Happy Halloween and welcome back to my weekly trade HUB article. Hope you had a great weekend and an even greater fantasy week. Mike Hubbard Jr 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. Feel free to tweet me or message me with any comments or questions you might have regarding fantasy football.
Week 8 is ending tonight with a MNF matchup between the 4-3 Bengals and the 2-5 Browns. The game is in Cleveland with an over/under of 45 and the Bengals are favored by 3. Last MNF game was a shocker when the Bears dismantled the Patriots. So, what is going to happen this time? No Ja’Marr Chase in this one so we will have to see if that impacts the game significantly. Burrow still has Higgins/Boyd/Hurst available to target, while the Browns will most likely try to stay to what they do best, run the ball with Chubb. My prediction is a Bengals win by a score of 20-17.
Leagues have different trade deadlines, and some leagues don’t have a deadline at all. You should have a handful of weeks still to try to sell or buy players, but make sure you’re aware of the deadline date so you can act accordingly. There is still enough time to get strategic and use your persuasion and negotiation skills out in the fantasy football trade market. Here are some players to buy and sell before week 9 begins. Like I always say, one trade could be the difference in winning or losing your fantasy football league.
PLAYERS TO BUY
Raheem Mostert – Miami Dolphins
Mostert is leading the Dolphins in every statistic pertaining to RBs except he only has 1 rushing TD compared to Chase Edmonds 2. Raheem has 14+ rushing attempts in his last 5 games and has 1+ target and 1+ reception in every game this season except for week 3 when he faced Buffalo. Mostert had 64 yards on 14 caries yesterday, but the Dolphins had to keep up with the Lions scoring pace which made Tua air it out a lot more rather than hand it off. The Dolphins have had a tough schedule lately, but the remaining games are very RB friendly, so Raheem is worth buying low hoping there are more TDs in his immediate future.
Davante Adams – Las Vegas Raiders
Boy oh boy what happened with the Raiders yesterday? Shut out by the Saints and just looking horrific offensively. Adams had 3 consecutive 95+ receiving yard games and 4 total on the season. The star WR caught 1 pass for 3 yards on 5 targets which are all season lows for him. He was pulled late in the game along with other starters knowing the game was out of reach and didn’t want to risk injuries. This game looked to be set up for a huge Adams stat line, but the opposite took place. Davante is a fantasy stud so when he only gets 3 receiving yards in a game you jump on it and send some low offers hoping for a shot at him.
DeVonta Smith – Philadelphia Eagles
AJ Brown went loco and caught 3 receiving TDs… in the first half!! Spotlight was clearly on him while DeVonta was more under the radar catching 5 of 8 targets for 23 yards. Defenses will have their hands even more full defending Brown moving forward which makes Smiths life a little easier to get open and draw targets. Eagles have one of the easiest remaining schedules in the league so Smith should continue to put in work. DeVonta has 3 games with 80+ receiving yards and has 5+ targets in 5 of the 7 games he has played in. Buy him low, more positive stats will come.
James Robinson – New York Jets
Robinson had a very quiet debut for the Jets going for 17 rushing yards on 5 carries. He had 1 target but couldn’t reel it in. Michael Carter had more carries and targets in this game but Robinsons role on the team should grow more every day and give him a lot more volume. Rookie Breece Hall was rolling and led the Jets RBs in rushing yards and receiving yards until his season ended early due to injury. Robinson unfortunately has the Bills in week 9 which a steep mountain to climb, but after his week 10 BYE he should get going and attempt to pass Carter on the depth chart. I would attempt to buy Robinson dirt cheap.
PLAYERS TO SELL
Brandon Aiyuk – San Francisco 49ers
Aiyuk led the 49ers in receiving yards yesterday and only CMC had more targets and receptions. Brandon now has 3 consecutive games with 80+ receiving yards and has scored 3 TDs in that timespan. All sounds great but you must keep in mind Deebo was out yesterday along with Jauan Jennings. 49ers have CMC literally doing everything from catching, to rushing, to even throwing. McCaffery’s passing TD was to Aiyuk on a trick play which made up a lot of his stat line. If that play hadn’t worked, he wouldn’t have scored, and he would be down 30+ yards. Jimmy G has CMC, Deebo, and Kittle to target frequently. Seems like too much in in the way of Aiyuk maintaining his recent success which is why this is a great time to sell high.
Mike Gesicki – Miami Dolphins
Gesicki caught 3 of his 4 targets yesterday resulting in 38 receiving yards and a TD. Mike had a great game against the Vikings in week 6, but if you eliminate that game, Gesicki has only caught 4 passes once and all other games he had 3 receptions or less. It is hard to produce when you have guys like Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle out on the field hogging targets. Gesicki is very much TD dependent right now so I would sell him high to that owner desperate for a TE.
Kyle Pitts – Atlanta Falcons
Pitts found the end zone!! He was targeted a season high 9 times and finished with 5 receptions for 80 yards. Pitts was most productive when the Falcons were close and in the game. The Falcon’s remaining schedule isn’t too difficult with a lot of teams below .500. Cordarrelle Patterson should return to the team soon and make running the ball more appealing and plentiful moving forward resulting in less targets for Pitts. I would sell him after this performance knowing he probably won’t be consistent.
Tony Pollard – Dallas Cowboys
Have a day, Tony! 14 carries for 131 rushing yards and 3 rushing TDs. Also caught his only target for 16 receiving yards. Zeke was OUT for this game giving Pollard RB1 duties and as always, he shows out. Pollard is a great RB with Zeke standing in his way. Jerry Jones already made comments that Zeke is their #1 RB going forward. I’m sure Pollard will continue to positively impact fantasy teams, but his potential is burdened with Zeke playing. He is a great sell high candidate knowing the remaining Cowboys schedule is average but seems to be more WR friendly than RB friendly. Find that Cowboys fan and make an offer.