Trader's Alley: Week 6 Players to Buy Low, Sell High, Hold

Oct 14, 2020

Todd Olszewski/Geety Images

Week 5 was a weird one, with football gracing our televisions all the way until Tuesday night. Yet, it comes at a cost, as there’s no Thursday night football this week. Perhaps that’ll give you more time to work on some fantasy trades to save your season, or bolster your roster to secure a spot in the postseason. Below I offer up several players to consider making moves for, or moving on from, as Week 6 approaches.

Trade for … Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, Chiefs

UPDATE: So I originally published this idea before the Chiefs signed Le'Veon Bell after the Jets released him. And even after that news ... I think this take still makes sense. Bell is a former superstar, but he hasn't been the same since his "holdout" in 2018. Yes, he was with the Jets, but his numbers are still shocking. He averaged 3.3 yards per carry while in New York, and his last run of 20-plus yards came in 2017 ... when he was with the Steelers. For comparison, Antonio Gibson, a rookie converted to RB from WR playing for the Washington Football Team already has one 20-plus yard run in 2020. Look, Bell will certainly eat into CEH's work. But perhaps the portion he eats is what was already being consumed by Darrel Williams in recent weeks. Williams' snap share has risen in three straight weeks (21% to 27% to 40%), and the Chiefs could see Bell as an upgrade. It is possible Bell turns this into more of a committee too, we cannot ignore that possibility. Nevertheless, CEH's stock was already a bit low, and it likely only lowered following this news. He's certainly still a buy-low candidate. Now, for the rest of my original analysis, read on.

CEH has been a popular trade target recommendation across other fantasy sites and Twitter of late, and for good reason. Despite top-tier volume on the ground and in the air, and playing on an elite offense, CEH has scored a grand total of one touchdown through the Chiefs' first five games. For reference, CEH ranks in the top 10 in rushing yards through five weeks, and the average rushing touchdown total of the other nine backs in that tier is four. Similarly, he ranks in the top 10 in rush attempts, where the average rushing touchdown total among those backs is 3.6.

The point is, unless CEH is embarking on the outlier of all outlier seasons, he should hit paydirt several times in the coming weeks. Plus, CEH has a favorable schedule the rest of the way, with matchups against the Jets, Panthers, Dolphins, and Falcons still to come. CEH probably commanded a first-round pick in your league, and it’s possible the manager who drafted the rookie is getting impatient waiting for those touchdowns to come. See if you can’t swing a trade and bank on scoring regression to hit for CEH in a big way during the back half of the season.

The market: Edwards-Helaire was traded straight up for Drew Brees, speaking volumes to how depressed his market might be right now.

Trade for … Cowboys WRs

This might seem counterintuitive following Dak Prescott’s season-ending injury, but with the steady veteran presence of Andy Dalton stepping in as the backup, things might not be as dire as they could be. Dalton is a 10-year veteran who has been at his best (in real life, and fantasy) when in a good offensive situation. While the offensive line injuries are a concern, I’m not sure Dalton has ever been as surrounded with weapons as he will be while under center for the Cowboys. That’s why I think it could be sneaky to try and target Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, or Michael Gallup in your league. Opposing managers might be skittish on this offense’s potential with Dalton replacing Dak, which might make this trio of talented pass-catchers easier to acquire.

The market: No recent trades involving Amari Cooper had transpired in Yahoo! leagues as I was writing this article. Lamb was traded straight up for Raheem Mostert, Robert Tonyan, Devin Singletary, Devonta Freeman, Jarvis Landry, and Jared Goff across leagues. Gallup was traded straight up for Alexander Mattison, Le’Veon Bell, and James White. He was paired with Cam Newton to acquire Michael Thomas, and paired with D’Andrew Swift in exchange for Leonard Fournette and Myles Gaskin in another.

Trade away … D.J. Chark, WR, Jaguars

This one hurts, as Chark was one of my favorite mid-round targets this offseason. However, Chark simply hasn’t been featured as we had hoped for in this Jaguars offense. While he’s missed one game with a back injury, the fact that he’s currently third on the team in air yards and sixth in targets is extremely worrisome. On the positive side, Chark is second on the team in red-zone targets and has scored three touchdowns in that area thus far, leading the team. However, with Gardner Minshew spreading the ball around so evenly, Chark’s upside is far more capped than what pundits anticipated this summer.

Chark has some positive matchups on the horizon, including the Lions this week, and the Texans and Packers following the Jaguars’ Week 8 bye. However, that’s a long time to wait for Chark to turn it around and hit it big. If you can, try to move Chark now to a WR-needy team and bolster your roster in other areas.

The market: Chark hasn’t been moved a ton lately, with the most recent report showing him being traded straight up for Gabriel Davis and the Chicago D/ST. He and Joshua Kelley were also traded for Allen Robinson.