Fantasy Football Trade Desk: Is there still time to buy Tyrone Tracy Jr. or Amari Cooper?

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Trade Desk. As a former English teacher and a current sportswriter, I have no finance background whatsoever, but I did watch Industry every week on HBO Max and have talked to a few of my friends in finance so I’m now basically an expert at stock trades.

Each week in this column I’ll guide you through some of my recommendations on which players we should be looking to target in fantasy football trades, which players we should be testing the waters on, and which players we should be holding onto. We’ll try to go beyond just the box score and evaluate role, usage, and matchups in a way that can help us identify the perfect time to move on from a well-performing player or take a risk on an underperforming one.

As a quick overall citation, all of my data for routes, target share, and other advanced metrics comes from Dwain McFarland’s Utilization Report over at Fantasy Life, so make sure you go check that out.

At the end of the day, we have one goal: to maximize the value of our players and get the best weekly returns on our fantasy lineup. Some of the calls may be risky. Some may be easy, but I’ll try to give you a wide range and a sense of value to help you navigate trade scenarios in your league. This leads to the final reminder that this is a trade column, so I won’t be discussing guys who are predominantly on waiver wires, but you can check out our awesome waiver wire articles for all of those potential names.

Don’t miss episodes of Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry and Rotoworld Football Show all season long for the latest player news, waiver wire help, start/sit advice, and much more.

Buy The Dip

As many of us know, “Buying the Dip” is when an investor buys an asset after its price has fallen in a way they believe to be temporary. That allows us to profit when the price rebounds, so all players listed here are players who I believe suffered a value dip in Week 1 that I feel confident will rebound in the coming weeks.

C.J. Stroud – QB, Houston Texans
It’s often hard to trade quarterbacks in fantasy leagues because there are either too many on the waiver wire or people play in deep leagues where quarterbacks are tremendously valuable. However, I think this may be a unique situation where you might be able to make a move. Stroud came into this season with plenty of hype but has managed just 14.7 points per game on the year, which makes him QB16 overall. He also hasn’t finished in the top 12 in any of the last five weeks; however, I think we could be looking at an upswing with Nico Collins on the way back.

In the first four weeks of the season, when Collins was healthy Stroud averaged just 16.6 fantasy points per game, but two of those games came against the Bears and Vikings, who have been two of the strongest defenses in football this season. The schedule should be much better for Stroud in the coming weeks. Over the next month before Houston’s bye, Stroud will face the Lions, Cowboys, Titans, and Jaguars. The Titans are the best group of that bunch, giving up the 19th-most fantasy points to opposing defenses, but the Lions give up the 16th-most, the Cowboys give up the fourth-most, and the Jaguars are the best fantasy matchup for opposing quarterbacks. This could be the beginning of a strong stretch for Stroud, which means now is the time to see if you can get him on your roster, especially with people still concerned about what the loss of Stefon Diggs might do to his upside. He didn’t have Diggs in 2023 and it didn’t matter much, so I don’t expect it to matter now.

Amari Cooper – WR, Buffalo Bills
I had Amari Cooper on as a “buy low” here last week, but I’m going to keep him on here because he missed Week 9 with a wrist injury, so his fantasy managers may be more frustrated than they were at this point last week. Since Cooper was traded to the Bills, the team has skewed more pass-happy, which makes sense with Josh Allen under center. The Bills are still going to want to run the football, but they are throwing more than the league norm over the last three weeks, and are likely going to continue increasing Cooper’s role in the offense. With rookie Keon Coleman also likely to be sidelined by a wrist injury he suffered in the win over the Dolphins, the team could lean on Cooper more in the coming weeks. The veteran should be a rock-solid WR2 from here on out with WR1 spike weeks, and you might find a fantasy manager in your league who is just tired of waiting.

Buy High, Sell Higher

At the beginning of this article, I talked about how our goal is to maximize the value we get out of the players on our team. Sometimes that means buying low, as we discussed above, and sometimes it means buying at a perceived high point on a player with questionable long-term value. If we believe there is some validity to the spike in value, we can acquire a player in a deal, try to reap the rewards of his good performances, and then still sell before the risk comes through but just sell at a higher price. This is different than just “buying high” because these players will have some risk and likely be ones you want to try and trade away later, so it’s a delicate balancing act.

Tyrone Tracy Jr. – New York Giants
Tracy is the clear RB1 in New York even with Devin Singeltary back, taking 59% of the rushes since the veteran returned while also playing 65% of snaps and running a route on 55% of dropbacks. That compares to a 33% snap share for Singletary with 23% of the rushes and a 21% route participation rate. However, Tracy stumbled in Week 9, running for just 66 yards on 16 carries. The general public loves to make fun of the Giants’ offense, so I think there is some skepticism that Tracy will be a reliable fantasy producer in New York; however, I think he’s a clear RB2 going forward. He’s listed as a “buy high” because you’re going to need to give up something of value to get him, but I’d rather have Tracy Jr. than Nick Chubb, Najee Harris, Rhamondre Stevenson, or Tony Pollard the rest of the way, just to name a few, so if you have one of those backs, maybe you move them plus a wide receiver for Tracy and another piece that you think could be a great bench asset for your team.

