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
The past two weeks have been quite the struggle for Jordan Love. He threw for 196 scoreless yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars and left the game early with a groin injury. Then, Love attempted to play through the injury this past week. It didn’t go great.
Clearly less than 100%, Love’s mobility was compromised, and he threw for 273 scoreless yards and one interception.
The Green Bay Packers have their bye coming up at a perfect time. This should allow Love to get healthy.
From Weeks 4-7, when Love was at his best, he posted games of 31.16, 16.96, 26.62, and 18.8 fantasy points. There’s no reason to think Love can’t get back to that guy after the bye.
Rico Dowdle, RB, Dallas Cowboys
I think Rico Dowdle is one of the sneakiest buy-low players in fantasy right now. No one is really looking at Dowdle as a reliable weekly starter, but the Dallas Cowboys are on the brink of a lost season. They’ve had enough of Ezekiel Elliott, and Dalvin Cook has nothing left.
Dowdle saw his highest usage of the season against the Atlanta Falcons. He turned 17 touches into 107 yards and a touchdown, scoring 21.7 fantasy points.
The Cowboys have an awful defense and constantly trail in games. A negative game script is actually good for Dowdle, who is an effective receiver. He caught five passes against the Falcons.
With CeeDee Lamb banged up, the team could lean on Dowdle even more going forward. He is much better than he’s getting credit for.
DAK TO DOWDLE. HOW DID THIS GET COMPLETED??
📺: #DALvsATL on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/gQOFAxj8r1— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2024
Tyrone Tracy Jr., RB, New York Giants
Coming off his best game of the season, Tyrone Tracy Jr. followed it up with one of his worst. Tracy ran the ball 16 times for 66 yards while catching his lone target for three yards.
It was a weird day for the Giants. Their offense struggled to move the ball, but Daniel Jones threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third. That won’t happen every week.
The Giants’ next four opponents are against bottom 10 run defenses. Tracy is the clear RB1 ahead of Devin Singletary. He could be a borderline RB1 for the rest of the season.
Aaron Jones, RB, Minnesota Vikings
We are going to remember 2024 as the year of the old running back. Here I am, in Week 10, recommending buying a 29-year-old Aaron Jones because he’s ascended to true bellcow status.
The Minnesota Vikings have clearly had enough of Ty Chandler. Cam Akers is now backing up Jones. He could not be less of a threat. Akers’ role is purely to play a few snaps to give Jones a break.
Over the past two weeks, Jones has handled 25 and 21 touches. He’s touched the ball at least 17 times in every game since Week 3, except for the one he left early against the New York Jets in Week 5.
The Vikings don’t have the easiest remaining schedule for running backs, but none of their opponents are particularly difficult. This is a good offense, and Jones remains heavily involved in the passing game with a 14% target share, fifth in the league. He may very well be an RB1 rest-of-season. Buy.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Seattle Seahawks
It’s been a pretty good stretch for Jaxon Smith-Njigba over the past month or so. He’s hit double-digit fantasy points in six of his last eight games. However, just two of those games gave fantasy managers WR1-level production.
This was the first time we really saw downfield usage for JSN. I just don’t buy that it wasn’t a product of DK Metcalf’s absence.
JSN just caught seven passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. His value will never be higher.
SMITH TO JSN AGAIN! THIS TIME FOR SIX! pic.twitter.com/ciXD042RFX
— NFL (@NFL) November 4, 2024
The Seattle Seahawks are headed into their bye week. Metcalf will be back the following week, which should relegate JSN to the same random WR3/4 he’s been most of the season. If you can sell him as something more than that off the big game, do it.
David Njoku, TE, Cleveland Browns
It was a down game for David Njoku, catching five passes for 29 yards. But Njoku saw seven targets for the second consecutive game. He’s still a key part of the passing attack.
The Cleveland Browns are on bye this week. If you’re sitting pretty in terms of playoff position but struggling at tight end, this is the perfect time to buy. Cleveland’s remaining schedule ranges from average to very good for tight ends. Njoku should be at least a mid-TE1 going forward.
