The waiver wire isn't the only place to change the course of your team. The right trade can make or break your season. The key is to buy low on cold players and sell overachieving players whose values have skyrocketed.
While this is a well-known method, some owners still tend to overreact to a small sample size, so it's important to take advantage of those opportunities. Early in the season is a great time to capitalize on overreactions.
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Fantasy Football Buy Low Candidates
Todd Gurley (RB, LA)
Okay, it’s time to make your move. Widely considered to be the top running back in fantasy drafts, Gurley has disappointed over the first two weeks, totaling just 98 yards on 36 touches (2.7 yards per carry).
As a rookie in 2015, Gurley managed less than 3.0 yards per carry in four of his 13 games, including a six-carry, nine-yard showing in his first career contest. So it’s not as if the young running back has been the most consistent fantasy football player. Still, it has been made abundantly clear just how talented Gurley is. The top back off the board in the 2015 NFL Draft eclipsed the 100-yard mark in four of his first five career games, scoring 10 touchdowns over his final 10 games of the season.
Los Angeles’ offensive line is not the sturdiest and its quarterback situation is a mess. While these issues aren’t likely to go away anytime soon, a player as talented as Gurley should find a way to make it work. Given his slow start to the season, Gurley’s value in a trade right now is likely to be much less than that of a typical top-five pick.
Allen Robinson (WR, JAC)
Robinson burst onto the scene a year ago, accumulating 80 receptions for 1,400 yards and 14 touchdowns. He earned himself some round-one consideration in 2016 fantasy drafts, but has been slow out of the gate, with 20 targets, nine catches and 126 yards. While these numbers do not mirror those of his 2015 breakout campaign, he is still on pace to eclipse 70 receptions and 1,000 yards. He has yet to find the end zone, but that should change soon given that his 173 targets since the start of the 2015 season are the eighth most in football.
Robinson was a top-six fantasy wideout a year ago, and at 23 years old, he should improve in his third season. If any fantasy owners have lost faith that Jacksonville’s top wideout can produce on a consistent basis, don’t hesitate to buy low.
Seattle Seahawks (DEF, SEA)
The Seahawks have boasted an elite defense for years, but while they’ve allowed the fewest points per game for four consecutive seasons, they have also finished outside the top 15 in takeaways in each of the last two years. Keeping with the pattern, Seattle’s defense has averaged just 248.9 yards and 9.5 points — both tops in the league — over the first two weeks of the season, but is still looking for its first turnover.
Pete Carroll’s club is still filled with playmakers on the defensive side of the ball — Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett, Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright, Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor — and the turnovers should begin to pile up as the Seahawks match-up against a 49ers team that already has four giveaways in 2016. If any fantasy owners have soured on Seattle’s defensive unit, it can’t hurt to try to upgrade by sneaking it into a trade.
Fantasy Football Sell High Candidates
Matt Ryan (QB, ATL)
Ryan tossed the ball 34 times in Week 2, completing 26 passes for 396 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. It was his first game with at least 350 yards and three touchdowns since 2014, when he had two such games against offensive juggernauts Green Bay and New Orleans.
Ryan is just 31 years old and still has one of the top targets in the game in Julio Jones, but his current pace is just not sustainable. The Falcons have another appealing match-up in Week 3 against the Saints, who have yielded 672 yards through the air this year. However, beginning in Week 4, Atlanta will go up against Carolina, Denver and Seattle — three of the league’s toughest defenses — in consecutive weeks. Guys like Ryan Tannehill, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Joe Flacco are capable of putting up similar numbers the rest of the way, and are available in more than half of all leagues. Try to move the red-hot Ryan for an upgrade at one of the flex positions, and add one of the cheaper options at QB.
Isaiah Crowell (RB, CLE)
Crowell turned some heads in Week 2, rushing 18 times for 133 yards and a score. However, if you take away his 85-yard touchdown run back in the first quarter, he managed just 2.8 yards per carry on the day. Prior to Sunday, Crowell had only ever mustered one run of over 50 yards, which, not coincidentally, came in his only other career 100-yard game. The 23-year-old is not a workhorse back, and he needs to break a big run in order to earn any fantasy relevance. Instead of waiting around and hoping he can find a hole in any given week, ship him off at his highest value and get a nice piece in return.
Quincy Enunwa (WR, NYJ)
Through two weeks, Enunwa leads the Jets in receptions, and is second only to Eric Decker in yards and touchdowns. Brandon Marshall has been playing through a knee injury, but as long as he is able to stay on the field going forward, he will inevitably command more attention the rest of the way.
Enunwa’s emergence provides the Jets with some added depth at the receiver position, but fantasy owners shouldn’t expect him to be one of the focal points of New York’s offense. The 24-year-old posted just one game with more than 50 yards in 2015, and failed to reach the end zone once in his rookie campaign. Enunwa’s value will likely never be higher than it currently is, so it’s worth shopping him to see what the return is like.