Fantasy Football Trade Targets: Week 2

Welcome to the Week 2 buy-low/sell-high fantasy football trade target article.

The goal here is to highlight a few players who have seen their stock rise or fall, which ultimately leads to buy-low and sell-high trade targets in fantasy football. If you’re looking for Week 2 waiver-wire pickups, check out the latest episode of Mean Streets.

I’ve also highlighted a few players I’m concerned about, a few I would rather hold than trade and a few players I would cut ties with. You’ll also see the top-10 players traded in CBS Sports fantasy football over the past 24 hours. I addressed some of the following players here.

Keep in mind that some of the buy-low and sell-high candidates mentioned below don’t need to be moved. These are merely suggestions. I’m a big believer in 2-for-1 and 3-for-1 package deals if it means landing the best player in the trade. Remember, you want to sell high and buy low, not sell low and buy high. A lot of people want to deal Cam Akers, Allen Robinson and CeeDee Lamb. It may not be the best time because the return will be weak.

For more help with fantasy football trades, be sure to consult FTN’s Trade Value Chart.

Buy-Low Candidates

Mike Williams, WR, Los Angeles Chargers

Mike Williams is No. 10 on the list above but my No. 1 trade target after Week 1 of the fantasy football season. He’s probably the most obvious buy-low candidate considering Keenan Allen is already ruled out for Thursday Night Football. Williams led the Chargers in snaps (62), routes run (31) and tied for a team-high four targets in Week 1. He only caught two of the passes thrown his way for 10 yards, and believe it or not, he’s been dropped in 1% of Yahoo Sports leagues as a result. It’s just one game people!

Williams racked up nine touchdowns last season and finished inside the top five in end-zone targets. There were eight games last season where he had fewer than 10 points, but he topped 18 in six games. He has the upside to win you a week and did that for owners a couple of times last season with 29.7 and 32.5 showings. His 15.1 yards per catch ranked seventh among wideouts with 80+ targets. There will be highs and lows with Williams, and you already have one low out of the way. Plus, with Allen sidelined he may get more looks. As seen below, he’s the deep-threat guy in the Chargers offense, which is why he finished with more yards on fewer targets than Allen.

Dameon Pierce, RB, Houston Texans

Yes, that’s right, Dameon Pierce. There are a couple ways to look at him. If you drafted early in the season and grabbed him in the 10th round, you can afford to wait for him to overtake the backfield, because he will. Be patient. Some owners who took him earlier than that may be panicking. He could be a second running back for people, and they may want a healthy body now who will get touches.

Rex Burkhead played 70% of the snaps in Week 1 and finished with 13 carries and seven targets. Burkhead will likely keep his third-down role and will be on the field a lot when the Texans play from behind, but Pierce had two fewer carries in his NFL debut. Some rookies didn’t even touch the field. One of the biggest reasons for liking Pierce as much as I do is because the landing spot is fantastic. It’s only a matter of time. As seen below, yes they do and yes they will.

Cam Akers, RB, Los Angeles Rams

You don’t have to be aggressive with Cam Akers, but you should at least check in with the owner because he’s definitely available. As seen above, he’s been one of the most traded players in CBS leagues over the last 24 hours. If you’re set at RB and the Akers owner had him as their RB1, they may be looking to unload right away. If you can afford to be patient with Akers, he may just pay off toward the end of the season like he did in his rookie campaign. I wouldn’t give up too much, but I’d unload a WR 4 and Jeff Wilson, Rex Burkhead or Isiah Pacheco. Someone trendy like that. Again, don’t add Akers if you need RB help right now.

He hardly touched the field in Week 1, so I don’t know how people can say he looked bad. He missed a blocking assignment and the offensive line in LA has issues, but these are reasons why he’s cheap. I’m holding where I have him and interested in acquiring him with the possibility of him owning my FLEX spot down the stretch. Darrell Henderson doesn’t have the cleanest track record when it comes to health. Trading Akers at his lowest value may not be ideal either. You want to sell high and buy low, not sell low and buy high.

DeVonta Smith, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

I thought I’d include DeVonta Smith because he may never be cheaper than he is right now. He’s coming off a zero-point showing where he only received four targets. A.J. Brown dominated in his Eagles debut (13-10-155). Smith will no doubt be Jalen Hurts’ favorite target this season. Teams will adjust, and it’ll leave Smith in some very good situations. At least check in to see if he could be had for cheap. I’m assuming he will be considering his ownership dropped to 83% in Yahoo leagues.

Check in on:

Tom Brady – TB
Trey Lance – SF (2 QB leagues & Keeper / Dynasty)
Austin Ekeler – LAC
Alvin Kamara – NO
Derrick Henry – TEN
AJ Dillon – GB (I’m shocked he’s been traded as much as he has – I’m very much into him)
Breece Hall – NYJ
Chase Edmonds – MIA
Rhamondre Stevenson – NE
DJ Moore – CAR
Darnell Mooney – CHI
Allen Robinson – LAR
Brandon Aiyuk – SF
Christian Watson – GB
Kyle Pitts – ATL
Dalton Schultz – DAL

Sell-High Candidates

Jeff Wilson, RB, San Francisco 49ers

I believe Jeff Wilson will be the clear-cut RB1 this week in SF and may hold onto that job while Elijah Mitchell is sidelined, but we’ve been down this road before with Kyle Shanahan. They also have Jordan Mason and third-round pick Tyrion Davis-Price on the roster. Both are great deep league stashes.

Keep in mind, SF also has a rushing QB in Trey Lance, who had 13 carries last week, and Deebo Samuel, who is a weapon in the run game. There are RB-needy teams out there who may be willing to give up a decent piece in exchange for a better player who had a quiet Week 1. Check the people who made failed bids on Wilson. Start there.

Miles Sanders, RB, Philadelphia Eagles

This may be confusing because I was in on Miles Sanders this season. I love the offensive line, I figured he’d get some touchdown luck this season and was basically free in drafts. Nobody wanted this guy, and I have a lot of shares. He’s my third, fourth and sometimes fifth back in leagues. I can afford to keep him as a FLEX play or I can trade him to a team in need. Sanders picked up three goal-line attempts in Week 1 after only having six last season. He scored a rushing touchdown after having none in the regular season last year, but Jalen Hurts, Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott also had rushing touchdowns. He also only played 38-of-75 snaps on offense.

Devin Duvernay, WR, Baltimore Ravens

Devin Duvernay is one of the hot waiver-wire pickups this week, and I always like to make those players available in my league. The Ravens wideout had two touchdowns but only played 29 snaps and ran 18 routes, which was tied for third on the team. That was one ahead of Demarcus Robinson and tied with rookie tight end Isaiah Likely. The Ravens are a run-first team and Duvernay is behind Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman. He may be open quite a bit with the attention going to that duo, but I don’t think you’ll ever be able to play Duvernay with confidence. Four or five targets per game isn’t that appealing for me, and I think he’ll be very TD dependent.