As we have hit the NFL Trade deadline, we’ve reached a similar point in fantasy football leagues. The art of the trade is often lost because of the immediate gratification the next low-rent savior provides on the waiver wire. But, this can be a time to take advantage of the weaker owners in your league.
There are owners who are struggling that could be willing to do a 2-for-1 or 3-for-1 trade at the deadline because they’re basically 2-5 or 1-6 and need to run the table to even make the playoffs. What matters is where you sit with your roster.
If you have a deep roster that you can live with parting with one elite player and one or two guys who aren’t regular starters for you (but would be for a desperate owner), you may be throwing the perceived lifeline to give them some hope while you add the one blue-chipper you are away from heading down the stretch with a Murderer’s Row of talent.
On the flip side, if you have a roster in need of more quality depth, a 2-for-1 or 3-for-1 trade to amass players that could be valuable to you, offering up your prized possession may be required to harvest multiple starters to fill roster holes.
Never say never when it comes to a trade. You make the proposals. Take it or leave it. If you get what you’re asking for, it could be the catalyst that propels you forward in this unprecedented 2020 season.
Here is the Week 9 Fantasy Market Report:
Fantasy Football Risers
Gus Edwards, RB, Ravens
When Mark Ingram went down, it was thought that J.K. Dobbins would take over the ground game to fill the void. It may end up being Dobbins’ job, but, in the two games without Ingram, Edwards has 30 carries (more than Dobbins in both games) and has two touchdowns. He doesn’t get a lot of respect from fantasy owners in general, but does for those who’ve had to play him the last two weeks as a plug-in or in previous relief stints over his unheralded career.
Philip Rivers, QB, Colts
Last month, he was on the Fallers list – for good reason. He was stuck on one TD pass a game forever and only had four TDs through his first five games with his new offense. But, in the last two weeks, he has thrown for 633 yards and six touchdowns (three in both games) and has spread the ball around to multiple receivers with confidence he didn’t have to throw into coverage. Granted, it was against Cincinnati and Detroit, but it was a sign that the defense doesn’t have to necessarily carry the team to victory. Rivers is going to be a guy that ends up in somebody’s lineup because, at long last in Indy, he’s starting to earn that respect.
Phillip Lindsay, RB, Broncos
Lindsay was down for three games heading into Denver’s bye week and, as luck would have it, Melvin Gordon was inactive when he came back. Lindsey was the only show and made the most of it, rushing 23 times for 101 yards. Gordon came back the next week, but Lindsay has been running like a man possessed. In the last three games, he has rushed 38 times for 263 yards and a touchdown – averaging a sparkling 6.9 yards a carry. You get a bigger time share if you keep doing that, much less at a time when Gordon is averaging less than four yards a carry since coming back.
Robert Woods, WR, Rams
There aren’t many Rams that are must-starts on a weekly basis, but Woods is as close as anyone. He has scored four receiving touchdowns in eight games and topped 100 yards in one of the games he didn’t. But, what makes him a weapon is that he has rushed 16 times for 108 yards and two more touchdowns. He’s a threat in the red zone as a runner and receiver and, while he doesn’t always put up big numbers, he puts them up enough to warrant being in lineups many more weeks than not.
James Conner, RB, Steelers
When he had an awful Week 1 against the Giants that got him benched briefly, it lit a fire under Conner. In the six games he has played since, he has rushed 104 times for 489 yards and five touchdowns. He has just one game without a touchdown and no games in which he didn’t have 15 or more carries. At a time of backfield diversity and several players having roles in many offenses, Conner not only has carved out his role, his carry-share has grown as the season has gone on.
Fantasy Football Fallers
John Brown, WR, Bills
The word at the start of the season was that Brown and Stefon Diggs were going to be a dynamic duo that brings the big play to Buffalo’s offense. In the first two games of the season, Brown did his part, catching 10 passes for 152 yards and two TDs. But, over the last six games, he has missed two of them and, in the four he has played, he has caught a total of five passes for 63 yards and no touchdowns. You can’t keep a guy in your lineup with numbers like that.
Joshua Kelley, RB, Chargers
Even before Austin Ekeler went down, there was a camp of people that had proclaimed Kelley to future of the Chargers run game – the next Melvin Gordon. In the three weeks since Ekeler has been down, not only has Justin Jackson had more rushing production than Kelley (37-172 for Jackson, 30-90 for Kelley), he has been much better as a receiver (13-119 for Jackson, 7-26 for Kelley). Kelley’s star is fizzling as the second fiddle in a non-productive duet.
Jimmy Graham, TE, Bears
It’s sad when a majestic lion gets old and hangs on trying to rule the pack when it’s clear he’s past his prime. Graham has enough red zone looks to keep you interested, but, the fact remains that, eight games into his season, he has more than 34 receiving yards in one game. His forte used to be creating speed mismatches. Now he’s getting lit up at the knees by linebackers and safeties. I hate to be “that guy,” but from I’ve seen the last few weeks, he won’t make it to the end of the season with the shots he’s taking to live up to his legacy.
A.J. Green, WR, Bengals
Green has had a great career, but, with a rookie quarterback who has to make decisions on the fly, Green is No. 3 in the offense in a big way because of target ratio. Tyler Boyd has been targeted 68 times, catching 54 of them for 584 yards and three touchdowns. Tee Higgins has been targeted 52 times, catching 33 passes for 488 yards and three touchdowns. Green has been targeted 63 times, catching 31 passes for 316 yards and no TDs. At this point, there is no purpose to design a game plan that features Green because the trio of the future doesn’t include him.
Jerick McKinnon, RB, 49ers
His is a tragic, but lucrative, story. The Robin to Adrian Peterson’s Batman in Minnesota, one of the first big moves the new front office regime made was to make McKinnon one of the top five paid running backs in the league. The first two years rendered nothing. The first injury to Raheem Mostert opened the door for McKinnon to reclaim his career and he scored three touchdowns in the 2½ games he replaced Mostert. Raheem returned. Raheem went down again. In the two games since, McKinnon has six carries for minus-2 yards. Can’t play him.