With all the injuries we’ve seen and the byes now in full force, trading for many teams has become a requirement to stay competitive and keep their championship dreams alive. The vast majority of squads haven’t come away from the last six weeks unscathed. In fact, there’s a good chance you’re at least mildly disgusted with the lineup you’re rolling out this week. Hopefully you have the good fortune of facing someone else who’s experiencing the same issues. But if you don’t, then tough luck. You still have to find a way to push through and squeeze out the W, or at least put yourself in a better position to tally more wins in the near future.
Our featured analysts are here to help you earn those victories by sharing with you which players they believe are the best buy-low targets and sell-high candidates. As you know, the player values shift, sometimes drastically, across the fantasy landscape every single week and it’s our job to help you stay on top of those changes and inform you of the best opportunities that arise from those. Without further ado, here are this week’s experts’ favorite players to buy or sell.
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Q1. Who is your favorite buy-low trade candidate at this point in the season and why?
Miles Sanders (RB – PHI)
“Sanders is the RB33 in fantasy scoring (half-point PPR), but his heretofore dreary fantasy outlook comes with silver linings. He’s dominating snap share (64%, 75% and 83% over the Eagles’ last three games), he’s on pace for 51 catches this season, the return of tackle Lane Johnson should give Philly’s running game a needed lift, and a favorable ROS schedule is littered with soft run defenses, including Washington (twice) and the Giants in the fantasy playoffs Weeks 15-17. Try offering DeVonta Smith or Brandin Cooks to frustrated Sanders stakeholders.”
– Pat Fitzmaurice (FantasyPros)
“Go and get Miles Sanders. In the last two weeks, his workload has increased significantly compared to the first four weeks. He has 78% of the snaps, 91% of the carries, 64.3% of the RB targets, 87% of the touches, and 100% of red-zone touches. He hasn’t produced accordingly, but consider that he has also faced two good defenses against the run (Buccaneers and Panthers). You may be able to offer Zack Moss, Michael Pittman, Jaylen Waddle, or Tyler Lockett for him.”
– Mauricio Gutierrez (Estadio Fantasy)
Chase Claypool (WR – PIT)
“Claypool represents almost the perfect storm for a buy-low opportunity: he’s coming off a massively disappointing game in primetime, has been battling a minor injury, and is now on a bye. But there is plenty of reason to trade for him. Everyone already knows how physically gifted Claypool is, but it’s really the injury to JuJu Smith-Schuster that changes his rest of season outlook. Before Sunday night, Claypool’s huge game (Weeks 3 and 5) came when either Diontae Johnson or Smith-Schuster was out of the lineup, as he plays far more often in 12 personnel in those circumstances. The fact that he got just a 17.5% target share on Sunday night is an anomaly. He’s going to have some massive weeks going forward with the road cleared in the receiving game, and I’d swap someone like Adam Thielen or Josh Jacobs for him.”
– Dan Harris (FantasyPros)
Javonte Williams (RB – DEN)
“One of my favorite buy-low candidates is Broncos rookie RB Javonte Williams. He has more or less split carries/snaps down the middle with Melvin Gordon through the first six weeks. In the past four games, we have seen Williams become more involved in the passing game with three receptions in each matchup. Week 7 is when we saw both J.K. Dobbins & Antonio Gibson ‘level up’ and become league winners down the stretch in fantasy football. Seven of his remaining 10 weeks (not including Week 18) are against defenses that rank in the top 12 for most points allowed to the running back position per game. I would be willing to trade away players like Cordarrelle Patterson, Sterling Shephard, and James Conner to try and get Javonte Williams on my team for Weeks 7 and on. Believe in the second-half rookie RB breakout.”
– Robby Jeffries (The Fantasy Authority)
A.J. Brown (WR – TEN)
“Brown has struggled with health all season, but last week he was back in action and looked more like himself. Brown is still WR1 material, but he’s the WR65 right now in terms of productivity. Brown turned in back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons to begin his career. While that mark may elude him in ’21, he still has enough upside for a big second half. Perhaps Cordarelle Patterson’s hot start can get a deal done.”
