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Welcome to our Week 9 buy low / sell high, where we look to provide fantasy football trade advice.
With Week 8 in the books and the NFL season officially more than half way done, the injuries are beginning to pile up. Only a few weeks after seeing Jamaal Charles and Arian Foster go down, Week 8 saw several more top players get hurt with either long term or season ending ailments. That list includes Le'Veon Bell, Reggie Bush, Steve Smith Sr. and Matt Forte - three of which were in the top-15 at their position.
While it's never fun to see star players hurt like that, those injuries have a way of exposing a lack of depth on any fantasy team, and that opens the door for those that happen to have that depth. If you are one of those teams, now is the time to make a move.
With that said, here are a few players to buy and a few to sell heading into Week 9.
Week 9 Fantasy Football Buys
Mike Evans (WR, TB)
Evans has been wildly inconsistent thus far in 2015, and last Sunday was no different. After dropping more than 20 fantasy points on Washington a couple weeks back, the Tampa Bay star put up only 48 yards in Atlanta.
That lackluster performance was made especially sour by the fact that both Vincent Jackson and Austin Seferian-Jenkins were held out, leaving Evans as the only real pass-catcher on the team. His performance is especially disappointing when you consider that the game went into overtime.
There are few things in fantasy more frustrating than an inconsistent player, but a rookie quarterback under center and an early season hamstring pull are a pretty good excuse for it. Easily the top pass-catching option on a growing team with a suspect defense, Evans is worth a buy while his stock is relatively low.
Julius Thomas (TE, JAX)
On a bye last week, owners of Thomas are likely still grumbling about the one catch and four yards that the TE put up in London a couple weekends ago.
That discontent is for good reason too, as Thomas showed a great deal of promise in his first real game of the season in Week 6, only to follow it up with an absolute dud overseas in Week 7. However, if you happen to have a hole at TE - and let's face it, over half of us do - don't let that dud in London scare you. It may be wise to focus more on the former of Thomas' two full games rather than the latter.
Among the top options on an improving Jaguars passing attack, Thomas is a skilled TE with a knack for the end-zone who could quickly climb to TE1 status once he gets fully acclimated into the offense. If the price is right, buy.
Davante Adams (WR, GB)
On a night where Aaron Rodgers threw for less than 80 passing yards and James Jones caught only a couple of them, a healthy Adams was a bit of a silver lining against the Broncos.
That term is used loosely, of course, as the young receiver caught just one pass for eight yards. Adams did look healthy though, and operated predominantly as the Packers' number two receiver. WithRodgers under center and the Broncos not on the schedule again, that fact could be a very, very good thing for the pre-season sleeper.
Jones will likely eat into Adams' targets, and so could Ty Montgomery once he returns, but Adams appear to have a role in this usually lucrative passing attack, and that could lead to solid WR3 or even WR2 production as the season progresses. Now is the time to buy.
Week 9 Fantasy Football Sells
Darren McFadden (RB, DAL)
Starting for the first time this season, McFadden pounded the rock 20 times against the Seahawks on Sunday but only managed 64 yards. He did contribute in the passing game though and managed to eclipse double-digit fantasy points for the second straight week.
That's not the reason to sell though. The reason to sell is the fact that when you run a player practically made of glass 20 times a game, an injury is all but imminent. If history means anything, McFadden will get hurt if he keeps running like this, and he'll get hurt soon. When that happens, those who scooped him off the waiver wire last week will have nothing to show for it as his stock will all but dry up.
That's not to say he isn't a solid RB2 with RB1 ceiling right now, because he most certainly is, but if there was ever a sell-high candidate mid-way through the season it's him. Before you end up cutting him due to a significant injury, trade him.
Amari Cooper (WR, OAK)
Cooper found himself stranded on Revis Island on Sunday, finishing with only 48 yards on five catches. It was Cooper's third game of the season with fewer than 50 yards, and the second in his last three games.
While shadow coverage from Darrelle Revis is largely to blame, Cooper's Week 8 output only reiterates an increasingly alarming fact. Yes, the rookie wide-out is tops in the league in terms of yards after the catch, but that may not be a a good thing. Simply put, yards after the catch doesn't help much when you're not catching the ball.
Cooper hasn't eclipsed the five-catch mark since Week 3, a trend that could continue as long as Michael Crabtree keeps producing. He's still a top-20 receiver in fantasy with WR2 appeal, but that appeal could taper off for Cooper as the season continues. Now may be the time to trade.
Ronnie Hillman (RB, DEN)
On the buy portion of this list not very long ago, Hillman's 19 carries for 60 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday night have taken his stock to its peak.
That peak may be a little too high, unfortunately. While Hillman led the backfield in touches on Sunday, C.J. Anderson wasn't far behind and was far more efficient as well. With Anderson now healthy and appearing close to his 2014 form - at least on Sunday - Hillman's hold on the lion's share of the carries in Denver could be a lot weaker than once thought. Couple that with the fact that backs of Hillman's size aren't known for their durability, and a step back could be in the speedster's future.
Until then, Hillman remains a strong RB2, but he likely isn't the RB1 some might see him to be. If you can get RB1 value for him - and you probably can, given all of the injuries to running backs - go for it.
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