Best Ball Stacking Guide

Stacking is the single biggest edge in best ball. Correlation turns one good game into a tournament-winning week. Here is how to do it: why it works, which stacks to build, how many, and when to leave it alone.

Why correlation wins

Best ball counts only your best weekly scores, so the goal is to manufacture as many huge weeks as possible. Players on the same offense rise and fall together: a quarterback's touchdown pass and his receiver's catch are the same play. Draft them together and one big game from that offense spikes two or three of your players at once. Uncorrelated rosters need several unrelated players to boom on the same Sunday; stacked rosters get there off a single hot offense.

The core QB stack

The foundation is a quarterback with one or two of his own pass-catchers — usually his top receiver, and often a second target or pass-catching back. When you roster the passer and the player catching those passes, their ceilings are locked together. This is the highest-value, lowest-effort stack and should anchor most of the quarterbacks you draft.

Bring-backs and game stacks

A bring-back adds a pass-catcher from the opposing team to your quarterback's stack. The logic: shootouts lift both sides. If you expect a high-scoring game, your quarterback, his receiver, and the opponent's receiver can all post big numbers in the same week, stacking three correlated booms instead of two. Save bring-backs for games with high projected totals, where both offenses are likely to throw.

How many stacks, and when not to force it

Stack most of the quarterbacks you draft, but never reach far down your board just to complete a stack — a stacked player who is a big value reach can cost you more points than the correlation gains. Take the best available value first; when two players are close, break the tie toward the one who completes a stack. A practical target is two to three correlated stacks per team, weighted toward offenses with soft championship-week schedules so your ceiling peaks in Weeks 15 to 17.

Common questions

What is stacking in best ball?

Drafting players whose points rise and fall together — most often a quarterback and one or two of his own pass-catchers — so a single big game from that offense spikes several of your players in the same week.

What is a bring-back?

Adding a pass-catcher from the opposing team to your QB-and-receiver stack, so a high-scoring shootout can boom your quarterback, his receiver, and the opponent's receiver together.

How many stacks should you build?

Stack most of the quarterbacks you draft, while still taking the best value — a target of two to three correlated stacks per team, weighted toward favorable championship-week schedules.