Another week of fantasy football is in the books. There were plenty of storylines that emerged on NFL Sunday in Week 6. However, none could compare to yet another dominant performance by Derrick Henry on Monday Night Football. Not only did Henry single-handedly propel the Tennessee Titans past the Buffalo Bills, but he won several managers their fantasy matchups as well. When it comes to fantasy football trade advice for Week 7, we do not recommend chasing after Henry. If his owners are even entertaining offers, you’d have to pay a premium for him. Instead, consider some of the buy low and sell high options in the following column!
Read on for this week’s fantasy football buy low, sell high candidates, including Antonio Gibson, Chris Godwin, DeAndre Hopkins and Kenyan Drake. The following breakdowns and analyses can be used to help guide your trade discussions and weigh fantasy football player values heading into Week 6.
Fantasy Football Buy Low Players | Week 7
Antonio Gibson | RB, Washington Football Team
It’s pretty safe to say that the first six weeks of the season have not gone according to plan for fantasy football managers who drafted Antonio Gibson. While he is the RB16 in PPR formats on the year, his backfield cohort, J.D. McKissic, has had a prominent role in the passing game. So much so that McKissic is also a top-25 PPR back on the year to date. Talent is not a question with Gibson, evidenced in three consecutive outings with 15+ fantasy points scored from Weeks 3-5. Unfortunately, a suspect offensive line and timeshare have capped his upside more than many expected.
Further complicating matters for Gibson ahead of Week 7 is a calf injury that he sustained in Sunday’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The injury forced him from the game and it remains possible that he will be sidelined this coming week. Even if he misses a game, the fact that Gibson still saw 12 total touches despite having to exit the game early is a positive sign. He is the lead back in Washington, when healthy. As far as this being an opportune time to buy low, the 4.4 points Gibson scored in Week 6 was easily his lowest output on the season. The fact that it came in a very favorable matchup and with an injury attached could be all the ammunition you need to land the Washington RB at a discount price.
Chris Godwin | WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
After three straight games with over 16 fantasy points to begin the season, Chris Godwin has seen his production taper off a bit in recent weeks. Despite the absence of Rob Gronkowski and a favorable matchup last Thursday night against the Philadelphia Eagles, Godwin had just 43 yards receiving and finished with 9.3 PPR points. Considering that he has hauled in 12 receptions over the last two weeks combined, some of his owners are undoubtedly disappointed in the mediocre outputs.
While Godwin faces a weekly battle for targets in the Buccaneers’ loaded offense, the opportunity to land a player with WR1 upside on a discount cannot be taken lightly. Many fantasy football analysts believed Godwin to be the preferred wideout in Tampa Bay this season given that he primarily operates out of the slot. Based on target share through the first six weeks, he and Antonio Brown still stand as the preferred options over Mike Evans. The Bucs have a favorable schedule the rest of the way and should have no trouble piling up points. Give Godwin the opportunity to do the same for your fantasy team in the second half of the season.
Christian McCaffrey | RB, Carolina Panthers
Based on Christian McCaffrey’s own comments, fantasy football managers were led to believe that he would return in Week 5. That never happened, and now “one more week” has turned into a stint on the short-term IR. Given that CMC was the consensus No. 1 overall pick in the fantasy ADP this year, managers who drafted him are undoubtedly suffering greatly from his absence. In fact, some might very well be in must-win mode heading into Week 7. If your team is in a good position record-wise and can wait a few weeks for McCaffrey to get back on the field, it makes sense to explore trading for him. His price point can’t get much cheaper than it is entering Week 7.
Fantasy Football Sell High Players | Week 7
DeAndre Hopkins | WR, Arizona Cardinals
Parting ways with arguably the most talented wideout in the NFL won’t be easy. While DeAndre Hopkins does have three games with 20+ PPR fantasy points this season, his week-to-week value has largely been touchdown-dependent. Anyone who has been around the game of fantasy football long enough knows that volume trumps touchdowns every day of the week when it comes to projecting a player’s output going forward.
Hopkins has only eclipsed four receptions in two games all season. Unsurprisingly, those were two of the three outings in which he exceeded 20 fantasy points. The other came in Week 6 when Hopkins caught three balls for 55 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Back-to-back 20-point games give managers a great opportunity to shop him around for a hefty return. Entering last week’s contest, Hopkins did lead the Cardinals in targets. However, a whopping four players were within 11 targets of him. In addition, Arizona traded for tight end Zach Ertz this past week. The other reason to explore selling has to do with the Cardinals’ team performance through six weeks. While this is a solid football team, it is highly unlikely that Kyler Murray continues at his current pace.
Kenyan Drake | RB, Las Vegas Raiders
After hardly factoring into the Raiders’ offensive game plan from Weeks 3-5, Kenyan Drake blew up in Week 6. He finished the day with over 70 total yards and a pair of touchdowns, accounting for 21.3 PPR points. It was Drake’s first double-digit scoring effort since Week 2 and easily his highest output of the season thus far. While Jon Gruden leaving Las Vegas figures to benefit Drake the rest of the season, current owners are wise to shop him around following this scoring outburst.
Drake’s Week 6 performance was very impressive, but there is an element of concern in the fact that the majority of his fantasy football points came from finding the end zone. Going forward, it’s fair to expect Drake to remain more involved in the Raiders’ passing game. However, Josh Jacobs is still the lead RB on this team. With other capable receiving weapons in Darren Waller, Hunter Renfrow and deep threat, Henry Ruggs, Drake’s weekly target floor is not a sure thing at this juncture. Only time will tell what his true role is in this offense post-Gruden. Managers might consider waiting it out but selling high to perhaps land an RB with a safer floor is also a great option.
Noah Fant | TE, Denver Broncos
Tight ends don’t make this fantasy football buy low, sell high column often, but managers should consider selling high on Noah Fant ahead of Denver’s Week 7 Thursday night matchup. Fant saw a whopping 11 targets in the Broncos’ Week 6 loss to the Raiders. He caught nine of them, finishing as the TE1 on the week with 97 yards, a touchdown and over 24 PPR points. This was easily his best line of the season to date. However, the vast majority of his production came in garbage time.
While one can argue that all fantasy points count the same, the Broncos offense has been struggling mightily over the last few weeks when games are hanging in the balance. Denver’s offense has plenty of other weapons in Courtland Sutton and the soon-to-return Jerry Jeudy. Fant’s production has been all or nothing the last few weeks. It might be worth shopping him to see what kind of return you can get after he led the position in Week 6.
