This may be the best part of the season for fantasy football. Pending Monday Night Football, the QB1 is Baker Mayfield, the RB1 is Alvin Kamara, the WR1 is Chris Godwin, and the TE1 is Isaiah Likely. If you didn't see this coming, you clearly didn't do enough fantasy football research this summer.
All jokes aside, the wonky results from the first two weeks of the season present some great opportunities to pull off some advantageous trades. At the end of the day, fantasy leagues are often won by the managers who perform best on the waiver wire and trading block, not those who have the best draft.
Even if you're brand new to fantasy fantasy football, you're probably familiar with the concept of buying low and selling high. Looking to invest in players who are underperforming while moving on from those who are exceeding expectations is one of the key strategies when approaching the trading block. Today, we have the top buy-low and sell-high candidates as we move into Week 3 of the NFL season.
Who are the top buy-low players heading into Week 3?
Ja'Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
Investing in Ja'Marr Chase right now is like buying 10 Bitcoins in 2013; his value is incredibly low at the moment, but he's set to see a meteoric rise. But unlike Bitcoin, Chase's value is going to spike in a week, not in a few years. Next week on Monday Night Football, The Bengals take on a horrific Commanders secondary that has been walked all over by Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Malik Nabers in recent weeks. Chase's pedestrian production is not a symptom of lacking talent; Cincinnati's offense has taken their typical three or four weeks to ramp up. Expect them to find their stride in Week 3.
Buy-Low Rating: 6/10
Potential Trade Package: Garrett Wilson and Rashid Shaheed
Editor's Note: Don't forget to consult our rankings to see which other players are considered of similar value if suggested players are not on your teams.
WEEK 3 FANTASY PPR RANKINGS
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
Chris Olave, WR, New Orleans Saints
Chris Olave was on the buy-low list last week, and we're going back to him as we move to Week 3. As discussed last week, the issues in years past have been the Saints' overall offensive environment, not Olave's talent. Well, New Orleans has completely turned things around this season and have scored the second-most points (91) through two games this century. Olave is the clear WR1 in what is shaping up to be a very strong offense. After another mediocre day with a stat line of 4/81/0, the buy-low window is still open on Olave.
Buy-Low Rating: 7/10
Potential Trade Package: Chris Godwin and Zack Moss
Devin Singletary, RB, New York Giants
For teams without a reliable RB2, Devin Singletary is a strong trade target. Oftentimes, all you need in your RB2 slot is someone who is going to be on the field regularly and handle the majority of their team's rushing work. Devin Singletary has been just this through two weeks. On Sunday against the Commanders, Singletary was on the field for 79 percent of snaps and handled 94 percent of the RB rushes. It will be hard for Singletary to be a top-20 option at RB, but few backs hold this kind of role, and it should translate to consistent low-end RB2 production for Singletary.
Buy-Low Rating: 5/10
Potential Trade Package: Najee Harris
WEEK 3 WAIVER WIRE ADVICE
Top Players to Target | How to spend FAAB
Garrett Wilson, WR, New York Jets
Garrett Wilson is the third in our trio of high-end receivers who are strong targets in trades. Wilson has not lived up to his Round 1 draft capital thus far, averaging just 11.1 PPR points per game after Week 2. However, his usage within the offense has been elite, as expected. Wilson has a 29-percent target share and 45-percent air yards share through two games. He is the engine of the offense through the air and this will translate to strong fantasy production in the near future. If the Wilson manager in your league is panicking, it's time to pounce.
Buy-Low Rating: 7/10
Potential Trade Package: Deebo Samuel and Stefon Diggs
Zack Moss, RB, Cincinnati Bengals
Zack Moss has been quietly keeping Chase Brown off the field through two weeks. It was reasonably close to a split backfield in Week 1, but it was all Moss in Week 2 against the Chiefs. Moss played 80 percent of snaps and handled 12 carries to Brown's four. Moss was only able to turn this usage into 5.7 PPR points, which was fairly disappointing for fantasy managers. However, if Moss is able to dominate the backfield to this degree, his fantasy production should climb as Cincinnati's offense finds its footing.
Buy-Low Rating: 6/10
Potential Trade Package: Javonte Williams
Brock Bowers, TE, Las Vegas Raiders
Brock Bowers may not exactly be a buy-low, but he's someone to trade for before his value ascends into the stratosphere. Bowers is living up to the "generational TE prospect" label. He is quickly working into a 1A/1B situation with Davante Adams in the Raiders' offense. Speaking of the Raiders' offense, they actually lead the league in pass rate, and Gardner Minshew seems competent enough to support two strong fantasy assets in Bowers and Adams. Bowers has a 25-percent target share through two games and has the talent to produce at a high level with this sort of volume. He is rapidly climbing the tight end ranks and should be targeted if the manager in your league doesn't realize what they have.
Buy-Low Rating: 8/10
Potential Trade Package: Evan Engram and Ladd McConkey
Fantasy Football Trade Advice Week 1: Sell-high candidates
Chris Godwin, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
There's no denying that Chris Godwin is well on his way to a bounce-back season with a return to the slot (65 percent slot rate through two games). However, WR1 (overall) production is quite clearly not sustainable for Godwin. He has been the beneficiary of two incredibly advantageous matchups in Washington and Detroit, which are likely the two worst secondaries that Tampa Bay will face this season. Godwin will be able to produce at a level that keeps him as a WR2 or Flex option in most weeks, but his value in fantasy is likely peaking already.
Sell-High Rating: 8/10
Potential Trade Target: Brandon Aiyuk
Rashid Shaheed, WR, New Orleans Saints
Another wide receiver whose value is likely peaking is Rashid Shaheed. He is an exciting talent who is a meaningful piece of a strong offense, but this level of production will be virtually impossible to maintain. Shaheed is currently the WR9, averaging 18.6 PPG. However, 72 percent of this production has come on just two plays, 59-yard and 70-yard touchdowns from Derek Carr. These are the hardest plays to recreate in football, and it's frankly shocking to have seen Shaheed do it twice already this year. He will provide a high weekly ceiling thanks to his big-play ability, but his production will be far more volatile in future weeks.
Sell-High Rating: 6/10
Potential Trade Target: Christian Kirk
David Montgomery, RB, Detroit Lions
It would be incredibly difficult for the 1B in a backfield to finish as an RB1 in fantasy football. Well, through two weeks, David Montgomery is doing just that. Jahmyr Gibbs is the RB9 and Montgomery is the RB12. Montgomery's fantasy production has been bolstered by two things: receiving work and touchdowns. The touchdowns are fairly self-explanatory; Montgomery has scored in two straight games, something that will not be sustainable. In terms of the receiving work, Montgomery's Week 2 output as a pass catcher was out of the ordinary. He scored 7.5 PPR points through the air, the highest single-game mark in 16 games with the Lions. Much like the 1.0 touchdowns per game, this level of receiving production should not be viewed as the norm. Montgomery will likely end the season in the RB2 ranks assuming he stays healthy.
Sell-High Rating: 5/10
Potential Trade Targets: Underperforming RB1s (Travis Etienne, Josh Jacobs)
