With the trade deadline rapidly approaching in fantasy football (November 27), unless there were huge opportunities for buy-low or sell-high candidates in trades I figured I'd devote the majority of this space to helping all of you with your own "Trade Calls." Time is running out to swing a potentially season-saving trade, so let's take a look at some of this week's top questions below.
If you asked me a question and it got lost in the avalanche I received on Twitter and wasn't answered here, send it to me again @AlexGelhar and I'll try to get to it before it's too late.
I'm hoping if you're looking to move Alshon Jeffery that you have plenty of depth at the wide receiver position, because now that he's healthy he'll be one of the game's most dynamic pass catchers. And his offense just lost Matt Forte for a few weeks, so even more targets could be coming Alshon's way. So let's assume you do have the depth to move him. Targeting T.J. Yeldon while giving away Jeffery would be a mistake. He's had a fine rookie season and receives plenty of volume, but he's not as good of a running back as Lamar Miller. Miller reminded the football world as to just how good he could be with 388 total yards and four total touchdowns over the last three games. And that includes his rough outing against the Patriots last Thursday night. If you're targeting one of these backs, make sure it's Miller and don't settle for Yeldon. In fact, I'd probably try to get a little more back than just Miller as well, as Jeffery should be one of fantasy's top wideouts for the rest of the season.
I'm all for this trade if you can pull it off, though my guess is you might have to package someone else with Jarvis Landry in order to secure DeAngelo Williams, as he'll be an every-week RB2 starting this weekend. I'm a fan of David Cobb, but he reported back to the team overweight last week and there's still no guarantee as to what kind of work he'll receive in the Tennessee offense. If your trading partner balks at the Landry for Williams trade straight up, why not try to entice them with the upside of Cobb as well? Yes, you could lose out on a breakout second half of the season, but you're trading Landry and an unknown player at the NFL level for a known (and good) player in one of the league's best offenses. That's a win.
Absolutely not. Even though Dez Bryant struggled a bit in his first game back, I wouldn't trade him straight up for Demaryius Thomas. Bryant should get Tony Romo back soon, and will become an every-week WR1 when that happens. He's a more complete wide receiver than Thomas, and will have a quarterback feeding him the ball whose arm strength isn't waning. The better move here is to just try and shop Jimmy Graham on his own, using his recent string of success to entice a TE-needy owner. At this point in the season, looking to upgrade your WR3/flex spot in exchange for Graham seems like an excellent trade off, for as long as Jordan Reed stays healthy, he'll be in the conversation as a top-five tight end the rest of the season.
T.J. Yeldon is such an interesting trade target for me. On the one hand, he'll provide a safe weekly floor as he's averaged just over 20 touches per game over his last three starts. Yet, his .521 fantasy points per touch average on the season was the lowest among all fantasy backs with at least 100 total touches heading into Week 8. Brandin Cooks has been matchup-dependent and prone to disappearing acts all season long, but could be turning the corner with Drew Brees playing better of late. So which do you trust -- Yeldon's safe floor or Cooks' infrequent high-upside games? In this case, I go with Yeldon, as there's reason to believe his recent scoring streak could continue as the Jaguars come out of their bye. Yeldon's 1.7 percent touchdown rate was the second-lowest among backs with at least 100 total touches prior to Week 8 (Justin Forsett -- 1.4 percent), which points to a potential touchdown regression. Hat tip to Adam Harstad, who does great work on this trend for Football Guys. Check out Adam's chart he posted over the weekend and look at all the names on the list who scored touchdowns in Week 8. If you're too lazy to click, it's a lot. My point with this is, if you move Cooks for Yeldon, you're not only giving away a player with volatile production for one with a much safer floor, but that same "safe floor" player could burst out with some big weeks in the not too distant future. I say go for it.
