Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer Week 4: Why it's the perfect time to deal these 5 players
Sal Vetri is a new Yahoo Fantasy contributor this season. He'll write a weekly football trade story focusing on players to deal. This week, he highlights five players to trade away and two to target.
Note: You can view recent trades completed on Yahoo Fantasy for the players mentioned in this article to help provide additional ideas on potential deals. Visit the trade market for more details.
Trade Alexander Mattison away
Mattison played a season-high 79% of the snaps and earned 26 opportunities in Week 3. He had a great matchup against the Chargers and delivered a 125-yard performance.
That’s the good news — now here’s why you should move him.
Mattison may not be in a better matchup again this season. The Chargers rank 30th against the run. The other issue is Cam Akers. Minnesota only swapped a conditional sixth for a conditional seventh to acquire Akers. The Rams basically gave him away for free. But Akers is a similar talent to Mattison. I’d expect Akers to command at least 30-35% of the snaps in the next few weeks and I expect Ty Chandler to remain involved for 10-15% of the snaps.
This would drop Mattison from playing 75% of the snaps to 60%. Trade him for Jerry Jeudy or Javonte Williams.
Sell George Kittle
He had his best game of the season in Week 3. Kittle posted 12.5 fantasy points on nine targets. This was more points and usage than he saw in his first two weeks combined.
But there’s a clear reason as to why this happened: Brandon Aiyuk was out. In 14 games without Brandon Aiyuk, Kittle averages 38% more yards. Kittle earned a season-high 27% target share in Week 3. He also earned 71 air yards after having just 52 total in the first two games.
Kittle took advantage of a weak Giants defense, on a short week, with Aiyuk out. Now, it’s your turn to take advantage and deal him. Trade Kittle for Darren Waller or Breece Hall if you can.
Trade for Miles Sanders
He only had 14 touches in Week 3 but was able to produce 14.7 fantasy points on this usage.
Sanders quietly has one of the best roles in football. In Week 3, he played 64% of the RB snaps and earned 18 of 25 RB opportunities. He leads all RBs in targets through three games with 18.
We were promised workhorse usage for Sanders this offseason and we’re getting it. Through three games, he has commanded a strong 16% target share and averaged 19.7 opportunities. Sanders will face the Vikings' No. 28 run defense next. Now is the time to acquire him in a deal.
Trade Isiah Pacheco away
He had his best game of the season in Week 3, producing 78 yards and a score on 18 opportunities. This was somewhat expected as we declared him to be in the best spot of Week 3 in our key findings last week. Pacheco and the Chiefs were a 13-point favorite against the Bears' bad defense.
But here’s the issue: the matchups won’t be this good every week and three running backs remain involved for the Chiefs. Jerick McKinnon scored two early touchdowns in Week 3 and Clyde Edwards-Helaire earned 10 touches before the starters were pulled.
Pacheco should lead the backfield most weeks while playing around 50% of the snaps, but he’s still not earning any passing-down snaps. Simply put, Pacheco is a touchdown-or-bust player. Move Pacheco off this 14.8-point performance for Jerry Jeudy if you can.
Trade Courtland Sutton away
Sutton is coming off a season-high 11 targets and a 15.1-point performance in Week 3. He’s seen an elite role, running 91% of the routes and earning a 24% target share this season.
This is all good news but here’s why you should trade him. Marvin Mims Jr. is seeing his role grow and Jerry Jeudy is approaching 100% health. Mims has produced 189 yards on just 17 routes in the past two games. His role will only continue to grow as the year goes on. Jeudy is coming off a seven-target performance where he looked healthier after the catch.
Sutton will still see volume given how bad the Broncos defense is; the offense will have to throw to keep up. But his top-20 production is not likely to continue with the other WRs growing roles in the offense. Deal Sutton for David Montgomery or Nico Collins.
Go after DJ Moore
This one may seem odd considering I told you to deal Moore last week and now I'm saying go get him after he just had just 41 yards in Week 3.
But let me explain.
Justin Fields' play is currently the worst-case scenario for Moore. Fields had just 99 yards on 22 attempts in Week 3. Despite this, Moore has still been able to produce 13.4 and 11.6 points in the past two games.
His outlook will only get better these next few weeks. The Bears have solid matchups against the Broncos in Week 4, the Vikings in Week 6 and the Raiders in Week 7. All three of these teams have bottom-10 secondaries through three weeks. Try to acquire Moore when his perceived value is extremely low.
Trade Jerome Ford away
He made his debut as the Browns starter in Week 3. Ford played 55% of the snaps and handled 33% of the team rush attempts. This usage is a bit skewed though. Pierre Strong played in garbage time and earned five carries on the final drive.
If you take out garbage time, Ford earned 60% of the RB opportunities. This is good usage, and it led 18.1 fantasy points, but this was with Kareem Hunt on a snap count. Hunt earned 36% of the non-garbage time opportunities while playing just 22% of the snaps.
The question becomes, what happens when Hunt plays 40% of the snaps?
The concern is the Browns may be using Hunt in a near 50/50 split when he’s not on a snap count. You might be better off trading Ford off his RB7 performance. Try to trade him for Alvin Kamara or James Cook.
