Fantasy Football Trade Targets, Sells, and Holds – Week 13
This is it.
Last Trade Targets of the season.
And if your league’s trade deadline hasn’t already passed, then it probably will soon.
As I’ve said before, the goal in trading right now is a bit different than it might have been earlier in the year.
We’re obviously always looking for value and production. But there’s no time left for “maybe.” Don’t bother with guys who might become something at some point. Target players who can help you win a championship.
And don’t be afraid to trade away some players who still carry some upside. You generally need to give value to get it.
Be smart. But don’t be too stingy. Unless, of course, your roster is already set up to win.
For everyone else, let’s get to it …
Week 13 Buys
- Calvin Ridley
- That’s it?!? (Let’s discuss below)
Week 13 Sells
Week 13 Holds
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Fantasy Trade Targets (Buy)
There’s only one new guy this week because, frankly, we didn’t want to force other picks in just to meet the usual number.
Besides, the six guys who made this section over the previous two weeks still appear to be worth buying …
Calvin Ridley, WR, Tennessee Titans
Yes, we did call Ridley a “Sell” in this very space back in Week 9. And we were wrong ... but also not totally wrong.
At that point, we were aiming to sell relatively high off his 10-catch, 143-yard outing vs. Detroit. That game remains his season-best for catches, yards, and targets (15) – all by significant margins.
Ridley finished that week fourth among PPR WRs. His weekly finishes since:
- WR30
- WR3 (2 TDs vs. Chargers)
- WR41
- WR20
But even those non-Top 5 finishes mark big-time improvement vs. how he started the season.
Ridley and Situation Improved
As I mentioned back in Week 9, DeAndre Hopkins had totaled just 21 targets across six games before leaving via trade. That’s 3.5 per game, which is clearly not enough to keep Ridley from producing.
But his usage, performance, and QB play have all improved dramatically.
Stat | Wk 1-7 | Wk 9-12 |
Target Share Rk | WR40 | WR14 |
Expected Pts/G Rk | WR42 | WR23 |
Fan Pts/Route Rk | WR107 | WR30 |
First-Read % | 25.4% | 35.5% |
PFF Rec Grade | 50.4 | 74.5 |
Catchable Tgt % | 52.9% | 72.4% |
It’s entirely possible those two spike weeks plus overall improvement have Ridley’s current manager loving the WR too much to make a worthwhile trade. But Tennessee’s closing schedule makes it worth checking.
The Titans get the best schedule for WR scoring the rest of the way, and that’s including this week’s visit to Washington – the “worst” spot left.
Two shots at the Jaguars (including fantasy championship week) plus a home date with Cincinnati make Ridley a potential difference maker for the fantasy football playoffs.
Recent Buys
Let’s look back at our Trade Target recommendations from the past two weeks and how we’d treat those players now …
PLayer | Week listed | Buy/Sell/Hold? |
Kyren Williams | 12 | Buy |
George Pickens | 12 | Buy |
Tee Higgins | 12 | Window closed? |
Bucky Irving | 11 | Window closed? |
Puka Nacua | 11 | Window closed? |
Breece Hall | 11 | Window closed? |
- Kyren Williams still has just 1 TD among his past four games. And he hasn’t seen a single target the past two weeks. He’s not likely to draw as many targets with Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp back healthy now. But Williams has continued to dominate the backfield in passing-game work. He shouldn’t see too many more 0-target outings. And TDs will return, especially with positive RB-scoring matchups against the Saints and Bills the next two weeks.
- George Pickens’ 48 yards at Cleveland last Thursday night marked his lowest yardage output since Week 6. That might make him more buyable this week than either of the previous two.
- Buying Tee Higgins before the Week 12 bye passed probably would have helped his price, though TDs in each of his past two games likely made that difficult anyway. He’s still worth the pursuit, with WR1 scoring potential the rest of the way. Higgins has been running even with Ja’Marr Chase in expected fantasy points (i.e. usage).
- If you didn’t buy Bucky Irving before his season-best explosion against the Giants, then it’s probably too late. If you have him, enjoy. If he sits on a team with RB depth in your league, why not make a run at him anyway?
- Puka Nacua has delivered receiving lines of 7-123 and 9-117 since we first included him here, showing exactly why he was worth paying up for.
- I only wish I had been more willing to chase Breece Hall in trade before he delivered his best fantasy outing of the season in Week 11. A struggling Jets team overall should have incentive to work him plenty the rest of the way.
Fantasy Sells
This trio has scored more fantasy points recently than their usage says they should have. That leaves plenty of negative-regression potential.
Rachaad White, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
White scored for the fifth straight game in Sunday’s win over the Giants. At the same time, he has watched Bucky Irving take over the team rushing lead. And last week even saw the rookie work well ahead of White in the passing game.
Irving ran 20 routes to White’s 11 and beat him 6-1 in targets. That marked just the second time all season that Irving led White in targets. The last time, though – Week 8 vs. Atlanta – still saw White running 27 routes to Irving’s 16.
On top of Irving’s edges, the Bucs got Sean Tucker back into the mix after playing him for 0 snaps in the Week 11 loss to San Francisco.
Things are trending poorly for White, especially with the whole backfield bound to cede some target share back to WR Mike Evans.
Fortunately, a positive schedule that includes two Carolina matchups a home date with the Raiders and a visit to Dallas should make White plenty marketable.
Nick Chubb, RB, Cleveland Browns
It was nice to see Chubb score twice and handle 20 carries in last Thursday night’s win over PIttsburgh. But he also averaged just 3 yards per rush and remained nearly invisible in the passing game.
