take that step and meet up with what we expect to be a high-powered Falcons offense, this could be a Week 17 matchup full of fireworks.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

Aside from Chris Olave, very little draft capital must be spent to invest in the New Orleans Saints offense.

Before discussing the offensive weapons in New Orleans, it should be noted that Derek Carr and the Saints will again benefit from playing two of their three fantasy playoff matchups at home (in a dome). Carr took advantage of this last year, finishing as the weekly QB3 and QB1 in two matchups in domes during the fantasy playoffs.

Carr and some of the players who project to have steady roles in this offense can be picked up very late in drafts.

One of these players is Rashid Shaheed. While this term is thrown around loosely, Shaheed is very much a “better in Best Ball” pick. His ability to get downfield and make big plays that produce spike weeks seems to be undervalued in drafts. Check his production from last season; Shaheed had more games with 15+ fantasy points (half-PPR) than Chris Olave.

Juwan Johnson should also have an appealing role as an underneath pass catcher in New Orleans. Olave had an ADOT of 13.4, while Shaheed’s was 14.2. Alvin Kamara will gobble up a lot of short passes but Johnson will certainly play a role in this area of the field.

Generally, this offense is insanely cheap, and the touches should be fairly concentrated. If you start drafts with Olave and need to build out a stack late in drafts, consider grabbing some options.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

The epitome of a “back-door” stack, the vast majority of the Patriots skill players can be found after Round 10.

The Patriots are a great “break glass if necessary” stack. If you aren’t able to stack the weapons you selected in the early rounds, consider the Patriots.

Fantasy managers are not particularly bullish on this offense, but their players are accessible in drafts. At the end of the day, we know that we have to have some stacks on our roster to have a chance at succeeding in Best Ball tournaments.

This is also a spot to embrace uncertainty. Nobody truly knows what the pecking order will look like in the New England WR room. In this year’s draft, the Patriots added Ja’Lynn Polk (Round 2) and Javon Baker (Round 4). This duo pairs with Kendrick Bourne and DeMario “Pop” Douglas. Douglas had fleeting production in 2023, but targets are truly up for grabs in this offense. Given the dirt-cheap cost, hitting on one of these receivers will pay off significantly.

It’s also nice to grab the quarterback of the stack with one of your last picks. Drake Maye will likely not start the year as QB1, but will certainly be on the field down the stretch. Maye provides appealing arm talent and rushing upside that can certainly provide the necessary production when it matters most.