Top Players To Sell in Your League
Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals
To be clear, Joe Burrow is not a screaming sell here. He’s playing great football and is definitely a QB1. This is a sell only if you can get elite QB1 value.
Burrow threw for 251 yards and five touchdowns against the Las Vegas Raiders. That type of production excites fantasy managers. But Burrow is still a stationary QB, and it’s very difficult for non-mobile QBs to produce elite numbers. If you can turn Burrow into a mobile QB and another piece (or pair him with another piece to get someone like Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson), your team will be better for it.
Chuba Hubbard, RB, Carolina Panthers
This isn’t the boldest of recommendations here. Chuba Hubbard has been great, but a big part of his success has been volume.
Despite their win over the New Orleans Saints, the Carolina Panthers are not going anywhere this year. Jonathon Brooks is expected to make his debut in Week 10. He likely won’t play much at first, but following the Week 11 bye, I expect his role to grow. By the fantasy playoffs, Brooks could be the lead back.
Hubbard TD! @Panthers lead with 2:18 left!
📺: #NOvsCAR on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/5l2TyKS6Dw— NFL (@NFL) November 3, 2024
Coming off a two-touchdown game, this may be your last chance to sell Hubbard for anything significant.
Tank Dell, WR, Houston Texans
Perhaps the sophomore WR is starting to feel like himself and about to get rolling. Tank Dell had his best game of the season on Thursday night, catching six of nine targets for 126 yards. It also came in a game without Nico Collins or Stefon Diggs. C.J. Stroud had no choice.
Collins is expected back in Week 10. He will immediately resume his spot as the clear WR1. With Stroud not playing particularly well, I’m not sure he can support a second fantasy-relevant WR.
If you can’t sell Dell for anything worthwhile, you’re better off holding him. But if there’s a desperate fantasy manager out there looking for anything at WR, this may be the peak of Dell’s value.
DJ Moore, WR, Chicago Bears
I wonder if anyone still views DJ Moore as a WR3. He’s not. I’m not sure what changed in the Chicago Bears offense, but Moore is not being used like he was early in the season.
Even from Weeks 1-5, when Moore hit double-digit fantasy points in every game, it was mostly a mirage. He barely got there in three of those games. Outside of his 27.5-point Week 5, he was mostly a low WR3, at best.
Since Week 6, the Bears have faced three average to bad pass defenses. Moore has posted receiving totals of 20, 27, and 33.
The Bears have a very favorable rest-of-season schedule. That’s your path to trying to sell Moore as a buy-low player when, in reality, he is a sell-low player.
DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
I fully buy that DeAndre Hopkins is not done and that he could be a weekly WR2 in the right environment. If you think that environment is in Kansas City, then don’t sell him.
I think Monday night created the perfect set of circumstances for Hopkins to have a big game. It was his second game with the team. The Kansas City Chiefs actually experienced a negative game script. The Bucs are a massive pass-funnel defense. And the team needed Hopkins because Xavier Worthy might be the worst WR on an NFL roster playing significant snaps right now.
Hopkins caught eight passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns. It was Patrick Mahomes’ first three-touchdown game of the season.
Of the Chiefs’ remaining opponents, only two of them have realistic shootout potential. Otherwise, we are looking at very good pass defenses or soft pass defenses, opponents that won’t make the Chiefs have to throw.
Please do not just give away Hopkins. This is not a sell-at-any-cost proposition. Rather, this is an “I think this is the highest we’ll see Hopkins’ value all season” play. If you are going to trade DHop, now is the time.
Sam LaPorta, TE, Detroit Lions
Just in case anyone was wondering whether Sam LaPorta’s big game two weeks ago was a fluke, it was. Jameson Williams being out did not suddenly make LaPorta a bigger part of the offense.
The sophomore TE caught just two passes for 28 yards against the Packers. Granted, the weather was poor. But we’re still talking about a player who has a mere two double-digit fantasy point games on the season. It’s Week 9.
There’s no justification for continuing to start LaPorta. You can stream better production. If you can sell LaPorta for anything startable, it’s a winning move.