We are a month into the NFL season, and you should have a pretty good idea of where your fantasy football team stands. Of course, there are situations where your record doesn’t reflect how good your team is. Still, the goal is to stack some wins in October, and you may need to make some fantasy football trades in order to do that. Below, we have a list of some fantasy football buy-low, sell-high candidates heading into Week 5.
Bye weeks are starting, which always means fantasy trades are going to pick up. If the struggling fantasy owner also has starters on bye, they are going to be more likely to make a move. Use this to your advantage when exploring these fantasy football buy-low, sell-high options.
Fantasy Football Buy-Low, Sell-High For Week 5
Buy-Low Fantasy Football Options
Rhamondre Stevenson Fantasy Outlook
The New England Patriots are a mess through the first month of the season, and it has led to Rhamondre Stevenson being relatively irrelevant for fantasy football. He has been the RB23 through four weeks in PPR scoring despite playing every game. However, there is reason to be optimistic about him going forward.
Last week, it was announced that Ezekiel Elliott would see “starter snaps,” scaring Stevenson owners. Well, Zeke played 40% of the snaps to Stevenson’s 54%. In other words, we shouldn’t be afraid of Stevenson’s role.
Rhamondre Stevenson has played the eighth-most snaps per game amongst RBs (48.2), and he has seen an average of 19 looks per game (carries+targets). His usage is incredibly high. Stevenson’s issue is that he has just one touchdown. He has also seen seven red zone carries to Elliott’s one, meaning his red zone usage is great as well.
The Patriots offense will get better, which will improve Rhamondre Stevenson’s fantasy value for the rest of the season. Given his usage, he is an obvious fantasy football buy-low candidate.
Josh Jacobs Fantasy Outlook
Once again, the Las Vegas Raiders aren’t interested in having anyone run the ball but Josh Jacobs. He has 87.3% of the team’s rushing attempts, and Jacobs has seen 5+ targets in each of the past three games as well. Yet, Jacobs ranks as the RB14. That’s not terrible, but he has the potential to be a top-five RB the rest of the way.
Obviously, his usage is insane, as we already mentioned. His issue is scoring touchdowns, as he has just one this season compared to 12 total last year.
Luckily, he has several great matchups against poor run defenses coming up, starting with the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football this week. The Packers rank 30th in rushing yards allowed per game (155.3). If you want to buy low on last season’s fantasy football RB3, now may be the last time for you to do it.
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Chris Olave Fantasy Outlook
Chris Olave fantasy owners selected him as the WR12, on average, in drafts this year. However, it has been a slow start for the second-year receiver, ranking WR27 so far. Yes, the New Orleans play-caller is unbelievably bad, but there is an obvious opportunity for Olave to emerge as a solid fantasy contributor going forward.
First off, it’s easy to see that it’s tough for a WR to be very valuable while scoring only one touchdown. Still, his 306 receiving yards are respectable, and the return of Alvin Kamara should improve the offense overall, leading to a higher probability of scoring plays for Olave.
However, the biggest reason for Chris Olave being a fantasy football buy-low candidate is his air yards. Olave ranks fourth in the NFL in air yards, at 536. This means the opportunity is there for his value to take off, but it has been a Craigslist “missed connections” situation so far. Olave will start to find the ball a bit more, and his fantasy football value will benefit as a result.
Calvin Ridley Fantasy Outlook
The return of Calvin Ridley started off with a bang, as he finished Week 1 as the WR6. He also ranks in the top 30 for targets, showing that he is seeing the ball. However, his league-leading four drops have contributed to his ranking as WR37, though it is unlikely drops will continue a this rate.
Another reason for Calvin Ridley being a fantasy football buy-low candidate is his upcoming matchups. This week, he faces a Buffalo Bills defense that is traveling across the world while also adjusting to playing without top cornerback Tre’Davious White. He then faces the Indianapolis Colts, who he torched in Week 1. We know Ridley is betting on himself, and you should take the gamble as well.
Darren Waller Fantasy Outlook
It has been all doom and gloom for Darren Waller fantasy football owners this season, if you ask them. He has been called a bust, and that’s because we have seen the New York Giants get absolutely embarrassed in prime-time games where Waller has done nothing. But again, better days are ahead for the player everyone agreed was the Giants’ top pass-catcher heading into this season.
You may be surprised to know that Darren Waller ranks as the fantasy football TE12. Don’t tell the Waller owners this, as it makes him sound better than he has played. Waller ranks ninth amongst TEs in targets — don’t tell Darren Waller fantasy football owners this either. You probably shouldn’t mention that he ranks seventh amongst TEs in air yards either.
As you can see, Darren Waller’s potential in the current New York Giants offense is there. However, the best part is that the offense is going to get better. We have seen how much Saquon Barkley can turn this group around. Having a respectable rushing attack slows down the pass rush, which is clearly the Giants’ biggest issue right now. They have needed Waller to chip in order to give Daniel Jones even a tiny bit of time. When the offense improves overall, he won’t need to do this. Passes will be caught and the chains will move, bringing the Giants, and Waller, into scoring positions much more often.
