Top Buy & Sell Candidates

Welcome back to the Truth Serum where Jordan, Zach, Travis and Anthony each have a buy low and sell high candidate for y’all. Time to get busy, trades are where championships are won. 

Sell High: Amari Cooper, WR Cleveland Browns 

Amari Cooper is currently the WR #15 in PPR formats averaging 15.1 PPG. The four time pro bowler has had a great start to his career as a Cleveland Brown but if you look a little deeper there are some causes for concern. Everyone knows Cleveland is a run first offense and unsurprisingly are near the bottom in most passing stat categories but Cooper has been a busy man. He’s tied for 15th in targets at the position averaging 8.6 a game which is great but the fact that he’s getting that many opportunities and is still extremely inconsistent is alarming and makes him a perfect “sell high” candidate. Cooper has surpassed the 20 point mark three times already but has also failed to hit 5 points twice. That’s a very up and down five games. I hate to say it but he’s a boom or bust player with Brissett at QB and is only booming when he scores a touchdown. His name value and production as a whole so far should get you a pretty penny in a trade for someone much more consistent with the same amount of upside. -Zach 

Sell High: Anyone on the Seattle Offense

Geno Smith is currently sitting at QB6 on the season. While some may believe in the 32-year-old QB’s renaissance, I’d like to remind you this is the same guy who has never finished higher than QB20 for a season. Geno played 5 games last season, the same amount he has this season, and in that time has attempted 60 more attempts, 50 more completions, almost double the yards and almost double the TDs. He reminds me a lot of Sam Darnold in 2021 - who was QB 4 after 4 weeks of the season. DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett will remain viable options throughout the season, however, the consistency probably won’t hold up as well as it has thus far. As Geno turns more and more back into Geno, expect more bust weeks from the 2 receiving studs. Kenneth Walker will also receive the up and down weeks as Seattle should find themselves in more negative game scripts down the stretch. Sell all of them while you still can. -Jordan 

Sell High: Michael Carter, RB New York Jets 

This season has gone pretty much as expected in terms of opportunity in the New York Jets’ backfield.  When Breece Hall was drafted by New York with a high second round pick, many analysts expected Hall to split the backfield with incumbent Michael Carter, even though Hall was taken with much higher draft capital, and eventually earn more opportunities as the season went on.  Through the first five weeks we have seen it play out exactly like that, with Carter’s role diminishing each week, and Hall’s increasing.  Michael Carter was over 60% of snaps in Weeks 1 and 2, and that number has dwindled down to 42% in Week 5.  Likewise, Breece Hall was only on the field for about 40% of snaps the first two weeks, and his share has risen up to almost 70% the last few games.  There is a clear trend here of Hall taking more work each and every week, and now is the perfect opportunity to cash in on Carter.  He should still have solid value as a trade piece given he just had his best game of the season on the back of two touchdowns.  While I still expect Carter to be involved, he is clearly becoming the secondary option in the rotation and now is the time to sell him coming off a huge game in Week 5. -Anthony 

Sell High: Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB Kansas City Chiefs 

This might not seem like the Sell high moment for the “lead” back in a Patrick Mahomes lead offense. But truthfully is CEH even the lead back in Kansas City? Well if you look at some of the stat categories he’s only playing around 45% of snaps (he’s getting out snapped by Jerrick McKinnon) and he’s been okay on the ground or through the air but nothing spectacular. Where he has been bringing home the bacon is in his Touchdowns. He’s averaging 1 per game. Even Isiah Pacheco looks more explosive than him when he’s on the field as well. As a fantasy manager we can’t depend on the trend of touchdowns to continue to be sustainable when the volume is a s low as it is at the moment. Week five in the game against Las Vegas we seen what the stat line should mostly be closer to on a weekly basis. 6.5 fantasy points is not going to be a good thing in future weeks especially as  Pacheco is more deployable later into the cold winter months. This is the sell high moment for Clyde and if I can turn this hot hand into a league winning hand such as Kenneth Walker I’m totally throwing out the bait. Sell CEH and thank me later. -Travis 

A few other Sells to consider:

Trevor Lawrence, Matthew Stafford, Najee Harris, Melvin Gordon, Dionte Johnson, DJ Moore, Darren Waller, George Kittle.

