Trade Targets & Trade Bait Ahead of Week 4

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.

Tyler Warren (TE - Indianapolis Colts)

You just saw the floor of Tyler Warren: 3 catches for 38 yards (TE23). That came in a week where he was limited all week with a toe injury and saw the Colts blow out the Titans, leading to a more run-heavy game script than usual. As a result, the star rookie saw season lows in targets (5), yards (38), and, most importantly, snap share (68.4%).

Through three weeks, he hasn't found the endzone, and has had a game where he had his role limited due to injury + game script, and yet he still ranks as a top-10 TE. Warren looks like one of the most secure week-to-week TEs out there, even as a rookie, and, should Daniel Jones remain a competent starter, there appears to be a realistic top-3 ceiling for Warren's rookie season.

In leagues where I don't already own him, I am all-in on trying to acquire him after a 'down' game. I'd be willing to package any TE not named Bowers, McBride, or Kittle with a depth piece to go acquire him.

Ladd McConkey (WR - Los Angeles Chargers)

Through three weeks, Ladd McConkey has gotten off to a slow start compared to his terrific rookie season, having gone 15-163-0 (WR41) on 21 targets so far this year. Meanwhile, Quentin Johnston and Keenan Allen both have more targets, yards, and are top-10 WRs so far this season.

Could we be seeing the breakout of Quentin Johnston? Absolutely.

Could we be seeing a resurgence of Keenan Allen as Herbert's favorite target? Absolutely.

However, it's more likely than not that the target distribution evens out a bit more, favoring McConkey as the season progresses, seeing as the 2nd-year WR sits at just 19.6% of the team's targets to Johnston's 22.4% and Allen's 26.2%. McConkey will become more involved, especially with defenses not being able to focus in solely on defending him with the effectiveness of the other two WRs (as they have so far this year). But perhaps more notably is that Johnston and Allen each have 3 TDs through the first 3 games to McConkey's 0. That will change, even if McConkey isn't at the 7-TD rate he had last year.

Now's the time to invest in getting McConkey as a WR2/FLEX at a pretty hefty discount. It's unlikely his value will be this low for a while, especially with the Chargers drawing a matchup against a Giants' secondary this week that has allowed the 2nd-most points to opposing WRs in 2025.

Patrick Mahomes (QB - Kansas City Chiefs)

It's hard to believe, but even after a QB11 finish last season and being without his top two WRs (Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy) for the first three weeks, Mahomes has still remained fantasy-relevant. He opened up the season with back-to-back games of 22+ points and a top-7 finish, currently standing as the QB8 through Week 3.

And now is when, in theory, he should begin to take off. He gets Xavier Worthy back this week and draws a very favorable short-term schedule with pass-heavy matchups against Baltimore (4th-most PPG to QBs) and Detroit (6th-most PPG to QBs) over the next 3 weeks. Then he gets back his top target in Rashee Rice in Week 7. But perhaps as notable, the Chiefs' offensive line has taken enough of a step back to force Mahomes to use his legs once again, hitting 125 yards and 2 TDs on the ground so far - that's almost halfway to his 2024 rushing yardage and has already hit his rushing TD mark from last year.

So far, he's been 'good, but not great', even despite having next to nothing in terms of receiving threats. It's a matter of time before that help comes in and Mahomes takes the next step back towards former high-end QB1 fantasy production. I'm actively trying to trade for him while his trade cost is at least somewhat reasonable.

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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.

Kenneth Walker III (RB - Seattle Seahawks)

Week 1's snap share (57.7% for Charbonnet, 40.4% for Walker) posed the legitimate debate of whether the Seahawks' backfield was leaning to favor Zach Charbonnet or whether they were 'easing' Kenneth Walker into the season after having missed most of the preseason to injury. Walker's efficient Week 2 (118 total yards, 1 TD) seemed to quiet those murmurs despite Charbonnet out-touching (15-14) and out-snapping (36-23) Charbonnet.

With Charbonnet out for Week 3, the expectation was a workhorse role for Walker - that sort of happened. Overall, his 52.6% snap share was skewed negatively by the Seahawks' starters sitting out the entire 4th quarter. Before exiting, Walker received 17 touches and scored 2 TDs, but was wildly inefficient (50 total yards, 2.4 YPC). Now, that was good enough for an RB10 finish on the week, making it back-to-back top-10 finishes, but the expectation was a bit higher with Charbonnet absent. Now, Charbonnet returns in Week 4 and the big question is: What is the workload split?

Nobody truly knows what the split will be from here out for the Seahawks.

Could it be a 1A/1B in favor of Walker? Sure.

Could the Seahawks revert back to Charbonnet getting the bulk of the snaps and work? Sure.

It truly is a gamble on what happens for the Seahawks' RBs. For what it's worth, I am definitely seeing what I can get for Walker, seeing as he is coming off back-to-back 18+ point games with a TD (or more) in each - especially after having failed to exceed a 40% snap share either of the games with Charbonnet active. You should be able to get a comfortable RB2 value for him - I'd be intrigued if you could get Omarion Hampton in return (or a comparable player).

Courtland Sutton (WR - Denver Broncos)

We've seen this story before from Sutton - he's not going to get a ton of volume, he's going to get a deep ball every game or two, and he's a quality fantasy WR when he finds the endzone (if he doesn't, he struggles mightily). This was on display once again through the first three weeks, where Sutton ranks as the WR17, but has seen two games inside the top-12 (where he scored a TD) and another game where he ranked outside the top-100 WRs.

This isn't necessarily bad as long as he sustains it. The question is: Can he sustain the big-play and touchdown dependencies? He did in 2024. He didn't prior to that.

I'd be willing to bet he finishes the year as a top-24 WR in points, but I'd be willing to bet he likely doesn't return that type of value to lineups. This is a perfect time to remind you that points ≠ value. Value involves week-to-week stability. That's where getting a good chunk of your production from big plays and TDs makes a player riskier (or at least more volatile) on a week-to-week basis.

I like Sutton as a player. I think he's going to finish as a top-24 WR. I just think now's the time to cash out at a high point after he posted a 23.8-point (WR3) outing that saw over half his points come off of one deep TD. I'd look to flip him for a more stable high-WR2 option or (even better) try to package him with another RB/WR to make a move for a true WR1 option.

Mark Andrews (TE - Baltimore Ravens)

If you can trade him, do it now. That's a big if.

After starting the season with a combined 2 catches for 7 yards through two games, Andrews exploded in Week 3 with an efficient 6 catches for 91 yards and 2 TDs. That was good for 27.1 points and the overall TE2 finish on the week. The issue with that is:

1. 40% of his production is from TDs - no TE inside the top 24 has a higher TD Dependency

2. About a third of his points in Week 3 came on the final drive (when Baltimore was down 14 in garbage time)

3. He's struggled to be involved or be productive despite Baltimore leading the NFL in points

4. Isaiah Likely is set to return in either Week 4 or Week 5

If you can get anything for him, make that trade. It'll likely be more of the same for Andrews once Likely is back: sporadic games of relevancy where he finds the endzone, but besides that, very little production.