Optimize your lineups rest-of-season with these fantasy football trade targets ahead of Week 9
Now is the time to buy in on Evans. A lot was made this past week about which Bucs receivers would replace Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, but Week 8 came and went, and no Bucs receiver stood out. Rookie Jalen McMillan earned the most volume with seven targets, but this translated to just 35 scoreless yards on four catches. It was TE Cade Otton and the Bucs RBs who were leaned on most in the passing attack.
The best move to make in this Bucs receiver room is to buy low on Evans. He should be back in a few weeks from his hamstring injury, and he’s posted three top-10 finishes in his five completed games this season. Not to mention, he won’t have to compete with Chris Godwin for targets the rest of the season.
Evans could return in Week 11 after the Bucs bye. He’d return to face the Giants and Panthers, two solid matchups, but more importantly, Evans has a great fantasy playoff schedule. He’ll face the Cowboys and Panthers in the fantasy playoffs; both teams rank in the top five in yards per passing play allowed this season per NFL Pro.
Trade someone like J.K. Dobbins or Darnell Mooney for Evans if you can.
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Reed is coming off another game where he failed to crack 10 fantasy points. He’s now been below 10 points in four of his eight games this season. But this needs more context because Jordan Love was out or left early in three of the four games where Reed failed to top 10 points. But a concerning development happened in Week 8 as Christian Watson played a season high in snaps and was on the field more than Reed, according to PFF.
The bad news doesn’t stop there because Jordan Love injured his groin in Week 8 and could miss Week 9.
The Packers have their bye in Week 10. If Love were to miss Week 9 there’s a chance Reed doesn’t produce quality fantasy numbers for over a month. All this context is opening a buy-low window on Reed. We know the Packers offense will spread out usage because they have so many talented players. But the player who continues to be schemed into the offense often is Reed. He ranks third in fantasy points per target this season and remains one of the most efficient and explosive playmakers in the league. Buy low on Reed if you can; trade someone like James Conner or Chris Olave for him.
Williams is coming off a down week where he failed to reach 10 fantasy points. He earned just 52 scoreless yards despite playing the Panthers’ last-ranked run defense. But let’s not forget what he did just a week before this. In Week 7, Williams had the best game of his career producing 100 total yards and two touchdowns. After this performance, I considered him a hold in fantasy; now, after his poor Week 8 showing, Williams has become a buy-low candidate.
Over the past five games, Williams has averaged 17.6 opportunities and an elite 16% target share. This puts him in the top 12 RBs in usage during this stretch. The Broncos offense wants to run the ball, and they’ve chosen Williams to be their workhorse back. His upcoming schedule against the Ravens and Chiefs is as tough as it gets, but his receiving role should keep him alive in these spots. However, this trade is more of a play for the fantasy postseason when Williams will face the Colts and Bengals bottom-10 run defense. Trade someone like Calvin Ridley for Williams if you can.
The Davante Adams-Aaron Rodgers connection hasn’t been great through two weeks. In Adams’ Jets debut in Week 7 he earned a solid 19% target share, but this translated to just three catches for 30 yards. However, it was easy to blame this on the mid-week trade and Adams not having enough time to adjust to his new offense. However, in Week 8 Adams posted just four catches for 54 yards and was off with Rodgers on two different routes/targets.
There’s clearly some rust with Rodgers and Adams right now, which has opened a buy-low window on Adams who has topped 10 fantasy points just once this season. I believe this is the bottom for Adams and it’s only up from here because the good news is he’s on the field for virtually every Jets offensive play the past two weeks. Plus, he’s earned a respectable 7.5 targets per game with NY.
Eventually, his connection with Rodgers will click and this may be your final chance to buy low. Adams has strong matchups against the Colts, Seahawks and Cardinals coming up, but it doesn’t stop there. He also has one of the best fantasy playoff schedules against two bottom-five secondaries in the Rams and Jaguars.
Trade someone like Aaron Jones or D’Andre Swift for Adams if you can.
Irving had a rollercoaster of a week. It started with him missing multiple practice with reports coming out that he was at risk of missing Week 8. Then he practiced on Friday and news broke that he was trending to play. Irving ended up starting and leading the Bucs backfield with 16 opportunities, which included seven receptions. The Bucs relied heavily on their RBs in the passing game without Mike Evans or Chris Godwin. Irving and Rachaad White combined for 12 catches on 13 targets.
But that’s not even the biggest takeaway from this game.
The most important takeaway was that Sean Tucker’s usage was cut in half; he played just 10% of the snaps and earned just three touches in Week 8. This allowed Irving to see more opportunities and he made the most of them averaging 5.3 yards per touch. Irving now ranks top 10 in the NFL averaging 5.8 yards per touch this season, according to Player Profiler.
In the fantasy playoffs, Irving will face the Cowboys and Panthers — two teams that allow the most rushing yards per game currently. Now is the time to buy in on him as the Bucs should continue to lean on their RBs until Evans returns. Trade someone like Kareem Hunt or Tank Bigsby for Irving if you can.
