Week 12 of the NFL season is upon us. This means that there are only three weeks remaining before the start of the Fantasy Football Playoffs. For some leagues, it also marks the final full week of trading before deadlines come to pass. Whether you are gearing up for a serious championship push or need an immediate impact to propel your squad into the postseason, ensuring that you get the best value in your trades is key. The FlurrySports fantasy football buy low, sell high column is back to serve up another menu of trade analysis for several noteworthy players.
Read on for this week’s fantasy football buy low, sell high candidates, including Chase Claypool, Miles Sanders, Nick Chubb and A.J. Brown. The following breakdowns and analyses can be used to help guide your trade discussions and weigh fantasy football player values heading into Week 12.
Fantasy Football Buy Low Players | Week 12
Chase Claypool | WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
Although Chase Claypool is not the “WR1” in Pittsburgh, he has maintained a stable target floor all season long in a pass-heavy offense. Fantasy football managers have no need to worry about playing time or targets when it comes to the second-year wideout. After being sidelined in Week 10 with an injury, Claypool returned to the lineup on Sunday and promptly played over 90% of the Steelers’ offensive snaps. He saw nine total targets from Ben Roethlisberger, catching five of them for 93 yards to finish with a serviceable 14.4 PPR points.
Given the inability of the Steelers’ offensive line to run block successfully on a consistent basis, we can expect the offensive game plan to flow largely through the aerial attack moving forward. Along with Diontae Johnson and tight end Pat Freiermuth, Claypool is locked into a healthy target share on a weekly basis. Favorable matchups down the stretch of the season against suspect defensive secondaries add to the benefit of pursuing him at a discount in trades. Claypool is only the WR44 on the season in PPR leagues, but he has much more upside than that. He could very easily make his way into the top-30 by the season’s end with a strong finish.
Miles Sanders | Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles have completely changed their offensive identity from before Miles Sanders went on the IR to now. Given that it has led to wins in three of the last four weeks, there is really no reason to anticipate a sudden reversal of the team’s run-heavy approach. In his first game back on Sunday, Sanders played less than 50% of the Eagles’ offensive snaps. While that percentage is nowhere near what many fantasy football managers envisioned when they drafted him before the season, his workload on those snaps speaks for itself. Sanders garnered a whopping 16 carries which he converted into 93 yards. Unfortunately, a lost fumble coincided with a failure to both get involved in the passing game. The result was a meager 6.4 PPR fantasy points.
Despite the poor output, the workload in his first game back is very encouraging. Sanders fell victim before his injury to an offense that lacked any sort of identity. The Eagles have that now and it benefits the RB position tremendously. While Jordan Howard and Boston Scott won’t be phased out completely, Sanders is clearly the most talented back when healthy. His workload and snap share should reflect as much. While Philadelphia does have a Week 14 bye, matchups against the New York Giants and Jets provide opportunities for Sanders against two of the NFL’s worst adjusted run defenses.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire | RB, Kansas City Chiefs
We do need to preface this analysis by noting that the Chiefs are on a bye in Week 12. Therefore, Clyde Edwards-Helaire is not an ideal fantasy football trade target for managers who are in the midst of a late-season playoff push. At the same time, the fact that he is on a bye this week presents a tremendous buy-low opportunity for those managers who can afford the week of no production. Edwards-Helaire reclaimed the starting job in the Kansas City backfield upon his return from injury last week. Although he was out-snapped by Darrel Williams 53%-47%, we can expect that to change as he gets back into game shape. Edwards-Helaire was extremely efficient with his touches, toting the ball 12 times for 63 yards and a score.
After many analysts believed the Chiefs offense to be back following a 41-point effort two weeks ago, it was another low-scoring output this past Sunday. We saw Williams have a tremendous weekly volume while starting in place of Edwards-Helaire. Given the defensive adjustments that teams have made against Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs are leaning a lot more on the RB position in the passing game as well. In addition, Edwards-Helaire has some very favorable matchups following the bye against three AFC West Division foes who have struggled to contain opposing running backs all season.
Fantasy Football Sell High Players | Week 12
Nick Chubb | RB, Cleveland Browns
It was only a few short weeks ago that we featured Nick Chubb as a terrific fantasy football buy-low target. Aside from missing the Browns’ Week 10 game due to a supposedly “deadly” virus, the 25-year-old certainly paid dividends for those managers who went out and acquired him. After being cleared to return from said “deadly” virus this past Sunday, Chubb promptly gashed the Detroit Lions for 130 yards rushing on 22 carries (5.91 average) and finished with 22.4 PPR points. He is now the RB13 in PPR scoring on the season overall. Is this really a player to try and sell with the fantasy playoffs on the horizon?
For one of the main reasons why Chubb was a buy-low candidate a few weeks ago, he is now on the sell-high side of this column entering Week 12. The Browns have not changed their offensive game plan whatsoever. Cleveland will go as far as their ground game can take them. While Chubb is the focal piece of that attack, the Browns have kept the backfield split between him and D’Ernest Johnson the past few weeks. Head coach Kevin Stefanski told the media on Monday that he is hopeful that fellow RB Kareem Hunt will return from a calf injury that has held him out since Week 6. Hunt was actually more productive from a fantasy standpoint earlier in the season. Chubb’s value and production are bound to decline with Hunt’s looming return. Now is the time to sell high for a hefty return.
A.J. Brown | WR, Tennessee Titans
It will be interesting to see what exactly the fantasy football trade market value is for A.J. Brown after yet another horrendous performance. The star talent of the former Ole Miss Rebel is undeniable. Unfortunately, it has been a season to forget for the top Titans’ receiver. He was inefficient with his targets yet again in Week 11, catching just five of nine for 48 yards. It marked the third straight game in which Brown failed to score double-digit PPR fantasy points.
Further complicating matters ahead of Week 12 is the fact that Brown left Sunday’s game early with a chest injury. Although x-rays came back negative, his status for the immediate future remains up in the air. Given that the Titans have a commanding lead in the AFC South and a bye week looming in Week 13, there is potentially a greater likelihood that they play it safe and sit Brown out for this week’s game. For fantasy managers in win-now mode, Brown becomes a player you must move on from. The Titans’ offense hasn’t been the same since losing Derrick Henry. A pass-heavy approach simply isn’t this team’s DNA. The lack of such a dominant ground game appears to have hurt Brown more than help him.
Josh Jacobs | RB, Las Vegas Raiders
Honestly, this is more a recommendation to sell the entire Raiders offense than it is Josh Jacobs alone. Unfortunately, the third-year RB is guilty by association in this case. Las Vegas was a great story early in the season, but this team looks to have a better chance of finishing in the AFC West cellar than it does to capture a playoff berth. While Jacobs has at least managed to maintain a level of consistency in fantasy football this season, he doesn’t appear to be the type of running back who can push your team to a championship. His involvement in the passing game has been the only thing saving his PPR value in recent weeks as the Raiders have been lifeless when it comes to running the football.
On top of that, Jacobs has not played more than 66% of the offensive snaps in any of the last five games. The Raiders’ backfield has turned into more of the fairly even timeshare between Jacobs and Kenyan Drake that many expected it would be before the season began. Banking on a running back who is part of a split backfield within a slumping offense is not ideal. It’s time to move on. Tout Jacobs’ consistent double-digit point production in trade discussions and try to net a sound return.
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