Trade Targets & Trade Bait Ahead of Week 3

Trading is the quickest way to take your team from sitting on the bubble of a playoff berth to a championship contender, or vice-versa if you make the wrong deal, which is why it is so important to make sure you are targeting (and selling) the right players at the right time.

And yes - every player has a price. It doesn't matter whether they are the best player in fantasy football or a dwindling kicker - every player has a price that they should be traded away for or should have something given up to get.

For people in leagues that are more active in trading, this is for you. These are my favorite players to target and my favorite players to shop as their current value and future value don't necessarily align due to easy matchups, surrounding injuries, improving/changing scenarios, etc.

Top Trade Targets/Buy-Low Candidates This Week:

Players to try and trade for this week - they may be available at a discount compared to what they should produce going forward.

Jordan Mason (RB - Minnesota Vikings)

It's officially the last chance to get in on Jordan Mason this season.

Between Aaron Jones hitting IR with a hamstring injury, the Vikings likely leaning more run-heavy with the absence of J.J. McCarthy for the next few weeks, and a very appealing Week 3 matchup against the Joe Burrow-less Bengals, who have allowed the 2nd-most points to RBs through 2 weeks (17.3 points to Dylan Sampson in Week 1, a combined 32.3 points to Etienne & Tuten in Week2), Mason could explode in the short-term.

The time is now to trade for the Vikings' lead back, who can likely be obtained at an RB3 price tag, but will likely be a short-term top-15 RB and a long-term RB2 option.

Josh Jacobs (RB - Green Bay Packers)

It is the 'Josh Jacobs Show' in the Packers backfield, having received 82% of the snaps and just shy of 88% of the backfield touches in Green Bay through the first two weeks. Despite that significant involvement in the offense, he's still left a lot to be desired, having finished as the RB18 in Week 1 and the RB21 in Week 2.

The volume on the ground has been there so far, amassing 42 carries through two weeks, but only managing 3.6 YPC and just 1 target. Those deficiencies are unlikely to continue given Jacobs' historical 4.3 career YPC and average of 39 catches per season.

He now moves into a softer part of the schedule for the Packers, drawing Cleveland, Dallas, Cincinnati, Arizona, Pittsburgh, and Carolina over the team's next six games - all matchups that present a likely run-heavy (or at the very least, neutral) game script.

For now, you can still acquire Jacobs at an RB2 price, but that won't last long with his weekly involvement.

AJ Brown (WR - Philadelphia Eagles)

It has been a really rough start for A.J. Brown and the entire Eagles' passing offense for fantasy, with the star WR having tallied a combined 6 catches for 35 yards through two weeks, failing to finish as a top-60 WR in either of the opening two games of the season.

While it's very difficult to envision Brown paying off on his WR1 ADP, owners are panicking with the Eagles' extremely run-heavy offense, having passed the ball on just 40% of the team's plays. That's unlikely to remain.

Now, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit concerned that the Eagles' passing offense won't get going this season, seeing as they went into two games that should've been pass-friendly game scripts and just ran the ball all day long (and it worked), but there's no way that flies for an entire season with multiple high-profile WRs that will eventually demand the ball. It's just a matter of time before it swings back to normal for the Eagles (as you can't run Barkley into the ground and hope to make another deep playoff run).

Let me preface this by saying Brown will not be consistent. Any expectation of weekly 14+ point performances should be dropped now. He will, however, be an inconsistent WR2 option, giving you sporadic 20+ point performances intertwined with single-digit games. If you can live with that (as you should have a more consistent WR1), Brown is a perfect trade target for pennies on the dollar as a WR2 option. You can likely acquire him for the cost of a FLEX or very low-end WR2 due to panicking fantasy owners.

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Top Trade Bait/Sell-High Candidates This Week:

Players to try and trade away this week - this isn't saying that they'll be bad, but right now is likely when you're going to get the most for them.

James Conner (RB - Arizona Cardinals)

We're two weeks into the season, and while James Conner sits as the RB18 on the season so far, it's not the usual situation for him. He hasn't been overly involved, having tallied just 23 carries (and 28 touches) through the first two games, and he's been uncharacteristically inefficient, sitting at just 3.2 YPC (his lowest since 2021).

That's not what concerns me. What concerns me is that he didn't have the huge start to the season that we all expected, having faced New Orleans in Week 1 and a historically bad Panthers' run defense in Week 2. Instead, he was pedestrian, and Trey Benson has entered the picture as a result, having averaged 7.5 YPC (albeit on just 11 carries), but more notably seeing the snap share go from 65%/33% (favoring Conner) in Week 1 to a 55%/44% split (still favoring Conner) in Week 2. The gap between the two is shrinking, and Conner's been reliant on TDs to salvage his fantasy production so far this year.

I genuinely worry this will become a true 1A/1B situation sooner rather than later in Arizona, leaving now as potentially the best time to move on from Conner. See if you can flip him for a more reliable RB2, or (even better) package him with some RB/WR depth to strike on an RB1 option.

Travis Kelce (TE - Kansas City Chiefs)

Kelce's been overwhelmingly average the first two weeks of the season, having totaled just over 100 yards and just 6 catches so far. Granted, he's hit 10+ points and been a top-10 TE each of the first two weeks, it is very underwhelming given the circumstances.

This was supposed to be a red-hot start for the veteran TE, capitalizing on the absence of Rashee Rice (suspended), and then especially making the next step forward with Xavier Worthy missing almost all of Week 1 and the entirety of Week 2. Instead, Kelce hasn't taken advantage, tallying just 10 targets total and a mere 15% team target share, the lowest since his rookie season.

Now Xavier Worthy looks ready to return in Week 3, and Rashee Rice's Week 7 return is slowly approaching. Kelce's opportunity to return to his former glory appears to be over. Since he's been able to stay afloat in the end result for fantasy points (salvaged via a Week 1 TD), I'd strongly recommend flipping him for a different TE1. Try packaging him with a depth piece for a player like Tyler Warren, Tucker Kraft, or even see if someone like Jake Ferguson can be swapped directly for Kelce.

Keenan Allen (WR - Los Angeles Chargers)

Nobody is happier to see Keenan Allen balling out like he has for the past decade than me. However, it seems like it might be a honeymoon period rather than a forever thing for the veteran. Through the first two weeks, he's served as the go-to guy for Justin Herbert, drawing at least 5 catches, 60 yards, a TD, and a 25% target share in each of the first two games.

My issue with that is: how long can it last? Can Allen maintain his current 28% target share? Can Herbert continue at his torrid MVP pace? Are Harbaugh's Chargers really going to continue throwing the ball 56% of the time?

All very valid questions. It's a possibility we're witnessing a return to normalcy for Allen, who saw a similar target share, but far worse QB play, last year in Chicago. It's a possibility Herbert could be the MVP now that he's got a trio of quality WRs. It's a possibility that Harbaugh is putting the ball in Herbert's hands to win games, rather than 'ground and pound'.

It's also possible that we're seeing one of Allen's final flashes in a pan, given rather average performances each of the first two weeks, if not for TDs. Again, not an indictment, saying it's going to happen, but I'd definitely put out some feelers to see if you can get WR2-level value out of Allen given the hot start.