Poor rushing efficiency against the Stelers isn’t a big deal, but Chubb’s averaging just 3.0 yards per carry across his five games this season. Even his high of 4.5 in Week 11 came against a Saints D yielding 5.05 per rush to RBs on the season.
Chubb’s simply not going to be his old self at any point this year. And his team doesn’t look likely to play from ahead much (at all?) on this remaining schedule:
- at Denver
- at Pittsburgh
- vs. Kansas City
- at Cincinnati
- vs. Miami
Best to see if you can sell Chubb for just about anything helpful this week.
Jared Goff, QB, Detroit Lions
In officially calling Goff a “Hold” last week, here’s what I wrote about whether to go ahead and sell him then:
You could, assuming you have another starting QB. But you could also wait until after this week’s matchup with the Colts.
Goff, of course, went without a TD pass in that game for the first time since Week 2. But he also completed 72.2% of his passes at a solid 7.5 yards per attempt. Detroit’s three TDs just all happened to come on the ground.
That TD variability, though, has been a key reason to fear fantasy regression for Goff. It has clearly worked heavily in his favor this year. His 6.5% passing-TD rate remains the highest of his career.
And now comes the worst schedule finish for any QB in the league. That’s exacerbated for Goff because the schedule’s also strongly positive for RB scoring. And the Lions love to lean on their RBs anyway.
Recent Sells
Let’s look back at our Sell recommendations from the past two weeks and how we’d treat those players now …
PLayer | Week listed | Buy/Sell/Hold? |
J.K. Dobbins | 12 | Injured |
Joe Mixon | 12 | Sell |
D'Andre Swift | 12 | Sell |
Amon-Ra St. Brown | 11 | Sell sensibly |
Najee Harris | 11 | Sell |
Brian Thomas Jr. | 11 | Sell? |
- Unfortunately, Monday night’s knee sprain makes J.K. Dobbins unsellable.
- Joe Mixon fired a great big warning shot about his tough closing schedule by posting season lows in rushing yards (22), total yards (45), and yards per touch in Sunday’s loss to the Titans. Fortunately, his 3-TD game the week before should mitigate any risk to his market price. Just don’t overreact to the Tennessee game and undersell.
- D’Andre Swift similarly hits this week off a down game. He’s still worth trying to sell before Thursday’s negative matchup with the Lions.
- Amon-Ra St. Brown’s TD streak was bound to end, as it did Sunday against the Colts. He’s certainly still not a “must” sell by any means. You’d be moving St. Brown only because he should bring a big return (and because his remaining schedule heavily favors RB scoring over the passing game).
- I think Najee Harris getting outproduced by Jaylen Warren in Week 12 was at least partly due to the quick turnaround from a Week 11 game that saw Harris get 22 touches to Warren’s 13 in a tough matchup with Baltimore. The Cleveland game might make Harris tougher to sell. But the league’s worst remaining RB schedule (and Warren’s presence) still makes it worth a try.
- Maybe a 5-82 bounce back for Brian Thomas Jr. in Week 12 makes him more sellable this week. Might as well check.
Fantasy Holds
These guys aren’t likely to return enough value in trade to outweigh their upside.
Christian McCaffrey, RB, San Francisco 49ers
Not gonna lie, I started Wednesday morning thinking I wanted to build the “Sell” case for McCaffrey …
- 3.5 yards per rush so far
- 0 TDs in three games
- An offense that has fallen off the past two weeks
But what are the chances that your league mates aren’t aware of all those things as well? It’s at least as likely that they’re pumped you’re not getting more fantasy points from McCaffrey as it is they’re hoping they can buy him.
Even “bad” McCaffrey delivered 16.7 and 14.6 PPR points before last week’s team-wide debacle at Green Bay. And that game *probably* marked the worst we’ll see from these 49ers.
If someone comes with a strong offer to buy McCaffrey right now, I could certainly see being willing to move him.
But I wouldn’t be the one going hard after the Niners RB. And I don’t expect you’ll get enough return right now if you go trying to sell him off.
It’s also worth noting that San Francisco’s next two matchups – Buffalo and Chicago – stand as positive RB-scoring spots.
Washington Commanders RBs
Brian Robinson Jr. left Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys with an ankle sprain. He has said it’s not a high-ankle issue, and he initially returned to the game before leaving again. That all suggests it’s not too serious.
Austin Ekeler left the same game with a concussion that looked bad.
Neither guy looks like a good bet to play this week, though HC Dan Quinn said “we’ll see” on Robinson early in the week.
The biggest reason I’m bothering to include either guy here is that they have a high-upside matchup with the Saints in Week 15, following Washington’s bye.
The injuries plus the bye week could make Robinson and/or Ekeler seem like cut candidates. That might make sense for some fantasy rosters. But consider that Week 15 matchup – as well as your other cut options and who you’d be picking up – before you unload your Commanders RB.
Washington’s backfield ranks a strong seventh in PPR points per game for the season.
Recent Holds
Let’s see where Holds from the past two weeks stand.
PLayer | Week listed | Buy/Sell/Hold? |
David Njoku | 12 | Hold/Buy |
Jared Goff | 12 | Sell |
T.J. Hockenson | 11 | Hold |
Isiah Pacheco | 11 | Hold |
- David Njoku might even be a “Buy” now, after a season-worst 9 yards on 1 catch in a snow game vs. Pittsburgh. That included a bad drop on what would have been a TD and followed five straight games of 5+ receptions for Njoku.
- Jared Goff got the full treatment earlier in this article.
- T.J. Hockenson saw his best playing time so far this season and his second strong receiving line in the past three weeks. He remains a definite hold. Let’s hope this continues.
- Isiah Pacheco finally looks ready to return. We’ll see exactly how the Chiefs distribute backfield work.
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