This one gave me some pause, as I really do like Tyrod Taylor and think T.J. Yeldon will post some nice totals the rest of the way (see above). However, I just can't advocate giving up the No. 2 running back in fantasy, who just saw one of his primary touchdown vultures and touch-stealers (Khiry Robinson) go down for the year with an injury. Taylor is great, but there should still be options available to stream on the waiver wire unless this is a 2QB league. If this other owner is after Ingram, try to pry more from him before you part ways with one of the most consistent scorers in all of fantasy.
With Andy Dalton on your roster, there's no reason to acquire Philip Rivers. Right now, only 20.52 fantasy points separate Dalton and Rivers, and Dalton has already had his bye week. So all told, if they both keep up at roughly the same pace, once Rivers has his bye they'll be about even in fantasy points. I understand if you're worried that the Red Rifle is going to start firing a bit more erratically, but you shouldn't be. Dalton is playing far better this year than in years past, and has plenty of plus matchups still remaining on his schedule. Stick with the playmakers already on your roster, as you don't need an upgrade at quarterback.
I get the idea here, but I simply can't get behind trading away Antonio Brown now that Ben Roethlisberger is back under center for the Steelers. In 2015 alone, Brown has posted 1.74 fantasy points per target when playing full games with Big Ben, which is one of the highest marks in the league. Brown's total is even more impressive when you consider the volume of targets he receives. The Central Michigan product also has a better quarterback than either Stefon Diggs and Emmanuel Sanders, giving his potential fantasy output much less risk for variance. No matter which way you cut it, it just doesn't make sense to part ways with one of fantasy's best wide receivers at this point in the season.
You're definitely not getting enough back in this trade to make it viable. James Jones was one of the biggest regression candidates in the league. Heading into Week 8 he was scoring an absurd 2.69 fantasy points per target (highest in the league among wideouts with 20-plus targets), but that was on the back of touchdowns and big-plays -- two high-variance types of plays. Jones caught a touchdown on over 20 percent of his targets, but was only averaging 4.8 targets per game prior to Week 8, where he saw just two targets and had one catch for one yard. Landry, meanwhile, has been solid of late, but makes his hay in PPR formats. He has a nice schedule for the most part the rest of the season, but to only get him and Jones in exchange for Andrew Luck and Emmanuel Sanders doesn't seem like enough. I'd try to swap Jones out for a different player in that trade so it ends up more even, or slightly in your favor.
I wouldn't even do this trade in a standard league. Jeffery has been ON FIRE since returning from his hamstring injury, averaging 13 targets, nine catches and over 100 receiving yards per game. Johnson is also just returning from a hamstring injury, and should see his target share rise significantly in the San Diego offense with Keenan Allen headed to IR. Lastly, Eli Manning has been both a better real life and fantasy quarterback than Andrew Luck. I wouldn't give up Manning for Luck straight up, and probably not even with another ancillary piece. Essentially, you're mortgaging far too many good pieces to get Antonio Brown, which is why I say no deal.
First off, I want to let Michael Scott weigh in on whether or not you should do this trade. Here's what he had to say.
OK, now that that's out of the way, here's why I agree with him. For starters, this is a keeper league and of all of the players you have listed Gurley should be the top option from your team to keep next year (and for the future, depending on how your rules work). Gurley leads all NFL running backs with at least 50 rush attempts with an average of 6.1 yards per carry. He's rushed for over 125 yards four times in five games, while Devonta Freeman, Doug Martin, Matt Forte and Mark Ingram have accomplished that feat a COMBINED four times in 30 games. Gurley is special, and you simply cannot trade away a player of his caliber, especially for a wide receiver whose quarterback is struggling and a running back who is struggling all on his own. Keep Gurley and ride him the rest of the way. You can find wide receiver help on the waiver wire with the likes of Kamar Aiken, Steve Johnson, Malcom Floyd or Marquess Wilson.
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-- Alex Gelhar is a fantasy football writer/editor for NFL.com, and the producer of the NFL Fantasy LIVE podcast. Hit him up on Twitter @AlexGelhar for movie recommendations or fantasy advice.
