September 28, 2017

Craig Rondinone analyzes the players in fantasy football that are the best buy-low and sell-high candidates heading into Week 4 of the NFL regular season.

Welcome back, RotoBallers! The fantasy football stock exchange is currently in flux.

Some of the NFL’s superstars are seeing their stocks plummet thanks to injuries or ineffectiveness, while other players’ values are at all-time highs due to surprise opportunities or just great games against bad defenses. This is the perfect time to wheel and deal and turn a trade into a steal in your fantasy league.

Without further ado, here are the buy-low and sell-high candidates for Week 4 of the 2017 NFL season.

Fantasy Football Buy-Low Candidates

Lamar Miller (RB, HOU)

Miller was probably drafted somewhere between rounds three and five in most fantasy leagues, yet Houston’s top tailback has given fantasy owners no touchdowns and no 20-yard plays. The nerve of him! Houston is giving him the ball, though (40 touches over the past two games), and is about to play three straight home games, so Miller’s fantasy needle is pointing up. He is also being used in the passing game more than he was last season, so the 20-30 receiving yards he is quietly adding each week is benefiting fantasy owners as well. Miller owners are likely getting itchy trigger fingers, worried about rookie backup D’Onta Foreman getting more carries in the coming weeks. Make a lowball offer for Miller now and see what happens. 

Amari Cooper (WR, OAK)

Cooper is acting like the football is a wet bar of soap this season. He leads the league with six drops and has only connected with QB David Carr 10 of the 23 times he has been targeted. Cooper is currently ranked 92^nd in receiving yards and trails the likes of Ryan Grant, Brice Butler and Marquise Goodwin. Cooper is coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard years and is entering his prime, so this mini slump is hard to fathom and harder to see continuing, but some fantasy owners may be willing to trade him because they think Cooper will play second banana to Michael Crabtree this season. Do not be fooled. Get Cooper on the cheap and your fantasy squad’s receiving corps will be instantly upgraded.

Mitchell Trubisky (QB, CHI)

Have you seen how Mike Glennon has played in the early going? He has not exactly inspired confidence that he will hold onto the starting QB spot all season. So if the Glennon owner in your league does not have Trubisky stashed at the bottom of his/her roster as a handcuff, now is the time to make an offer for Trubisky, because with road games at Green Bay and Baltimore and a home game versus Minnesota, Glennon might only have a 50-50 chance of remaining the starting signal caller when Week 7 rolls around. Owners in keeper and dynasty leagues might not listen to your pitch since they are thinking long-term with Trubisky, but sending a trade offer for him in a year-to-year league as a high-upside backup or in two-QB leagues is a good idea at this juncture.

Fantasy Football Sell-High Candidates

Blake Bortles (QB, JAX)

Some fantasy owners might be conned into thinking that Bortles is turning the corner after his fantastic four-touchdown performance against the Baltimore Ravens this past Sunday morning. I personally just think he prefers British bangers and mash before a game than good ol’ American cereal. Bortles played very well, no doubt, but it does not discount his two below-average outings to start the season, and it does not change the fact that top target Allen Robinson is still out for the season with a torn ACL. Jacksonville looks like it will be a run-first offense built around rookie RB Leonard Fourcette this year, so that will also stonewall Bortles’ fantasy numbers. Trade Bortles now while the narrative is that the 25-year-old is possibly bouncing back and could be regaining his 2015 form.

Pierre Garcon (WR, SF)

I trust San Francisco’s passing attack as much as I trust Donald Trump to stay silent on Twitter for 24 hours. Garcon is coming off a highlight-filled 142-yard effort against the Los Angeles Rams and is easily the 49ers’ No. 1 WR. That being said, he has mediocre game manager Brian Hoyer as his quarterback, he has no other receivers on the roster who can distract defenses from double covering him, and the 49ers offense revolves around running back Carlos Hyde. Garcon might be targeted more often than most receivers in the league, but his numbers will be hindered because of all of these issues. Strike while the iron is hot and the thought of Garcon making acrobatic catches over and past the L.A Rams secondary is still fresh in fantasy owners’ minds.

Chris Carson (RB, SEA)

Fantasy owners thought Thomas Rawls and Eddie Lacy would be battling each other for carries in Seattle’s backfield. They thought wrong. Neither the injury-prone Rawls nor the out-of-shape-prone Lacy touched the ball once this past week against the Tennessee Titans. Carson handled the early-down duties while C.J. Prosise came in on passing downs. But can fantasy owners really count on the seventh-round rookie being the primary tailback all season? Carson could rack up 100 yards and a TD or two against Indianapolis’ wretched defense this Sunday night, so waiting a week before trading him for a huge score could be the better play, but trading Carson while he has a stranglehold on the top tailback spot is ideal since one bad game could result in Rawls or Lacy taking back over.

More Week 4 Lineup Prep