Fantasy Football Trade Advice: Players to Sell (Week 8)

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Let’s take a look at players to sell this week.

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Fantasy Football Trade Advice

Players to Sell

Dalvin Cook (RB – MIN)

Just 13 carries for Dalvin Cook in Week 6, who was a complete non-factor in the first half. 5 carries for 9 yards. But he ripped off a 53-yard TD run to save fantasy managers. Alexander Mattison had just one carry and zero targets. Worth mentioning Mattison was on the injury report entering the week, which probably influenced his 13% snap share and boosted Cook’s to 87%. Cook caught just one pass on one target. His receiving usage continues to leave fantasy managers wanting more. He had a 93% opportunity share in this game and didn’t have that much to show for it. Sell high coming off the bye week.

Leonard Fournette (RB – TB)

Leonard Fournette with just 10 touches to Rachaad White‘s 7 in Week 7. Lenny with just 19 rushing yards and 3 targets (6% target share). White has totaled 7 touches in back-to-back weeks, but continues to see his snaps increase. 43% snap share was a season-high for the rookie, while Fournette tied a season-low (60%). And this was a game that the Buccaneers NEEDED to win. Following the snaps has been a tried-and-true approach to buying/selling RBs at the right time. And based on the trends, you want to get out of the Fournette business ASAP. Tampa Bay has a bottom-5 schedule for RBs over the next 3 weeks and for the remainder of the season.

Deebo Samuel (WR – SF)

Brandon Aiyuk led the 49ers in targets (7 for 82 on 11 targets), followed by George Kittle (6 for 98 on 9 targets) and then Deebo Samuel (5 for 42 on 78 targets) in Week 7. It’s back-to-back weeks now that Aiyuk has out-targeted his WR teammate, and I am not so sure it’s going to revert back to Samuel anytime soon. Aiyuk runs the most WR routes on the team every week and Samuel’s low aDOT (6.0, 8th-lowest) is sure to overlap with future targets for running back Christian McCaffrey. If somebody is still treating Samuel like a fringe fantasy WR1, I’d sell.

Ezekiel Elliott (RB – DAL)

Ezekiel Elliott did exactly what he was expected to do in Week 7. Smash. 15 carries for 57 yards and 2 rushing TDs against the league’s worst run defense. But again. Zero targets. So all that glitters is not gold for Zeke. Because this is the exact time to SELL HIGH. For back-to-back weeks, Elliott has split backfield opportunities near a dead-even split with Tony Pollard. And in Week 7, we saw something unthinkable. Pollard out-snapped Zeke (65% to 49%). Elliott also didn’t miss any time after taking a shot to the knee that initially looked much worse. As a two-down TD-dependent grinder back – that isn’t even the best rusher on his own team – Elliott is the poster boy to sell high this week.

Terry McLaurin (WR – WAS)

Terry McLaurin went 5-73-1 on team-high 9 targets (25% target share) and continues his high-end target share with Taylor Heinicke from last season. Still, the majority of his production came on a 37-yard-long score. Without that score, just 4 catches for 32 yards. I’d be bearish on McLaurin rest of the season for fear that he won’t connect on the long ball from Heinicke – who has traditionally struggled to throw downfield. Not to mention, Curtis Samuel also saw just as many targets, but saw that at a higher rate (29% vs 24%). Jahan Dotson also did not play in this game.

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Diontae Johnson (WR – PIT)

Diontae Johnson continues to see high target volume (24% target share), but his efficiency continues to leave so much desired. His 10 targets in Week 7 translated into 5 catches for 42 yards. He has one top-30 finish in half-point scoring this season despite seeing all the opportunities. Sell. Pittsburgh has the second-toughest schedule for WRs over the rest of the season.

Michael Carter (RB – NYJ)

Breece Hall left with an injury but not before rushing for 72 yards and 1 TD on just 4 carries. His injury is a season-ending torn ACL. No. 2 RB Michael Carter came in relief and handled 15 touches for 74 yards. 2 for 45 through the air. He posted a 71% opportunity share and that includes Hall’s touches to start the game. No doubt he will be the featured RB for the rest of the season unless the Jets make a trade for another running back. Carter’s hardly offers the same upside as Hall so I’d also put Carter on the trade block. He ranks 5th-worst in yards after contact per attempt this season. Hall ranked fourth best.

Gus Edwards (RB – BAL)

Gus Edwards rushed 16 times for 66 yards and two TDs in return from torn ACL. 47% opportunity share. Kenyan Drake rushed 11 times for 5 yards. Woof. It was great to see Edwards immediately take over the backfield for Baltimore in lieu of J.K. Dobbins‘ injury. However, keep in mind that Edwards had a super easy matchup against the Cleveland Browns horrible run defense. And had it not been for the two rushing scores, Edwards would not be held in nearly as high regard. He also played just 36% of the snaps. With zero pass game usage and tougher matchups coming up against the Buccaneers and Saints, I’d sell high on the Gus Bus.

D.J. Moore (WR – CAR)

D.J. Moore finally converted the elite usage. 10 targets (48% target share), 69 yards and a TD, while running a route on 100% of dropbacks per usual. YLTSI. However, this one-off game where Moore scored (which doesn’t happen very often) provides you the perfect vehicle to ship him off to the highest bidder for those that think he will be the definition of consistency moving forward.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire (RB – KC)

Isiah Pacheco earned just a 40% opportunity share in the Chiefs backfield after being named the starter in Week 7. He led the team in carries (8) and rushing yards (43), but Clyde Edwards-Helaire scored on 1 of his 6 carries. Pacheco also totaled half of his carries in the second half. Neither caught any passes. Jerick McKinnon caught 2-of-3 targets for 36 yards. It’s clear this backfield is a three-headed mess with each guy carving out a niche role. Pacheco is the best pure rusher, CEH has a nose for the end zone and McKinnon is the preferred pass-catching specialist. Ergo, none of them are going to be reliable week-to-week in an offense that would rather just let Patrick Mahomes sling the rock. So sell CEH or really any of these Chiefs RBs. Edwards-Helaire played just 27% of the snaps and had just 6 touches.

Darrell Henderson (RB – LAR)

Darrell Henderson led the Rams backfield in Week 6 with 12 carries for 43 yards, adding two catches for 9 yards in 3 targets. Also scored a rushing TD. But Malcolm Brown was also somewhat involved in earning 7 carries for 15 yards (1 catch for 13 yards). Henderson didn’t play every snap (71%), so the role wasn’t as good as it was in Week 1. With the Rams a candidate to make a move at RB in lieu of the Cam Akers situation, I’d sell high on Hendo to someone that thinks he will be the RB1 rest of the season. Not to mention, after the bye week, the Rams face the 49ers and Buccaneers top-tier run defenses. And rookie Kyren Williams is expected to have a featured role, most likely as a receiver out of the backfield.

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