We are now in the home stretch of the fantasy football season. Fantasy managers should always be looking to improve their rosters, but now with an eye on the playoffs. With that in mind, here are a handful of players to explore trades for, either to buy low on those who are undervalued or sell high on ones overvalued.
Top Trade Targets To Buy in Your League
Jordan Love, QB, Green Bay Packers
Some of my favorite players to buy are those on byes. Fantasy managers have a tendency to kind of forget about them.
Prior to their bye, Jordan Love had a 273-yard scoreless game. It was his second consecutive dud. Love was also playing through a groin injury.
With two weeks to rest, Love should be 100% when he returns to the field in Week 11. Prior to his two games dealing with the groin issue, Love had hit 16.9 fantasy points or more in four straight, including two at 26 and 31. He can probably be acquired for very little.
Justin Herbert, QB, Los Angeles Chargers
Lost in the Chargers’ run-heavy approach is the fact that Justin Herbert is still an excellent NFL quarterback. Imagine if he swapped places with Joe Burrow. Would we not feel confident in Herbert as an elite QB1?
As a reminder, Herbert suffered a preseason foot injury. It’s very possible it hampered him early in the season and he’s just now getting healthy.
After failing to reach 15 fantasy points over the first seven weeks of the season, Herbert has now scored 19+ fantasy points in three straight.
The Chargers may still want to run, but the schedule may not let them. Over the next five weeks, the Chargers play some of the best offenses in football. Four of them are bottom-seven in the league against the pass. Herbert sure looks like a potential QB1 and he is likely being valued as a QB2.
C.J. Sroud, QB, Houston Texans
As a follow-up to his historically great rookie season, C.J. Stroud has not quite performed as expected. Some might say he’s taken a step backward.
Stroud has just one game of 20+ fantasy points through 10 weeks. But it hasn’t been a total disaster. Or, at least it wasn’t to start the season.
From Weeks 1-6, Stroud averaged 17.4 fantasy points per game. Not great, but not terrible. Beginning in Week 7, though, things took a turn. Since then, he’s only averaged 10.3 points per game, throwing two touchdowns in his last four games.
Something happened over the last four weeks, though. Nico Collins hasn’t played. Well, he’s set to return this week and the Texans have a mostly favorable remaining slate of pass defenses. Stroud could end up returning QB1 value from this point forward.
Bucky Irving, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Negative game script forced the Bucs to lean more on Rachaad White in the second half. However, before then, it sure looked like Bucky Irving had completely taken over this backfield.
Irving ran for 73 yards and a touchdown, while catching all three of his targets for 14 yards. This was against the 49ers.
Bucky Irving gives the @Buccaneers the lead!
📺: #SFvsTB on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/4KoGCpjsw8— NFL (@NFL) November 10, 2024
The Bucs’ remaining schedule is incredibly favorable. From Weeks 13-17, they play four bottom-10 run defenses. They also project to have positive game script in at least five of their last six games of the fantasy season.
Irving could be a legitimate league winner.
Jaylen Warren, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers
It’s now been four weeks since Jaylen Warren returned from his knee injury. His usage has ticked up just about every week, capping off with 16 opportunities this past week against the Commanders. The reason for Warren’s increased role last week is easy to explain. The Commanders are a very good offense that forced the Steelers to throw more than usual.
For the remainder of the fantasy season, the Steelers do not have single easy run defense on the docket. Every single opponent ranks in the top eight at defending the run.
Normally, that would be bad news for targeting a running back. However, it’s more bad news for Najee Harris. Given the schedule, the Steelers could not only find themselves in more shootouts, but could find themselves having to throw more in neutral game script. Warren is the passing down back. It would not surprise me if he wound up being the more productive fantasy back than Harris from this point forward.
Malik Nabers, WR, New York Giants
It feels like it’s been so long since Malik Nabers was an elite WR1 and ranked weekly in the top 12. From Weeks 2-4, he had a ridiculous three-game stretch with 23+ fantasy points in all three. Since then, he hasn’t scored and hasn’t hit 15 fantasy points. There is reason to believe a return to the elite tier is coming, though.
The New York Giants have their bye soon, and that means the manager with Nabers needs to win a week without him. If that team can’t afford a loss and you’re sitting pretty, you can try and buy Nabers for less than full value by trading away a player who is past his bye to acquire the Giants WR.
Nabers has one of the most favorable schedules for WRs over the remainder of the season. He doesn’t face a top-half pass defense the rest of the year and has three matchups against bottom-eight pass defenses. As a bonus, there’s a decent chance Daniel Jones gets benched for Drew Lock, who is much more apt to push the ball down the field, raising Nabers’ weekly ceiling.
T.J. Hockenson, TE, Minnesota Vikings
It might be too late to buy T.J. Hockenson. Once upon a time, he was a top-five tight end. If fantasy managers are valuing him at that level, then the time to buy has passed. But if they aren’t, it’s time to pounce.
T.J. Hockenson in second game back:
15.2 fantasy points
71% routes
24% targets
20% air yardsThat didn't take long.
