From now until the fantasy trade deadline, we will show you trades to propose based on our Trade Value Chart. These trades will provide more value for your team down the stretch run on the way to a fantasy championship.
From now until the fantasy trade deadline, we will show you trades to propose based on our Trade Value Chart. These trades will provide more value for your team down the stretch run on the way to a fantasy championship.
While a case could be made that Colts receiver Josh Downs should see a boost now that quarterback Joe Flacco has been made the starter, the fact is Downs was doing just fine no matter who was under center. Downs did great with Flacco under center between Weeks 4-6, averaging 10 targets per game, totaling at least six yards in each game and scoring twice, and was a top-three fantasy receiver. Downs was popping off with the now-benched Anthony Ricardson as well. Just last week he caught four balls for 109 yards and another touchdown.
The bottom line is that with Michael Pittman ailing and a host of young Colts receivers still getting their bearings straight, Downs is the most reliable option they have. He’s been a top-10 fantasy receiver since Week 3 (after missing Weeks 1 and 2). Having a reliable quarterback under center in Flacco will only increase the chances he stays there.
In exchange, you can give up a running back who will seemingly never get a chance to be the man. Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle was touted as a possible fantasy sleeper before the season started, as Dallas had nothing on the depth chart besides a washed-up Ezekiel Elliott. But the Cowboys have given Dowdle double-digit carries just twice this season despite averaging a decent 4.2 yards per carry. He can supplement his fantasy scoring in the passing game, but it would be nice to see him carry the ball more.
Dallas’ season has gone off the rails, so we don’t know what to expect from the team, the coaching, the offense, etc. Dowdle is technically the starter but has been unreliable in fantasy leagues up to now and that won’t be changing anytime soon. Trade him to a running back-starved team in your league.
Poor Jets fans. They keep acquiring Aaron Rodgers-approved players but still lose. The latest being former All-Pro Davante Adams, who badly wanted out of Las Vegas, in a trade before the deadline. In his first two games as Jet, New York lost both and Adams had a combined stat line of seven catches for 84 yards and a touchdown. For his part, Rodgers has looked very meh, with just 12 touchdowns to seven interceptions in eight games (before Week 9’s Thursday Night Football contest).
Things looked up in a Week 9 Thursday Night Football win over the Houston Texans (Rodgers threw three touchdowns, while Adams caught one and 91 yards). Overall, though it’s just a disaster for the Jets from a real-life or fantasy perspective.
The Jaguars haven’t fared much better in real life but it’s a different story in fantasy leagues. They’ve only won two games but quarterback Trevor Lawrence is a top-12 fantasy quarterback so far. And since Week 4, running back Tank Bigsby has been a top-10 fantasy running back. He wasn’t getting a lot of carries at first but still reeling off the big play. But since an injury to veteran running back Travis Etienne, Bigsby has seen a bigger workload and continued to shine. He’s carried it 44 times over the last two games for nearly 200 yards and two touchdowns.
As stated, the Jaguars’ season is lost, which means they could be trading away veterans before the deadline. That could include Etienne, which would clear the deck for Bigsby to be the lead back the rest of the season. If that happens, he could be a potential league-winner.
A trade that included both Sam Darnold and Kyle Pitts this year has much more implications than it would have a year ago but it still might have made sense. Pitts was in the midst of another disappointing season. Granted, he was a top-15 fantasy tight end but it was a far cry from the elite level of production that was expected after Pitts was the highest-drafted tight end in NFL history. For whatever reason, he just never ascended to the next level. Until now. Pitts has already tied a career-high with three touchdowns in a season, is on track for more than 800 yards receiving and is a top-four fantasy tight end thus far.
Darnold is an even bigger surprise. He was a backup in San Francisco last season and the safety valve if the Brock Purdy experiment didn’t work out. It did and Darnold saw limited action before moving to Minnesota to act as their bridge quarterback for rookie J.J. McCarthy. While it was always the plan for Darnold to start the season, McCarthy’s season-ending surgery extended Darnold’s stay under center where he’s turned into a legitimate MVP candidate. He’s led the Vikings to a 5-2 record while throwing for 14 touchdowns against just five touchdowns and is a borderline QB1 in fantasy leagues.
Pairing Brian Robinson with Darnold for Pitts and Cedric Tillman would be a win-win for everyone. If you’re a current Robinson manager needing to beef up at receiver, you can swap him and Darnold for Pitts and an up-and-coming receiver in Tillman. For Robinson’s managers, he’s having the best season of his career playing with rookie stud Jayden Daniels but is still in a quasi-time share with Austin Ekeler, who has been more efficient.
It’s held Robinson back from being a true RB1 to just a mid-RB2. For Tillman managers, many of whom picked him up off the wavier wire just this week, swapping him for a player like Robinson can be an immediate win. Tillman should have a good rest of the season. Keep him, though, if you’re lacking receivers. He broke out last week now that Deshaun Watson isn’t the Browns’ starting quarterback to the tune of 99 yards and two touchdowns. All four players can either be used as trade chips or solutions for your playoff push.