Buy Low: Justin Herbert, QB Los Angeles Chargers 

Justin Herbert was crowned the next generation at QB after his record setting rookie season, and he followed that up with an even better sophomore campaign.  He was widely considered the locked in #2 QB this year for fantasy behind Josh Allen, and some even debated having Herbert at #1.  This season hasn’t played out exactly as everyone had hoped, and while Herbert hasn’t been awful, he’s been pretty mediocre.  He’s currently the QB10 on the season and hasn’t eclipsed 25 points in a single game yet this year.  I think now is the perfect time to trade for Herbert because we have seen the ceiling before and it’s only a matter of time before he gets back to his 2021 levels.  Even if we’re wrong, and Herbert continues to trend as he’s been going, you’re still getting at worst a low level QB1 who has a sky high ceiling.  Add in the fact Herbert has been without top pass catcher Keenan Allen for the last month, who should return to action soon, and I think the future looks bright for Herbert. -Anthony 

Buy Low: Joe Mixon, RB Cincinnati Bengals 

Joe Mixon may not seem like a great “buy low” candidate because he’s a workhorse back but buying low doesn’t always mean you’re getting someone for cheap, it means you’re getting someone for cheaper than you should be. Mixon leads the NFL at his position in usage averaging a whopping 23.2 touches per game and also leads the league with 19 red zone touches. Running Backs who have over 15 red zone touches are averaging 3.3 touchdowns and yet Mixon only has one. That’s the main reason why he’s currently sitting at RB #15 instead of being a legit top tier RB #1 like me and lots of other fantasy managers thought he’d be. It’s coming though, he’ll break out sooner than later with his heavy workload and elite red zone usage. Pry him away from your league mates before it happens! -Zach 

Buy Low: Rashod Bateman, WR - Baltimore Ravens

Shoddy B season has yet to kick into overdrive and now is your chance to get in before it does. Bateman’s stats aren’t overwhelming at this stage as he has had only 11 receptions, 243 yards, and 2 TDs. If you dig a little bit further down in the stats though it becomes quite juicy. Bateman is currently 4th overall in yards per route run, behind only Tyreek Hill, AJ Brown, and Stefon Diggs. His average yards after catch is currently 2nd in the league behind only Dallas Goedert. This Ravens offense is a high-powered one that should afford him several opportunities, and while Devin Duvernay has been better than expected this season, he shouldn’t pose any immediate threat to Bateman in the pecking order. The Ravens are also much better when Bateman plays and this can best be illustrated by his on-off splits. With Bateman in the lineup, the Ravens have averaged almost 4 more yards per attempt, 7 more TDs, and 2 fewer interceptions. Bateman could be a potential league winner down the stretch. -Jordan 

Buy Low: Breece Hall, RB New York Jets 

Breece Hall has totally and completely cemented himself as the unquestioned RB1 in his offense moving forward. We all had inklings of this happening through the first few weeks of the season. The ramp up in usage and even the pass catching floor from him has been nice to see. Trust me. I get it. It’s the Jets. It’s Zach Wilson but I implore you to use whatever means necessary to get this man on your roster. Week 5 was just a small taste and he missed out on two additional touchdowns by being downed in the one yard line. Breece Hall was someone I really comped to the likings of Jonathan Taylor and Ezekiel Elliott, but he might just be on a slightly better plateau with his pass catching abilities to go along with those other attributes. The last two weeks he’s averaged 17.5 carries, 2 catches, and 109.5 all purpose yards to boot. -Travis 

A few others buys for me moving forward: Justin Herbert, Daniel Jones in SF QB leagues, Rhamondre Stevenson, Kenneth Walker, Jakobi Meyers, Chris Olave, Hayden Hurst. 

Let us know in the comments about the trades you pull off! Good luck and as always, stay true!