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Welcome to Trade Targets and Avoids for Week 5. While trade strategy varies widely depending on league size and, most importantly, league mates, we will identify some players who are ideal targets in the current market.
Those who follow last week's advice might have acquired Robert Woods before his explosion on Thursday night.
We will again focus on three players that should be on trade radar, either to acquire or attempt to trade away before we kick off Week 5.
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Players to Target
Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins
The stars are aligning for Waddle to take over as the de facto WR1 in Miami already. Will Fuller is (brace yourself) injured and will miss multiple weeks. DeVante Parker is battling a hamstring injury; he may not miss time but he is notoriously unproductive when less than 100% healthy and could aggravate it. Waddle is already just one target behind Parker for the team lead and could well surpass him in Week 5 since Parker has been hampered by the hammy in practice all week.
The Fins offense has been anemic all year but Tua Tagovailoa is set to return from IR in Week 6. Aside from being an obvious upgrade over backup Jacoby Brissett, it reunited Waddle with his college QB and should boost his target count as the team feels more confident in the passing game. It's a good time to acquire pass-catchers on Miami in general, as the team follows up a matchup with the Tampa Bay Bucs, who allow the second-most fantasy points to WRs, with a schedule including Jacksonville, Atlanta, Buffalo, and Houston over the next five weeks. That's one good defense and even then, another mismatch with the Bills could mean a lot of passes thrown Waddle's way.
Waddle is averaging 50 yards per game and scored just once so there likely won't be too much resistance in prying him away from a league mate. Offer up a Hunter Renfrow or Rondale Moore and see if they bite.
CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys
There's no way Dalton Schultz outproduces CeeDee Lamb in 2021. That's what has happened the past two weeks and it has Lamb's stakeholders panicking. Lamb is tied with Schultz at 20 receptions but that's only two away from team leader Amari Cooper. Lamb's reception and yardage totals have dropped each week since a season opener where he posted seven catches for 104 yards and a TD. This has been a function of game script with Dak Prescott throwing an average of 25 passes per game since Week 1 when he aired it out 58 times.
Aside from the clear fact that Lamb is an elite talent and will eventually get back to his usual target share, the team will need him in some tougher upcoming matchups. It's likely the Cowboys wanted to ease the load on Prescott after Week 1 and establish their running game. Mission accomplished. Down the stretch, all hands will be on deck and Lamb will be needed in divisional games against Washington and New York along with a Week 17 tilt with Arizona. Lamb will be fine and remains a high-end fantasy WR2. Offer up another underachiever who is less likely to turn things around like Allen Robinson or Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
Players to Trade Away
D'Andre Swift, Detroit Lions
Most fantasy managers who drafted Swift are dead set on the fact he will finish as a top-tier running back based on talent alone. "Cream always rises to the top" is the basis of that argument. It sounds reasonable but it's patently false.
Swift has not been a particularly productive runner this season. He is averaging 3.4 yards per carry, doesn't have more than 47 rushing yards in any game, and is second on the team with 41 carries behind Jamaal Williams at 42. Williams also has more red zone carries than Swift. The team values Williams and has admitted it will use a hot-hand approach at the position. Add in the fact that Swift is continually on the injury report with a groin injury that hasn't held him out on Sunday yet but threatens to at some point, and there's plenty of risk.
He's strictly producing as a receiver where his 18.5% team target share is tied with T.J. Hockenson for most on the team. This is due to the lack of quality receivers on the team and unfavorable game script that requires high pass volume. Both those circumstances may remain intact the rest of this season, so there's no disputing that Swift will have RB2 value and the occasional big game. That's not what his perceived value is for many fantasy managers. If you can acquire a low-end WR1 such as A.J. Brown or Calvin Ridley that has disappointed thus far, do it.
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