We are officially halfway through the fantasy football season, and playoffs will be here before you know it. By now you have a pretty good feel for where you are at in the standings and what it’s going to take to make that push for a playoff spot. However, whether you are sitting comfortably or trying to squeak in, it is important to always continue to do whatever you can to stay on top of your game. We'll try to find some good buy-low trade targets ahead of Week 9 (along with potential sell-high candidates).
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LISTEN TO THE SN FANTASY WEEK 9 PREVIEW PODCAST BELOW
Fantasy Football Trade Candidates: Stock up
Gardner Minshew, QB JAX: Minshew had a very strong game against the Jets, completing 22-of-34 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran five times for 31 additional yards. Add it all up and you have a 23.96-point fantasy performance, his highest total of the season. It was his third game with at least 21 fantasy points in his past four, and he has scored at least 16.1 points in seven of eight games this season. He has been incredibly consistent, and while his upside isn’t through the roof, he is someone that you can slot in your lineup when needed and be comfortable with it. Minshew currently ranks as the No. 12 quarterback overall, making him a low-end QB1 or high-end QB2/SuperFlex play. He is completing 62-percent of his passes and has 13 passing touchdowns to just two interceptions, while also adding in 201 rushing yards to this point. The Jaguars may have found a real gem here with this rookie, one that they selected in the sixth round of the past draft. The fantasy playoff schedule is nice, too (Chargers, Raiders, Falcons, with a Bucs matchup in Week 13), so now might be the time to invest.
p>WEEK 9 NON-PPR RANKINGS:Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
Darren Fells, TE HOU: When Fells caught a pair of touchdowns against the Falcons in Week 5, it seemed pretty reasonable to just dismiss it for fantasy purposes considering it came on his only two targets of the game. However, he followed that up with a 12.9-fantasy point output in Week 6, a 4.7-point effort in Week 7, and then went off this week for 23.8 points against the Raiders last week. Over the past four games, he has caught 16-of-17 targets, four touchdowns, and is averaging 14.4 fantasy points per game in that span. At this point, we have to take Fells seriously and realize he is a bigger part of this offense than we thought he would be. It’s really encouraging to see that in the first game without Will Fuller V, he was targeted six times and hauled in a pair of touchdowns. Given that the tight end position can be a bit of a wasteland, Fells is worth consideration and is looking like a startable option right now.
WEEK 9 PPR RANKINGS: Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end
Tevin Coleman, RB SF: Coleman popped up for 37.8 fantasy points this week, carrying the ball 11 times for 105 yards and three touchdowns while adding in two receptions for 13 yards and another score. Outside of the downpour game against Washington, Coleman has scored at least 14.1 fantasy points in three of his four games since returning from injury. He has at least 60 rushing yards in three of those games and six total touchdowns in that span. He is the lead back for a team that runs an absurd amount of times. He also operates as the goal-line back and should continue to plunge in short-yard touchdowns. He can be plugged into your lineup on a weekly basis and makes for a worthwhile investment if you can still get him for less than an RB1-level return.
WEEK 9: Waiver wire | FAAB planner | Snap counts
Fantasy Football Trade Candidates: Stock down
Larry Fitzgerald, WR ARI: Fitz finished with two receptions for eight yards on four targets in Arizona’s 31-9 loss to the Saints. That was “good” for a whopping 2.8 fantasy points. It was his second-straight game with fewer than three points, and his fifth straight game with fewer than 13. After starting the season with three straight games with north of 14 fantasy points, things have really fallen off for the legendary wide receiver. Even if you chalk up last week's showing to Marshon Lattimore (which wouldn't be totally accurate, but whatever), Fitzgerald had the Giants, Falcons, and Bengals in the three games prior. Things are not going to get any easier this week either as the Cardinals face the 49ers on Thursday Night Football. He is not someone you can have any faith in for Week 9, and he should be left on your bench. He is not a strong buy-low candidate either, as he has the 49ers twice and the bye week over the next four weeks.
WEEK 9 DFS LINEUPS:
Y! cash | Y! GPP | DK cash | DK GPP | FD cash | FD GPP
Ty Johnson, RB DET: I flat-out never understood the love this guy was getting on waivers last week. People were blowing over half their FAAB on him like he was a lock for production. This wasn’t a Leonard Fournette or Zeke-type handcuff add. This was a guy that was replacing an injured Kerryon Johnson -- the same KJ that was RB27 at the time of his injury. Not to mention the fact that Ty Johnson is a sixth-round rookie who had just 29 yards on 10 carries in Week 7. So, what on earth made people like this Johnson so much was beyond me, but it didn’t take long for fantasy owners to regret their big investment in him, as he finished with just 4.8 fantasy points against a lousy Giants team. He had seven carries for 25 yards, which was five fewer carries than Tra Carson received (who no one ever spoke a word of). The Lions are a pass-first team that uses an RBBC approach. It's unlikely Johnson will have major fantasy relevance, so if you picked him up and can get something for him, do it.
Frank Gore, RB BUF: Gore finished Sunday’s game with nine carries for 34 yards and no receptions, giving him a 3.4-point fantasy day. It was his third straight game with fewer than nine fantasy points, and he was outplayed by the rookie running back Devin Singletary, who had three carries for 19 yards and four receptions for 30 yards and a touchdown (14.9 fantasy points). Gore isn’t going anywhere, but he will likely continue to lose more and more work to Singletary as the season progress. Singletary has looked far more explosive and is the pass-catching back, already giving him more value in PPR leagues. Both backs are very interesting over the next three weeks as the Bills play the Redskins, Browns, and Dolphins, all of which have really struggled at stopping running backs.
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Fantasy Football Stock Watch
David Montgomery, RB CHI: So many people were ready to give up on Montgomery after seeing his two-carry, six-yard performance in Week 7 against the Saints, but Matt Nagy did come out after that game and state that the Bears needed to run the ball more. They did just that in Week 8, as Montgomery rushed 27 times for 135 yards and a touchdown while also hauling in four-of-five targets for 12 yards. He finished with 24.7 fantasy points, and it was easily his best game of the season. Hopefully you stuck with him. This is a talented kid, and he just needed to actually get some work. The Bears will likely continue to feed him going forward, but he does have a very tough test on tap in Week 9 as the Bears head to Philly to take on the Eagles. However, things look pretty great for him in Weeks 10-16 (Lions, Rams, Giants, Lions, Packers, Chiefs). His stock is up a bit, but I would like to see him perform well again before getting too hyped up.
Russell Gage, WR ATL: Gage had eight targets, four receptions, and 44 yards through the Falcons' first seven games, but he hauled in seven-of-nine targets for 58 yards in the Falcons Week 8 loss to the Seahawks. Gage appears to be the main benefactor of the Mohamed Sanu trade, as he slid into the lineup and set new season highs across the board. It isn’t enough to warrant adding him (outside of very deep leagues), but it’s enough to keep an eye on him. It’s important to note though that he is still behind Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley and Austin Hooper in the pecking order.