The fantasy football trade market is the fastest way to upgrade your team and the most efficient one. You can take advantage of poor tendencies and logic from other owners in your league who tend to overreact to past performance.
Every week we’ll take a look at the top players to buy or sell in fantasy football. An elite fantasy owner is active in the trade market and always looking for value (plus ways to take advantage of his competition). We want you to become that elite manager and our goal is provide you with the players who you should be looking to trade for or away each week. Let’s dive right in.
Buy
Tyrod Taylor, QB, Buffalo Bills
Taylor has earned No. 6 overall quarterback grade this season and it’s starting to show up in the box scores for fantasy football as well. Taylor took advantage of his second easy matchup this season while torching the Buccaneers for more than 20 fantasy points. Taylor’s schedule is one of the easiest among all quarterbacks the rest of the way and he closes out the fantasy playoffs with the Colts, Dolphins, and Patriots pass defenses.
Derek Carr, QB, Oakland Raiders
It’s not too late to buy Carr, even after his breakout game against the Chiefs. A mid-tier QB1 throughout 2016, Carr got back on track against a previously stout Chiefs pass defense by heavily involving Amari Cooper and using Jared Cook’s speed to his advantage. Carr finishes the season with an inviting fantasy playoffs schedule that includes the Chiefs (who he just torched), Cowboys, and Eagles secondaries.
Aaron Jones, RB, Green Bay Packers
It’s not too late to trade for Jones now. Last week, we talked about selling on Ty Montgomery before his value completely disappeared. What we missed was the opportunity to buy on Jones, when his value was even lower, before the Packers showed a commitment to the run game under new starting quarterback Brett Hundley. What we do know is that Jones has played more snaps than all but five running backs over the past two weeks and he’s averaging 2.87 yards per carry after contact over that same time span.
Dion Lewis, RB, New England Patriots
The Patriots haven’t officially committed to Lewis as their lead back, but after showing signs of his 2015 burst, he has been rewarded with the most snaps of any New England running back these past two weeks. Lewis has responded by earning the second-best elusive rating among all RBs these past two games, having forced nine missed tackles on just 24 carries while averaging 4.38 yards per carry after contact.
Marlon Mack, RB, Indianapolis Colts
It didn’t take long for the Colts to turn to Mack to spark the offense. Mack has outsnapped Frank Gore over the past two games — in Week 7 he saw 31 snaps to just 22 for Gore. Mack has been surprisingly effective after contact since his role expanded over the past two games, averaging 5.14 yards per carry after contact. His breakaway speed and burst to the edge, of course, stands out, as Mack has racked up 50 percent of his yards over the past two weeks on plays of 15-plus yards.
Corey Davis, WR, Tennessee Titans
The Titans played it extra safe with Davis, sitting him through their Week 7 bye, but he is expected back at practice and should be ready for Week 8. The Titans were expected to bring him back slowly after his preseason hamstring injury, but in his first live action this season, he led the Titans and racked up double digit targets. Eric Decker and Rishard Matthews have struggled to build a consistent rapport with Marcus Mariota, and with Delanie Walker sidelined, Davis has league-winning potential from a touchdown and big play standpoint. Davis was PFF’s No. 6 overall prospect in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Marvin Jones, WR, Detroit Lions
We still don’t have a definitive timetable on Lions No. 1 wide receiver Golden Tate, but his arm was in a sling this past weekend and he didn’t practice Monday. He is out for at least Week 8 and likely beyond that. Jones led all wide receivers with 14 targets in Week 6 after Tate exited with an injury. Sure, the Lions were playing from behind and game script won’t always be as favorable, but it didn’t take Jones more than one half as the No. 1 receiver to become a target hot. Jones has borderline WR1 upside for as long as Tate is out.
Sell
Jordy Nelson, WR, Green Bay Packers
Last week, we decided it was time to sell on most of the Packers skill positions players. Grouped into that mix were Montgomery, Davante Adams, and Martellus Bennett. Now, we focus our attention on Nelson, who saw fewer targets (3) than 68 wide receivers in the NFL during Week 7. The Packers identity is a run-first team going forward with Brett Hundley, and judging off past failures from Mike McCarthy’s offensive scheme while Aaron Rodgers was sidelined, Nelson could be in for a massive slide. Get rid of him while his name brand still grabs you something in return.
Adam Thielen, WR, Minnesota Vikings
While Thielen has seemingly settled into a role as one of the best PPR assets in recent weeks, it’s fool’s gold. Thielen’s production, and more importantly his target share, has taken a major uptick in recent weeks with Stefon Diggs out. Over the past two weeks, Thielen leads the NFL with a whopping 23 targets. Diggs is expected back this week and Thielen’s role in the offense will not be the same. Get out ahead of this one and trade him at his peak.
Larry Fitzgerald, WR, Arizona Cardinals
Fitzgerald has been an excellent player to sell around the midseason point for the past couple of seasons, right before his stats dip, but this is truer now than ever with Carson Palmer set to miss the next eight weeks (at least). The Cardinals passing game is going to take a hit and Adrian Peterson isn’t ready to help move the offense on a consistent basis behind this offensive line. Scoring opportunities will be way down and it’s time to sell Fitzgerald and use his name and current production as the selling point.
Tarik Cohen, RB, Chicago Bears
Cohen is one of the most explosive and elusive rookies to enter the NFL this season, but his role is quickly diminishing to the point where he no longer looks like that league-winning free agent addition. The Bears simply don’t want to take Jordan Howard off the field. Over the past two games, Cohen has played just 33 snaps and has seen just four targets in the passing game. There have been 48 running backs who have seen a higher snap count and 30 who have seen more targets over that two-game stretch. Sell now.
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