The trade deadline for most fantasy football leagues is today, so use these tips for last-second moves as you attempt to improve your team for the stretch run and a potential fantasy playoff.
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Gus Edwards
Some might be considering Gus Edwards as a good player to move after his breakout performance last week, but that did not look like a fluke for the undrafted rookie from Rutgers. Edwards perfectly complimented Lamar Jackson’s threat to pick up big yardage on the outside, as he grinded out yardage up the middle. Jackson’s ball-handling helps cause the defense to hesitate, which helps Edwards. The Bengals aren’t a great defense, but Edwards will look to make it a hot streak; he has top-20 potential over the final six weeks.
Verdict: Buy/Pick up
Adrian Peterson
Washington’s offense takes a hit with Alex Smith out for the season with a broken leg, and that could mean defenses focus even more on Adrian Peterson moving forward. “All Day” facing stacked boxes is not something new for him, but he’s shown he has a low floor if the running game isn’t going well for the Redskins in a given game. Also keep in mind Chris Thompson should return from his rib injury at some point. Don’t trade Peterson just for the sake of trading him, but if you can convince an owner he’s set for a monster workload with Smith out, maybe you can get a steadier RB2 in return.
Verdict: Sell high
Kerryon Johnson
Kerryon Johnson is week-to-week with his knee sprain, and there’s a chance he isn’t the same this season. That makes now the perfect opportunity to strike for the second-round rookie running back. Johnson received 17+ touches in each of his last two games, and he’s already a very good player that’s likely to do damage with that type of workload. The schedule isn’t imposing, especially with matchups against Arizona (30th in fantasy points allowed to running backs) and Buffalo (20th) in Weeks 14 and 15, so hopefully he’s back by then.
Verdict: Buy as a potential difference-maker
Calvin Ridley
If you need a win this week, Calvin Ridley isn’t a bad player to target. Falcons-Saints on Thanksgiving night probably isn’t going to be Chiefs-Rams from a couple nights ago, but there should be plenty of points scored. And Ridley lit up New Orleans for 146 yards and three touchdowns in his first game against them earlier this season. The Saints might focus more on him this time around, but he still has a lot of upside. After back-to-back games with under 40 yards, Ridley is a nice target ahead of the trade deadline.
Verdict: Buy as a high-upside FLEX
Sammy Watkins
There’s a chance Sammy Watkns’ foot injury lingers for the rest of the season, but he is worth taking a chance on given how great Kansas City’s offense has been this season. With the Chiefs on a bye and Watkins hurt, an owner might be willing to deal him for someone they know can help for Week 13 and moving forward. If Watkins is healthy, he faces Oakland twice including in Week 17.
Verdict: Buy during the bye
Gerald Everett
This is mostly for deeper leagues where trading Gerald Everett could be a relatively big move at a shallow tight end position. Everett really stepped up in Monday night’s win against the Chiefs, with two late touchdowns including the game-winner. He now has three touchdowns in the last two games, but he’s still in a part-time role with Tyler Higbee playing a lot of snaps for the Rams. If you can use Everett in a package to somehow get someone like Rob Gronkowski, you should probably do it.
Verdict: Sell high