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Scott Engel identifies fantasy football buy-low candidates, and also players to sell now. Read his buy/sell advice heading into Week 7 of the 2019 NFL season.
Not every football fan is a baseball fan. But many of us sports aficionados did follow the game for awhile, and still do. At some point, many of have witnessed a trade, where a team out of contention dealt away a star player for some minor leaguers. One team received an immediate impact player, while another received a few pieces for the future. Both sides helped each other.
We have also seen similar types of trades in the NBA. In the NFL, stars get dealt for draft picks, as we saw with Jalen Ramsey this week. Major League Baseball and pro basketball have heavily set an imprint into the minds of sports fans of how a trade can be structured. The problem is, many sports fans who play fantasy football try to build quantity for quality types of offers in seasonal fantasy football. These types of packages are almost always highly flawed and rarely put together with much cohesive thought. They also do not aim to help both sides. Quantity for quality trade packages, especially the constant 3-for-1 types we see put on the table, are set up for failure and rejection. There are no rebuilding franchises in yearly fantasy football. If a fantasy team has three glaring weaknesses in its lineup, they are likely out of contention already.
These silly three-for-one offers we often see usually involve a bench player or two, maybe a mediocre starter and sometimes one decent player for a top guy from the other roster. They just about never improve the outlook of the targeted team. These sorts of quantity for quality offers are compiled with no real thought process behind them. Some wacky types even add up the fantasy points scored on both sides of the deal to rationalize it or specify some sort of need they think they are trying to fill with a laughable offer. Just stop it. If you are going to build a three-for-one offer, you are just wasting everyone’s time when you are playing with smart and experienced fantasy football players. Realize that you have to give up something to get something of significance in return. Sure, always try to win the deal if you can. But structuring and offering quantity for quality packages isn’t going to get you anything more than a rejection e-mail to your inbox.
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Buy ‘Em
Le'Veon Bell, RB, NYJ: He has one rushing TD, one receiving TD and has not rushed for 70 yards in a game yet. A matchup with New England is next. But after Week 7 he faces the Jaguars, Dolphins, Giants, Redskins, Raiders, Bengals and Dolphins again. Every team in that group except for Oakland is Top 9 in Fantasy Points Per Game allowed to RBs. Miami and Cincinnati allow the most.
Derrick Henry, RB, TEN: He is coming off his worst game of the season, with 28 rushing yards against Denver. Henry had rushed for less than 78 yards in a game once and had scored in four of five outings prior to Week 6. He has become more dependable than ever before and may be a bit underrated.
Melvin Gordon, RB, LAC: He has totaled only 86 yards from scrimmage in his first two games back, and he seems to be an annual injury risk. But he is a big key to the Chargers getting back on track and it might not take much to land him in a deal right now. If you don’t have to give up a major piece to acquire Gordon take the chance.
D.K. Metcalf, WR, SEA: He is not really perceived by many as a dependable Fantasy WR, but he has registered double figure PPR outings in four of six games and the best may be yet to come. Not every deal you swing has to involve a superstar. Metcalf is at least a fine bye week plugger and he has yet to deliver a true breakthrough performance.
Michael Gallup, WR, DAL: He has been dealing with some knee issues and was held to 48 yards in a loss to the Jets. But he will likely be the No. 1 WR for Dallas this week because of an Amari Cooper injury. When the two are healthy together, Dallas arguably has the best WR duo in the game. Gallup is a short and long term investment. Health concerns could lower the asking price, but if he can stay active he has strong fantasy WR2 potential for the rest of the season.
John Brown, WR, BUF: Try to acquire him before he possibly has a big game at Miami in Week 7. Brown has just one TD catch, but he has at least five catches and 69 yards in four of five games. Brown has always been known as a big play type, yet he is becoming more reliable than ever before and we may see explosive performances from him in the weeks ahead.
Dak Prescott, QB, DAL: He has not thrown a TD pass in two of his past three games and is dealing with WR injuries. He still is sixth-best at the position in terms of total points and is a good longer-term acquisition.
Zach Ertz, TE, PHI: He does not have a 75-yard game yet, and Ertz only has one TD reception. You should certainly look to upgrade to Ertz if you can now if you need help at TE. Even at his current rate, he is still the fifth best player at his position in terms of total points.
Sell ‘Em
Devonta Freeman, RB, ATL: There is still a lot of name value attached to him and he has three TD catches in the past two games. Yet he does not have a rush TD yet and has not run for 35 yards in four of six games. He is going to be unreliable overall and you should seek a more steady option.
Carlos Hyde, RB, HOU: He is coming off his best game as a Texan, with 116 rushing yards and a TD against the Chiefs, who had allowed the most rushing yards to opposing RBs entering Week 6. You could use him to fill a need at another position in a lower-range deal. Hyde is adequate but lacks any real upside.
Keenan Allen, WR, LAC: After a hot start, Allen has 99 receiving yards and no TDs in his past three games. Yet he still carries a ton of weight in trade discussions and can bring you back a quality return while washing away the worries of his recent struggles.
Will Fuller, WR, HOU: His historic Week 5 outing is still fresh in the minds of other owners. Meanwhile, he has not reached 70 receiving yards or scored a TD in any of his five other games this season. Not everyone checks the game logs, so take advantage of those kinds of owners.
Tyler Boyd, WR, CIN: He has a fantasy reputation as a strong WR2, but he has one TD catch and Boyd has not reached 70 receiving yards in four of six games this season.
Hunter Henry, TE, LAC: If you have another top TE and landed him off waivers this week, trade him to the tight end needy team that missed out on him. An unfortunate injury cloud seems to follow Henry and his value is high after an impressive statistical return in Week 6 (eight catches, 100 yards, two TDs).
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