— Dwain McFarland (@dwainmcfarland) November 10, 2024
Hockenson was eased in two weeks ago in his first game back. In his second game, he looked back. Hockenson caught eight of nine targets for 72 yards. The Vikings do not have a difficult remaining schedule of pass defenses. Hockenson may already be the second option in the passing game behind Justin Jefferson.
Tight end has been a challenge for fantasy managers all season. Hockenson may be the solution you didn’t know you had.
David Njoku, TE, Cleveland Browns
Perhaps there is a bit of out of sight, out of mind going on with David Njoku. The Browns were on bye last week. The week before, Njoku had a pedestrian five receptions for 29 yards.
While that may not be overly exciting, Njoku now has at least five receptions in four straight games. As long as Jameis Winston is starting, there will be plenty of volume to go around.
The Browns don’t have any easy opponents left on the schedule. They are going to have to throw. This is more directed toward teams locked into playoff spots that have a hole at tight end. Specifically, in Weeks 15 and 16, the Browns have two of the easiest matchups for tight ends. Njoku could be the missing piece to carry your team to the championship.
Top Players To Sell in Your League
Brock Purdy, QB, San Francisco 49ers
Quietly, Brock Purdy is on a really good four-week run. He’s hit 20 fantasy points in four straight. Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Purdy threw for 353 yards and two touchdowns.
The 49ers remain one of the best offenses in the NFL. However, they’ve enjoyed an average-to-good schedule of pass defenses. Their second-half schedule is pretty rough. The 49ers face three top-eight pass defenses in their next four games. We may have seen the best of Purdy this season, making this the ideal time to sell.
Kareem Hunt, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
It’s a bit of low-hanging fruit to label Kareem Hunt as a sell. Isiah Pacheco is expected to practice in 2-3 weeks. When he returns, I fully expect him to resume his role as the clear RB1.
The reality is Hunt hasn’t been nearly as good as his fantasy numbers suggest. He is surviving on raw volume. He just put up 17 fantasy points in a game where he ran the ball 14 times for 35 yards and did not score.
In his first five games with the Chiefs, Hunt caught seven passes. Against the Broncos, Hunt caught seven passes. He saw 10 targets. That will probably never happen again.
Kareem Hunt soaked up a career-high 10 targets today.
He had 9 combined in his first five games this season.
— Mike Clay (@MikeClayNFL) November 10, 2024
The Chiefs do have three easy matchups over the next three weeks. You could use Hunt for a game or two and then move him. Alternatively, you could use the upcoming schedule to sell him to a team that needs wins now, as Hunt is unlikely to help you in the fantasy playoffs.
D’Andre Swift, RB, Chicago Bears
Fantasy managers would be wise to get out of this Bears offense. Anyone you have, cash out. It’s an unmitigated disaster.
D’Andre Swift has been one of the lone bright spots this season. His run from Week 4-8 was incredible, posting games of 29.5, 20.0, 21.9, 18.9, and 14.2. Last week, though, things really hit rock bottom. Caleb Williams could only lead his team to three points against the Patriots. Swift saw 17 opportunities, but totaled a mere 65 scoreless yards.
Going forward, that’s where the concern really lies. The Bears’ run of soft run defenses is over. The Packers are an average matchup in Week 11. After that, four of their next five opponents are top-five against the run. If you can still sell Swift as an RB2, now might be your last chance.
Deebo Samuel Sr., WR, San Francisco 49ers
Impressively, Deebo Samuel Sr. has scored exactly 12.6 fantasy points in two consecutive games. More importantly, he finally made it through a game healthy. That’s why you sell Samuel.
I’ve lost all hope in Samuel. He plays too violently and too recklessly. He loses fantasy managers’ matchups with the games he leaves early. There have been three this season.
The 49ers’ remaining schedule is a mixed bag for WRs. But with Christian McCaffrey and Jauan Jennings back and Ricky Pearsall emerging, the team doesn’t need to inundate Samuel with volume.
I’ve seen him get a mid-WR1 rest-of-season valuation. I think he’s more of a low-end WR2. Sell while you still can.
Josh Downs, WR, Indianapolis Colts
Joe Flacco has done wonders for Josh Downs’ fantasy value. However, Flacco is arguably the worst starting quarterback in the NFL right now. The reality is he was never good, not even last year. He just chucks with reckless abandon, so the numbers appear better than he plays.
The Indianapolis Colts are probably not winning another game with Flacco under center — another loss or two and their season will be just about over. Shane Steichen’s comment notwithstanding, there’s simply no reason not to go back to Anthony Richardson.
Add in the fact that the Colts have their bye in front of them and face two of the best pass defenses in the league in Weeks 15 and 16, and Downs looks like someone to get out from now while he still has WR2 value.
Evan Engram, TE, Jacksonville Jaguars
Evan Engram should still have a solid floor. Without Christian Kirk, he’s taken over as the main underneath guy in the Jaguars offense. However, the high weekly upside is almost certainly gone.
With Trevor Lawrence likely done for the season, it will be Mac Jones the rest of the way. We saw what that looked like against the Vikings’ league-worst pass defense last week. The Jaguars scored seven points.
Engram did catch six passes for 40 yards. 10 fantasy points is fine at tight end. Do not give Engram away. But if a manager is desperate for a TE and willing to value Engram like Lawrence is coming back, this might be the last chance to cash out.