Welcome back to my weekly trade HUB article and happy Monday. Hope you had a pleasant offseason and a great week 1 that involved a lot of football. Mike here ready as always to help you with trade suggestions that can help your chances of winning your fantasy league. Follow me on Twitter (@FantasyHubbard) for all things fantasy football.
Week 1 is concluding tonight with a MNF matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Giants. Josh Allen and new Jets QB Aaron Rodgers will battle it out in primetime to kick off the first MNF game of the year. The over/under is set at 45 with the Bills being slight favorites by 2 points even though they are playing at the Jets. The last 2 seasons have been incredibly rough on Rodgers in week 1 and he will be looking to start off stronger this year. Bills are sure to want to dominate after another season where their goals fell short. It will be nice to see the chemistry between Aaron Rodgers and Garret Wilson and for the Bills I’m eager to get a look at the rookie TE Dalton Kincaid. My prediction for this week 1 epic matchup is a low scoring affair that will be a close game. I give the Bills the slight advantage, but that being said don’t let Rodgers hang around and have a chance to tie or take the lead late. I am going with a 24-20 victory for the Buffalo Bills with TDs by both Cook brothers. Get your popcorn ready.
I know we are only entering week 2 but always make sure you’re aware if or when your league has a trade deadline. Try to sell and/or buy players with strategy and the use of your persuasion and negotiation skills. Here are some players to buy and sell before week 2 begins. Like I always say, one trade could be the difference in winning or losing your fantasy football league.
PLAYERS TO BUY
Skyy Moore – Kansas City Chiefs
The talented second year WR did close to nothing from a fantasy aspect in the NFL opener where the defending champs lost to the Detroit Lions. You read that correctly. Skyy finished the night without a reception on 3 targets and carried the ball once for 4 yards. No Kelce, no consistency. Mahomes threw to many different pass catchers making it hard to tell who will have the best shot at fantasy production. Now is the time to buy low on Moore if you are willing to take the chance on Moore who you should be able to get dirt cheap. The talent is there, the QB is there, now they just need to get into a rhythm and shake off an early ugly loss. Kadarius Toney didn’t exactly set the bar high at all which should hopefully create more looks for Skyy.
Chigoziem Okonkwo – Tennessee Titans
Okonkwo is another pass catcher to buy very low at this time. We have seen what he is capable of after his last season where he caught 32 of his 46 targets for 450 receiving yards and a few TDs. Chigoziem played 52 of 63 offensive snaps which is more than double the next TE Trevon Wesco. The Titans lost a close game to the Saints who have been known to shut down opposing TEs. I think next week when the Titans face the Chargers Okonkwo will be more involved in the pass game, which will be needed against the high powered LA Charger offense. Buy low.
Jamaal Williams – New Orleans Saints
The good news is that Williams ran the ball 18 times, the bad news is it resulted in just 45 rushing yards. Also caught both his targets for 7 receiving yards. Williams is started with Kamara suspended and Kendre Miller injured. The volume is too good to pass up even I’d he had a dud game in week one. You should be able to buy him cheap but don’t overpay unless there is news regarding Kamara and/or Williams. Hard to ignore his 17 TDs last season even if he is in a new situation in New Orleans. Saints get Carolina next who just gave up a combined 130 rushing yards, 2 rushing TDs, 46 receiving yards, and a receiving TD to RBs from Atlanta (Bijan + Allgeier).
PLAYERS TO SELL
David Montgomery – Detroit Lions
Montgomery held his own and rushed for 74 yards on 14 carries and a rushing TD in their week 1 upset win over the Chiefs. He might be in for a great year taking over that Jamaal Williams role in Detroit, but the attention seems to be on Jahmyr Gibbs. Gibbs rushed just 7 times but totaled 42 rushing yards and caught both of his targets for 18 yards. Gibbs looks explosive in the open field, and I believe his role in the offense will grow as the weeks go on. This could be a great time to sell Montgomery sky high and take advantage of his great week 1. Gibbs has taken the pass catcher role between the both of them limiting Montgomery to almost always just rushing. For what it is worth, Montgomery was 2nd to only CMC and Cam Akers in carries this week thus far.
Nico Collins – Houston Texans
Nico was the leading pass catcher for the Texans this week which isn’t too surprising given the names and lack of big talent around him. He finished with 6 receptions on 11 targets for 80 yards. Robert Woods has 10 targets himself and rookie Tank Dell got some promising attention. Nico is gaining chemistry with rookie CJ Stroud and gets the Colts next week who just let Calvin Ridley surpass 100 yards receiving and scored a TD. Sell Nico high if you are able to while his stats look decent on a very bad offensive team that didn’t record a TD in week 1.
Derrick Henry – Tennessee Titans
Looking at the box score from week 1 would lead you to believe it was all Henry in the backfield. Henry rushed 15 times for 63 yards and caught 2 of his 3 targets for a solid 56 receiving yards. What you won’t see in the box score is the snap counts. Rookie Tyjae Spears was in 34 out of the 63 offensive snaps while Derrick had 30 snaps. It seems obvious that when Henry is in the game, he will most likely get the ball. That could bode well for Spears who could steal some of the usage away from the King who is a workhorse. Worth mentions Spears was 3rd on the team in week 1 with 4 targets.