RADIO
My column last week was about which players fantasy owners should sell high on. Now it is time to tackle the opposite, the players fantasy owners should buy low.
You need to work both ends of the sell high/buy low philosophy to win at fantasy football. Not only should you trade players when they have played above their heads, you should also acquire players when they have underperformed and should right their ships soon. Here are three players fantasy owners should buy low right now:
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Go Get 'Em
Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars (QB)
Is Bortles a little overrated? Yes. He racks up the majority of his yards and touchdown tosses in the second halves of games after Jacksonville falls behind thanks in part to his poor play in the first quarter of games. He had 4,428 passing yards and 35 touchdown passes in 2015, not to mention 310 rushing yards and two additional scores, so he is more of a fantasy force than he is an upper-echelon NFL quarterback who leads his team to victories.
Bortles has five touchdown passes compared to six interceptions and was only 12th in the NFL in passing yards coming into this week’s action. He has been hamstrung by Jacksonville’s anemic rushing attack (31st in the league and poised to be last by next week) and defenses that are not allowing the Allens (Robinson and Hurns) to burn them deep. Yet Bortles still has two 300-yard games and should be able to post bigger numbers once he adjusts to taking the short passes the defenses give him rather than forcing balls downfield into coverage.
Bortles is young, has a rifle for an arm and the perfect frame to be an above-average NFL signal caller. He also has two explosive receivers and a tight end in Julius Thomas who is a red zone monster. Bortles is too talented to not turn things around, plus none of the next four defenses he will face (Indianapolis, Chicago, Oakland, Tennessee) are between below-average and average-at-best. Trade for Bortles now before he has a 350-yard, four-TD game that shoots his fantasy stock back to where it should be.
DeAngelo Williams, Pittsburgh Steelers (RB)
Williams’ time as a fantasy superstar is over now that Le’Veon Bell has served his suspension and is ready to reclaim his starting spot in Pittsburgh’s backfield. And although there is always talk that Williams will still get touches and be on the field at the same time as Bell, chances are Williams will be stuck with 5-8 touches per game while Bell hogs the ball if past history holds true.
Fantasy owners know that Bell is one strike away from being a fantasy fiasco like Josh Gordon. Bell is another failed or missed drug test away from being suspended for an entire year. He is also coming back from last year’s season-ending knee injury, so there has to be some uncertainty that he will be as dominant as he once was.
The only fantasy owners who probably will not trade Williams on the cheap are those who own Bell and need Williams as his handcuff. Otherwise, Williams can likely be had for not much more than a halfway-decent receiver or the combo of a tight end, kicker and a six-pack of the person’s favorite beverage. Williams rushed for 907 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2015 and 258 yards and two TD in three games in 2016 while subbing for Bell. If Bell goes down again, Williams will instantly be a top-10 fantasy RB again. Why not trade for him now when his value is at its lowest, stash him on your roster and hope he gets another starting shot?
Julian Edelman, New England Patriots (WR)
This reception machine has been quieter than a home crowd when its team’s kicker misses an extra point. Edelman has had to deal with catching passes from second and third-string quarterbacks with no NFL starting experience, and his stats have suffered because of it. His 18 receptions for 180 yards and zero touchdowns in three games is less than what some star receivers have put up in just one game this season.
Edelman needs Tom Brady as much as Garfunkel needed Simon, and he is going to get Brady back next week once Brady pries himself away from wife Gisele and puts his pads on. That will instantaneously transform Edelman back into the 10-catch, 100-yard points-per-reception demigod that he has been in recent years. And having Rob Gronkowski get back to 100 percent will also help Edelman as defenses will have to focus on Gronk more and Edelman less.
There might be some impatient owners in your leagues looking to trade Edelman now for a RB or WR because they think Brady might be rusty for a week or two and Edelman’s fantasy value might not go on an immediate uptick. Take full advantage of them if that is the case. Edelman will return to form once Brady returns as his QB and his numbers in every major fantasy category will shoot up faster than a Shane Lechler punt.
