Trading in fantasy football is an important way to make your team better. However, it is also the only controllable way to make other teams worse. In theory, great fantasy football trades optimize the rosters of both teams involved, leaving non-trading teams behind. This series will help to provide some useful tips on players to “buy” and “sell” in trades. It will also provide the proper context to determine when trading for or trading away a specific player makes sense for your squad. For a player to be involved in a trade, there needs to be a market for that player. Unlike your typical “trade for” and “trade away” articles that are geared toward taking advantage of less-informed league mates, this series will consider team context to determine whether you should buy or sell a popular player in the trade market.
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Week 4 Fantasy Football Trade Advice
On the block: RB Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals
Reason to Buy: Contingent Upside Realized!
With James Conner out for the remainder of the season, the Cardinals’ backfield belongs to. The 2024 third-round pick is now thrust into a full-time starting role after previously seeing a 39.1% opportunity share this season. Benson has been insanely efficient with his touches thus far, averaging a league-best 7.25 yards created per touch. He is also a viable target out of the backfield, seeing 11 targets through three games. Benson is a potential bell-cow that could easily be a top 12 running back option the rest of the way. It may be a good time to make an offer to a league mate who doesn’t understand what they have in Benson. Trading a receiver like Marvin Harrison Jr. or DK Metcalf straight up for Benson could be an easy way to get an RB1 on your team without paying the price for an RB1.
Reason to Sell: Cash out
When a late-round running back hits on your roster, it can feel like you struck gold. If the rest of your roster is well structured, you may not need a running back on your team. Selling Benson now is a great way to cash out before his value faces any real risk. Perhaps his efficiency doesn’t translate. Maybe he gets hurt. Football is a crazy game that doesn’t always go as we all plan. If you have Benson on your roster and seem set at the running back position, look to deal him for an underachieving wide receiver like Rashee Rice or Chris Olave.
On the block: RB Chase Brown, Cincinnati Bengals
Reason to Buy: Opportunity is King!
Chase Brown leads the running back position with a 95.6% opportunity share. He is tenth among all running backs with 47 carries and 14th among all running backs with 14 targets. Unfortunately, this hasn’t translated to fantasy points, as Brown is only averaging 9.2 fantasy points per game. With Joe Burrow out indefinitely, and this Bengals offense reeling from a horrific loss to the Vikings in which Brown scored only six fantasy points, now may be the prime buy-low opportunity for Chase Brown. Look to see if you can snag him onto your squad by dangling another buy-low target in Brian Thomas Jr. or an upstart receiver like Deebo Samuel.
Reason to Sell: The Opportunity is Gross!
This iteration of the Bengals’ offense, led by Jake Browning, looked downright awful in Week 3. The Bengals’ offensive line has been unable to get any push upfield as Chase Brown has seen a staggering -54 yards before contact this season. While things will not always be as bad as they were last week against the Vikings, it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel for Chase Brown‘s fantasy production. If you can move Brown for a player like Rome Odunze, or a package involving TreVeyon Henderson, this may be the prudent move.
On the block: WR Ladd McConkey, Los Angeles Chargers
Reason to Buy: Second Year Breakout
Ladd McConkey was a second-round fantasy pick this season on the premise that he flashed efficiency in his rookie season and was poised for a second-year breakout. Unfortunately, he hasn’t dominated targets in Los Angeles as everyone anticipated. He is currently third on the team in targets behind Quentin Johnston and Keenan Allen. He also has the fewest fantasy points among these receivers. The thing is, though, that this is likely the valley for McConkey’s fantasy value. The target distribution between McConkey and his teammates remains tight as Ladd has 21 targets compared to QJ’s 24 and Allen’s 28. As the season continues, defenses will likely adjust, opening up more opportunities for McConkey, who remains efficient, averaging 2.86 yards of target separation (third among all wide receivers). Trading away another disappointing player, like Xavier Worthy, or one of McConkey’s teammates for him seems like a prudent move.
Reason to Sell: Too Many Mouths to Feed
While the Chargers’ offense is surprisingly pass-heavy this season, it has squeezed out McConkey thus far. The fact is, with Keenan Allen and Quentin Johnston on the team, and intriguing rookies Tre Harris, and KeAndre Lambert-Smith waiting in the wings, there appears to be too many mouths to feed for McConkey to pay off at his ADP. If you can still get somewhere close to that value, make a deal. Trading Ladd for running backs like Omarion Hampton and even TreVeyon Henderson might be an easy way out to cash in on some of the upside that was baked into his ADP.
Honorable Mentions: These are some previously mentioned players that you should continue to see if you can pry away from other teams in your league: Brian Thomas Jr., Rashee Rice, and Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
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