– Joe Pisapia (FantasyPros)
Q2. Who is your favorite sell-high candidate at this point in the season and why?
Cordarrelle Patterson (RB – ATL)
“I don’t think there’s a bigger sell-high candidate than the RB3/WR5 in points per game: Cordarelle Patterson. Why? Firstly, he has scored on 16% of his receptions. This number is bound to regress as the season goes along. Touchdowns are heavily overweighted when we have small sample sizes of fantasy point data. Second, the fantasy competition gets a lot tougher for Atlanta. They faced three teams who ranked in the bottom 10 for points allowed to the WR position (where Patterson’s points have come from primarily). Going forward, only in four of their remaining 12 games will they see matchups like that. Finally, the return of Calvin Ridley, the emergency of Kyle Pitts, and, yes, even the return of Russell Gage will affect the 17% target share consistency that Patterson has carved out over the past four games. I would look to sell really high and acquire someone like D’Andre Swift, Darrell Henderson, or a discounted injured running back like Saquon Barkley or David Montgomery.”
– Robby Jeffries (The Fantasy Authority)
Alvin Kamara (RB – NO)
“Kamara could net you a big haul in return, and his new and less desirable usage should have you at least thinking about shopping him. Kamara has 94 carries through five games, putting him on pace to shatter his previous single-season high for rushing attempts. Through five games last year, he had 61 carries. But Kamara had 45 receptions at this time a year ago, and this year he has 15. He was averaging 25.7 fantasy points per game a year ago (half-point PPR), and he’s averaging 15.9 FPPG. The crazy catch totals are gone, a memory of the Drew Brees era, and the higher carry totals boost the injury risk. Consider trading Kamara for the combination of a lesser RB and a premium WR — for example a James Robinson/A.J. Brown combo.”
– Pat Fitzmaurice (FantasyPros)
DeAndre Hopkins (WR – ARI)
“Players with more targets than Hopkins include Darnell Mooney, Robby Anderson, Noah Fant, and D’Andre Swift. Hopkins is an incredible talent, and he already has six touchdowns. But it’s going to be really difficult for him to continue to be a top fantasy wide receiver at just 6.3 targets per game with a high watermark of 87 receiving yards. Kyler Murray and the Arizona offense are functioning at such a high level that Murray simply doesn’t need to force targets to Hopkins, and unless he’s going to continue to score at a touchdown-per-game pace, Hopkins’ production will fall off eventually. I’d try to swap him for any similar wide receiver like Justin Jefferson or Stefon Diggs, or try for a running back like Swift or Joe Mixon.”
– Dan Harris (FantasyPros)
Courtland Sutton (WR – DEN)
“Sutton has had two incredible weeks (both finishing inside the top 10) that were fueled by a huge amount of targets (11 and 14). However, the target share is unsustainable as Jerry Jeudy is probably going to be back soon. In his last 23 games, he has not had at least 10 targets in 18 of those and averaged 12.8 fantasy points in those matchups. Meanwhile, he averaged 18.9 in the five games with at least 10 targets. You can try and get Calvin Ridley, Marquise Brown, Leonard Fournette, or Kyle Pitts (while adding someone else in the mix).”
– Mauricio Gutierrez (Estadio Fantasy)
Marquise Brown (WR – BAL)
“Brown has played well above my expectations and I give him credit for improving year over year. His routes are better, he’s more physical on the field, and he is fighting for the football. That being said, Rashod Bateman’s return will start to eat into his target share a bit and Brown is slightly TD dependent. Perhaps he can be moved for package starting with Jaylen Waddle and another WR, or he can be used with another piece to bring in a Calvin Ridley.”
– Joe Pisapia (FantasyPros)
Thank you to the experts for naming their trade candidates. Be sure to give them a follow on Twitter if you’re not already doing so and check out our latest podcast below for more great advice.
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