Yes, the hamstring issue is a bit scary, but that can help to drive his price down as well. In the sad world of fantasy TEs, Darren Waller is a fantasy football buy-low candidate heading into NFL Week 5.
Sell-High Fantasy Football Options
Raheem Mostert and De’Von Achane Fantasy Outlook
This could end up being a polarizing fantasy football buy low, sell high take, but we’re simply using logic. The Miami Dolphins offense has been strong to start the year, and the backfield and been relatively headache-free. Of course, that is about to change, as Jeff Wilson Jr. is poised to come off of IR and join the three-headed committee.
Entering last week, the Zero-RB truthers were talking smack because Raheem Mostert was as obvious of an RB1 start as there was. He finished with 5.5 PPR points. Instead, the value was with rookie De’Von Achane, who finished the week as the RB5. Now, add in another running back who has had a lot of success in this offense, and this committee is going to be truly unpredictable. I think Mostert and Achane are both very talented, but this backfield will be too competitive, and you don’t need the headaches.
Last season, Mostert was a “bust,” or outside the top 36 at RB, 47% of the time. Wilson was a bust 40% of the time. The chances you start the correct Dolphins RB are too low to feel good about, and both Mostert and Achane have value right now. That is why they are obvious fantasy football sell-high candidates.
Alvin Kamara Fantasy Outlook
Alvin Kamara just came back and now you’re saying to trade him in this fantasy football buy low, sell high article? Absolutely.
I admit that I wasn’t an Alvin Kamara fantasy football fan heading into this year. I haven’t been a fan for a bit, but there are reasons for that. First off, I don’t trust that he will find the end zone even five times this season. How could I?
Notably, Kamara has really struggled to run in the red zone. He isn’t great at falling forward or finding the soft spot in short-yardage situations. This led to the Saints signing Jamaal Williams for this season since he led the league in rushing touchdowns last year and is notably good in those situations. Taysom Hill is also a good short-yardage runner. Immediately, Kamara is the third option for running in the red zone. In terms of overall weapon, that’s where the Saints want to use their tight ends as well, with Juwan Johnson and Jimmy Graham. I say all of this to say that Kamara isn’t going to score many touchdowns. In fact, he could go under last season’s total of four.
In Kamara’s return last week, he ranked RB9 in PPR scoring due to his 13 receptions. I wouldn’t bank on all of those catches again. Kamara is a Flex, but you could sell him as an RB2 right now, making him a prime fantasy football sell-high candidate heading into NFL Week 5.
Puka Nacua Fantasy Outlook
We thought Puka Nacua was a fantasy football sell-high candidate a couple of weeks ago. Arguably, his value was at an all-time high then. However, his value is very high right now as well due to the recent Cooper Kupp injury update.
Kupp is eligible to return to the team this week. Kupp being on the field means Nacua isn’t the top receiving option. He would become the third-best offensive option, due to Kyren Williams’ performance and workload. However, there is a belief that Cooper Kupp will not play in Week 5.
This opens up another can of worms. Will Cooper Kupp even return? If so, for how long? Maybe Kupp will return and take on a smaller role due to how great Puka Nacua has been (WR4). I don’t have all of the answers. Nobody does. However, I do know that Puka Nacua fantasy football owners have found another reason to believe, and owners who don’t have him now have a reason to buy into the hype.
Kupp may play this week. He may play next week — who knows? I believe he returns soon, making Nacua a 5-7 target guy most weeks. His value right now is higher than that, so see if you can ship the rookie away for a premium.
Sam LaPorta Fantasy Outlook
In the sad world that is fantasy football TEs, you can sell top talent at a premium. That is exactly why Sam LaPorta is a fantasy football sell-high candidate. I have been saying since this summer on Fantasy Football by Committee that LaPorta was going to be one of the favorite sell-high candidates, and everything is playing out as predicted.
LaPorta’s back half of the year looked tough on fantasy TEs in the preseason. While that has adjusted to the first month of play, it still isn’t the easiest. Combine this with the “rookie wall,” and we could see Sam LaPorta’s production dip as the season wraps up. He played a physical college season in Iowa, had to prepare for the draft, and then has been playing a ton of physical snaps for the Lions as well, so this “wall” looks very possible in a month or two.
Yes, I did say a month or two, so why would you sell Sam LaPorta now? Simply, we’re trying to sell while his stock is high. He’s the fantasy football TE2, which is probably the highest he’ll rank all season. Jameson Williams is also coming back this week, and he will take some percentage of the target share. I love Sam LaPorta’s talent and it’s tough to trade away someone playing very well at a position of scarcity. However, there is no doubt you could sell high right now.
