Seven weeks of NFL action are now in the past and the sample size makes it more difficult to find easy trade targets. But there is still value and volume to be found in both the trade market and on the waiver wire. Be sure to check out AlFFred AKA the BOOF’s waiver wire article that came out earlier today. In this week’s edition, every player’s situation is in some way affected by an injury on their offense.
Sometimes a player’s misfortune leads to a new opportunity in this dog eat dog world of fantasy football. But on the bright side, we will soon be getting a few of fantasy stars back in line ups. By week 9, we should have Christian McCaffrey, Nick Chubb back and although news hasn’t been great with Michael Thomas the last couple of weeks, he could be back in the fold that very same week. Keep those names in mind as targets as you are sending out trade offers this week to teams that are desperate for wins now to stay alive for the playoff hunt.
Do you want to plug in some of these trade targets before negotiating with your partners? Check out our trade analyzer and go into negotiations with a leg up on the competition.
Stealin’
Kenyan Drake will be sidelined for the next few weeks at least with some ligament damage in his ankle, so of course Chase Edmonds will be a sought after fantasy commodity. But sometimes just because the buy is obvious doesn’t mean that it’s wrong. It is important to note that the Cardinals are on a bye in week 8 so Edmonds’ expense should at least be slightly discounted. Before Kenyan Drake’s injury on SNF, he was struggling to find any room to the tune of 34 yards on 14 carries. Edmonds, on the other hand, had 145 all-purpose yards on 12 touches.
Chase Edmonds’ 3 touchdowns in a limited role are just 1 short of Drake’s 4 in a bell cow role. The inconsistency of Kenyan Drake has been radiating throughout the entire season (despite owning the 3rd most yards on the ground in the league) and the next few weeks after the bye provide a big opportunity for Edmonds to carve out an expanded role even when Drake returns to the fold, while also having a lot of upside in week 9 and beyond.
La’Mical Perine
Perine found the end zone for the first time in his NFL career on Sunday against Buffalo and I have a feeling that some more could be on the way the rest of 2020. Another milestone is that La’Mical had his first double digit touch game. Much like in Detroit with Swift/Peterson, shaking off the veteran presence of Frank Gore will be nearly impossible but Perine could be a very cheap flex option in good matchups. This upcoming week, the Jets face the Chiefs who just gave up 147 yards on the ground to Phillip Lindsay and Melvin Gordon. Without much of a passing game and less than desirable weather down the line in New York, investing in the Jets’ backfield could bring back a nice return.
Brandon Aiyuk’s production is at a healthy simmer after catching 6 passes for 115 yards on Sunday. You can still get Aiyuk for a good price while we surpass the midway point of the fantasy regular season. Leading into week 7, Aiyuk’s numbers were pretty quiet. The 49ers have Seattle and Green Bay back to back in weeks 8 and 9. Those are two teams that even Jimmy Garappolo can throw all over. The 49ers follow that up with the Saints, Rams, and Buffalo who are not exactly stout against the air attack. The 49ers backfield and receiving corps continue to take hits Most recently, Jeff Wilson’s high ankle sprain and Deebo Samuel with a hamstring injury. After two straight weeks of GQ throwing for over 260 yards, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the air attack continue to be a major factor in San Francisco’s offense. The receiving end of the production will fall heavily on Aiyuk and George Kittle.
Dealin’
Jarvis Landry
With Odell Beckham Jr. out for the remainder of the 2020 season, I view this as a selling opportunity if you have Jarvis Landry on your roster. There will likely be somebody in your league that will look at this as a buying opportunity. I struggled to decide whether Landry is a buy or a sell. Landry might get a hike in targets and volume is a very big deal.
A big factor that led me to view Landry as a sell is the fact that he is playing through a broken rib. That is a BIG factor and it’s going to be uncomfortable for Landry for a while. But the biggest factor is the lack of red zone production for Landry and also just lack of production in general. Landry doesn’t have a touchdown, double digit target game, or a 100-yard game. Another value zapper that I mentioned in the introduction is that it sounds like Nick Chubb will be back in week 9. This offense is already built around putting Baker Mayfield in spots to make as few mistakes as possible and with Chubb back, this team will be even more focused on the run. A selling point is that Baker is coming off of his best game of the season. But it was against the Bengals and not likely repeatable. I would rather take a waiver wire shot of Rashard Higgins and get a piece that you can use for Landry.
