Fantasy Football Trader's Alley Week 5: Players to Buy, Hold, or Sell
Welcome to the Week 5 edition of Trader's Alley! I'm your weekly tour guide on the bumpy ride that is trading in fantasy football leagues, here to highlight the most notable Buys, Holds, and Sells each week, powered by 4for4's powerful Trade Evaluator tool.
Remember, trading is more of a league- and leaguemates-dependent exercise than anything else in fantasy. What makes a trade "fair" or "feasible" is heavily determined by your league settings, roster constructions, available players, and leaguemate dispositions. So take everything you read here with a grain of salt, and do your best to adjust accordingly! (Or become a 4for4 subscriber of any tier and join the Discord to ask me directly in the weekly Trade Talk AMA on Wednesday evenings!)
This column assumes half-PPR, four-point passing touchdowns, and starting rosters with 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, and 1 FLEX — but you can also change the configurations on the Trade Evaluator tool to fit your league exactly.
Let's get into it.
Buy Derrick Henry
Trade Evaluator: RB13 / 17th overall / 150 Trade Value points
It’s been a strange few weeks for Derrick Henry and the Ravens. In three straight games, Henry has seen 12 or fewer carries and posted 50 or fewer rushing yards, and Baltimore has lost two of those three (to Detroit and Kansas City). The last time Henry logged three straight games with 12 or fewer carries was all the way back in Weeks 11-13, 2018, with the Titans, also the last time he “split work” to any degree (with Dion Lewis), and before his breakout into perennial Pro Bowler territory. And before you blame his recent usage — or lack thereof — on the Ravens’ defensive struggles: he had 18 carries for 169 yards in Week 1, when they lost 41-40, and he had just 11 carries for 23 yards in a 41-17 win over the Browns in Week 2.
It’s all wonky in Baltimore, where John Harbaugh and Co. have a losing record through the first month for the first time since 2015 — but it’s not going to stay this way. Remember, they were a bottom-10 defense through Week 10 last year, then became the top defense in the league from Week 11 on. They’re too good a team, with too good a coaching staff, to not figure it out. When they do, Henry, who still has not lost a step (averaging 5.8 yards per carry), will get back to the high-end RB1 production with which he opened the season.
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