Buy or Sell? Week 9 Trade Advice

One of the toughest parts of fantasy football to navigate is trading with league-mates. As a result of the unique characteristics of every person in a fantasy football league, it is often difficult to find a strategy for trading players that works for everyone in any situation.

Nevertheless, highlighting the performances of certain players helps to create a starting point for fantasy owners. By knowing who to trade or trade for, fantasy owners are able to have a starting point for any trade negotiations that they have.

Each week, the trade values of certain players rise and fall according to their performances on the field. Let's take a look at some players that fantasy owners may want to consider offloading or trading for after Week 8 of the NFL season.

Buy Low

Sony Michel (RB, NE)

Sony Michel has a very clear role for the Patriots. Working alongside scat-back James White, Michel had three very successful rushing performances as the team's early-down back, with three 100+ yards-from-scrimmage games in between Weeks 4-7. Michel also had four touchdowns (and could have realistically had a few more) through that stretch and was firmly entrenched as the team's goal-line back. However, an injury in Week 7 put Michel out of the game early and has forced him to miss Week 8 as well.

Although it looks like Michel will be back for Week 9, there are some doubts over whether or not he will be healthy enough to participate in a game against the Packers. Use that to your advantage as you negotiate for Michel as quick as possible. Even if you have to pay more than you would expect, having a locked-in RB1 for the back half of the season is crucial and exactly what fantasy owners would receive if they are able to trade for the young running back from the Patriots.

T.Y. Hilton (WR, IND)

Despite the success of Andrew Luck in 2018, T.Y. Hilton has had a rather poor season so far. Hilton has one 100-yard game this season and has largely saved his fantasy value with four touchdowns so far. Hilton only has 59 yards through the past two weeks and was able to log one reception against the Raiders in Week 8.

Going into the bye week, it is safe to say that Hilton's value is at an all-time low. Now is the time to grab the field-stretcher since he should have a better back half of the season in a Colts offense that finally looks reasonable with quarterback Andrew Luck and running back Marlon Mack getting into their own element.

Sell High

Tarik Cohen (RB, CHI)

Tarik Cohen is having a true breakout year so far under head coach Matt Nagy, breaking off big plays seemingly every week. Cohen has not had less than 69 receiving yards in the past four weeks and has four touchdowns in the past four games. The young running back has slowly taken responsibilities away from Jordan Howard and has had more than 22 points in PPR in three of the last four weeks.

However, because he does not have a consistent weekly workload, Cohen will likely regress to his mean on the 2018 season and stop performing at the high level that he has been playing at in recent weeks. Therefore, now should be the time that Cohen is packaged for a more solid weekly option such as Stefon Diggs.

Marvin Jones Jr. (WR, DET)

Marvin Jones has been a consistent fantasy option for the past few seasons and is making his name in the touchdown department, with five on the season. Jones went off in Week 8 for 117 yards and two touchdowns in a game that saw fellow wide receiver Kenny Golladay limited to one target. Golladay is experiencing a bit of a slump at the moment, making room for Jones to seemingly play as the team's top target. However, with the presence of Golladay, Jones has likely reached his peak this season (even though the team just recently traded slot receiver Golden Tate to the Eagles).

Additionally, Jones only had 37 receiving yards in the two weeks before Week 8, demonstrating that he has a scarily low weekly floor. Now is the time to offload the speedy wideout for a more reliable option at the position who has been underperforming or a solid running back with more weekly upside. Consider packaging Jones with an over-performing running back for a workhorse back like Colts running back Marlon Mack or even a solid and upcoming option like Browns tailback Nick Chubb.