Showdown stacking and correlation

DraftEdge.io is NFL & PGA Tour DFS Research. A DraftKings Showdown lineup is six players from a single game. One is the Captain. That player scores 1.5 times the points and costs 1.5 times the salary. The other five are FLEX. Stacking is how those six stay on one version of the game.

This note is the process. It does not name a player or a lineup.

A stack is a shared story

Correlation means two players' DraftKings scores tend to rise and fall together. On one game, that usually means teammates who benefit from the same scoring. A quarterback and a receiver he actually targets is the plain example. A runner and the offense that keeps the ball on the ground is another. The useful group is the one the game script supports.

A stack is that group, written into the lineup on purpose. It is not a list of the most famous names. A lineup of unrelated names can look balanced and still have no version of the game in which they score together.

The Captain picks the story

The Captain sets the script, because that spot moves the lineup more than any FLEX. How to choose a Showdown captain is the longer version: start with the game you expect, then choose the player who gains the most if that game happens. The other five spots should still make sense if that script is right.

Game script is the version you are calling before lock. A pass-heavy script points at the quarterback and the receivers who benefit. A lower-scoring script points at the runners and the defense. The stack should match the call. A stack that fights the script does not belong, even if every name is famous.

When the other side has to answer

Sometimes the stack reaches across the ball. A bring-back is a player from the other team who scores if that side has to answer. It still has to fit the script. Adding the other side "just in case" is how a one-game lineup becomes two half-stories. If you cannot explain the bring-back in the same sentence as the Captain, leave it out.

Cash games and tournaments

A cash game, including a double-up, pays for clearing a line that about half the field also clears. The stack should fit the script that keeps you near that line. A tournament pays the top, so a less popular Captain can help when that player still fits the script and the field is elsewhere. That gap is leverage. It is not a reason to ignore the story.

For what the chalk lineup did in the cash games we have already written up, read the double-up study and the Showdown strategy hub. Those notes carry the published counts. This page does not add a new one. One slate is a small sample. Treat it as a starting point.

What stays off this page

The Captain and the stack for a given slate are for NFL and Everything subscribers. NFL this week is where that note shows up. How NFL lineups are built is the station-by-station version of the same idea, for Showdown and for Classic. Classic is a full slate, so the environment question is different: game environment and matchups.

Verified finishes, including losses, are on NFL results. The builds are not free. See NFL plans. Short answers live on the FAQ, and the roster words live in the glossary.

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