What follows is a submission from one of our readers, Karl Leslie. Karl was able to bring us this great fantasy football knowledge and insight on his fantasy football trade targets through our Discord. If you’d like to join Karl, and the rest of the Football Absurdity fans, please join our Discord channel at tiny.cc/absurdity.
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It’s week ten, so it’s time to start thinking about the fantasy playoffs. With that in mind, here are some rest of season targets to help you hoist that trophy at the end of the season. My goal here is to list players that it is possible to trade for that will have a major impact the rest of the season and into your standard week sixteen championship. There are clear targets you can go after, but they will probably cost you too much to acquire. These fantasy football trade targets should give you a direction for your trade deadline.
Running Backs
Josh Jacobs, Oakland
Josh Jacobs is an insane value for the rest of what could be a rookie of the year season. Because of this, he could be the fantasy MVP for a lot of teams down the stretch and into the playoffs. Starting in week eleven, his worst matchup is Jacksonville. The Jags allow the fifteenth-most fantasy points to running backs. Fast forward to your championship, and the Raiders get a Chargers rematch in week sixteen, which is currently a top-ten matchup. Right now, I would look to acquire him for David Johnson, straight up.
Marlon Mack, Indianapolis
Marlon Mack is a high-end RB2 right now, but he should finish somewhere inside the top twelve. He doesn’t have big weeks, but he has one of the highest floors for fantasy football running backs. I would look to package James Conner with a wide receiver to try to snag Mack and another target on this list.
David Montgomery, Chicago
Montgomery was the fantasy football preseason golden boy, causing a lot of frustrated people who drafted him too high. They might be waiting for the bottom to drop out after two big games, which is your in to get Montgomery. However, given the Trubisky situation, high-volume days out of Montgomery are likely the new normal, and his rest of season matchups are positively mouthwatering. I’d be trying to unload a WR2 for him, like Juju Smith-Schuster, Julian Edelman, or Robert Woods.
Devin Singletary, Buffalo
Frank Gore’s been retired. Singletary’s snap counts are on the rise, and the second half breakout has started. Devin might be the easiest to get on the list, as most consensus tools have him in the low-twenties to high-thirties at running back. With that in mind, I’m looking to send a running back like Jordan Howard, Royce Freeman, or Carlos Hyde, or if your opponent is WR-needy, I’m looking to move A.J. Green, Tyler Boyd, or Calvin Ridley for Singletary.
Wide Receivers
Kenny Golladay, Detroit
Matthew Stafford is the real deal, and this team is letting him air out the ball like no other. With Golladay, T.J. Hockenson, and Marvin Jones Jr. to chuck the ball to, Matthew Stafford is helming one of the most fun offenses to watch this year. Stafford loves to air it out, and he has big-play weapons, including Kenny Golladay, on his hands. I would try to trade Stefon Diggs, either Broncos running back, or Devonta Freeman for Golladay.
Courtland Sutton, Denver
Brandon Allen seems to be an upgrade from Joe Flacco, at least as far as Sutton is concerned. Allen is dinking and dunking his way downfield, which means lots of targets for Sutton. He’s been a big target for Allen, catching five-of-six balls as the clear-cut #1 wide receiver for Denver. I don’t project any high 20-point fantasy weeks, but his floor will be very high based on what we saw against Cleveland. He’s developing into a set-and-forget PPR starter, which makes him one of the top-tier fantasy football trade targets.
D.J. Chark, Jacksonville
This is a move to trade for a stud on a bye week. You can sell the value of the extra week to the owner, and if you bring up the return of Nick Foles, the other owner could flinch and move him. He will likely cost as much as Golladay, so don’t think you’ll get one over on his owner. The main reasons you want him are his safe floor and his matchups in weeks fifteen and sixteen (Oakland and Atlanta, two of the more mediocre fantasy football pass defenses).
D.J. Moore, Carolina
If I asked you to name the most targeted wide receivers this season, how long until you said D.J. Moore? Well, he’s ranked fourteenth in targets, and is only one of four wide receivers ranked that high to have already had his bye. He has a safe floor, no bye weeks, and juicy matchups coming up. I would trade A.J. Green or Tyler Boyd straight up for D.J. Moore.
Tight Ends
Zach Ertz, Philadelphia
Man, I feel bad putting him here, but tight end is weird this season. Ertz has had three bummer weeks, but he had a monster week last week. And now he’s on bye! And then he plays at New England (ick!). Once you ride out the storm that is the next two weeks with Ertz, it’s clear sailing into the playoffs. He has a monster matchup against Dallas in week sixteen. I would move Mark Andrews or Juju away for him, and that’s to start. Pay up for Ertz, you won’t regret it, as he leads the league in tight end targets.
Hunter Henry, L.A. Chargers
This one is another hard buy, but it would be hard to pay fully for Henry. He’s notched four donuts due to injury, but he’s the #9 PPR tight end. That’s some intense per-game value, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about that value. You’d be paying up for him, but you may be able to sneak yourself into a top-five tight end if you do.
Evan Engram, N.Y. Giants
It’s hard to find value tight ends this year, and Engram is ranked as a low-end TE1, despite being fourth in targets. He’s set to move up the fantasy football tight end rankings. I think that this season, more than any other, that it’s valuable to trade up to a powerful tight end and earn that positional advantage over the streaming tight end owners. Look at your quality running backs and wide receivers with questionable matchups, and flip one of them to the Engram owner.
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