Taysom Hill – TE, New Orleans Saints
Hill is coming off a game in which he caught four passes for 41 yards and added 19 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground, so his fantasy manager is likely happy with his production. However, Hill is also seemingly always hurt, so that fantasy manager may be looking to get anything of value for Hill, who is likely not the only tight end on their roster. Given the injuries to Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave, I think taking Hill off that manager’s hands makes some sense. He’s going to see an uptick in receiving usage in the weeks ahead but also took 12% of the team’s rushes in Week 9. Since he continues to be used around the goal line, it gives him even more value. Yes, he might get hurt at any time, but if you need some short-term production, Hill could be an easy TE1 so maybe you can help his fantasy manager with a bye-week fill-in at RB or WR in order to get Hill on your team.

Rico Dowdle – RB, Dallas Cowboys
The injury to Dak Prescott is likely to make the Cowboys lean on the run a little bit more, and so I’m buying into what I saw from Dowdle in Week 9. With Ezekiel Elliott inactive, Dowdle played on 73% of the snaps, handled 59% of the rushes, and ran a route on 61% of the dropbacks. He turned that into 12 carries for 75 yards on the ground and five catches for 32 yards and a touchdown through the air. This was also his first game after the Cowboys’ bye week due to missing last week with the flu, so there’s an argument that the Cowboys have made a philosophy change and plan to get Dowdle more involved. With Cooper Rush now starting at quarterback for at least the next four weeks, I think that could continue.

So far this week, according to Fantasy Calc, Dowdle has been traded straight up for Jakobi Meyers, straight up for DeAndre Hopkins, and straight up for Isiah Pacheco. I would do all of those deals, but I think something like Hopkins would make sense after his huge game on Monday Night Football. The Fantasy Life Trade analyzer prefers that deal for the person getting Hopkins, but if you’re in a good spot with your wide receivers, I would make that move to get Dowdle.

Don’t miss episodes of Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry and Rotoworld Football Show all season long for the latest player news, waiver wire help, start/sit advice, and much more.

Buy a Call

When we buy a call on somebody, we are essentially buying the option on a player we think might hit big in the future. In finance (as I’ve learned from research) this means the buyer isn’t locked into purchasing the stock but has the option to do so at a lower price – a strike price – if they choose to do so in the future. For us, this means players who we want to add to our roster now in a small trade because we believe there’s a chance they are going to hit big for us later. We don’t want to pay a lot, but we want them around for the option to use them if it all breaks right.

Xavier Legette – WR, Carolina Panthers
I still think there is production ahead for Legette. Bryce Young looked better in a win over the Saints in Week 9, and Legette is on the field often, running a route in 93% of dropbacks without Diontae Johnson in town. Yes, that led to only four catches for 33 yards but one of those catches was a touchdown. Legette has a 22% target share and 34% of the team’s air yards when Diontae Johnson doesn’t play, so we always want to target that kind of role. The results will be inconsistent since Legette is young and Bryce Young has yet to prove he can consistently succeed at the NFL level, but taking a small gamble on Legette now could pay off down the stretch.

Jauan Jennings – WR, San Francisco 49ers
This feels like an interesting week to explore trading for Jennings. He was one of the hottest waiver wire adds in fantasy after Brandon Aiyuk was ruled out for the season, but since then he has missed two games with injury, Ricky Pearsall has become trendy, the 49ers have had a bye, and Christian McCaffrey has returned to practice. I’m not sure people are still thinking about Jennings too much. In fact, if Jennings stumbles this week against Tampa Bay, I think he’ll be back on plenty of waiver wires. However, I think once believe see Jennings and the rest of the 49ers offense on the field they’re going to remember what his upside is, even with CMC back. Now might be the last chance to get him on your roster before his fantasy manager realizes that he’s a sure-fire WR3 with potential WR2 value in the right matchup.

Run a Process

If you’re going to Run a Process on a player, then we’re going to explore a potential sale while not being locked into selling. This is essentially for players who we think will still perform at a solid clip this season but not at the rate that they currently are or not at the same rate that their current value suggests they will.

Jaylen Waddle – WR Miami Dolphins
I know we’re supposed to be excited about rostering players on the Dolphins with Tua Tagovailoa under center, and I do have Waddle in a few leagues, so I certainly understand the case for rostering him, but there are some concerning signs here. For starters, the Dolphins don’t want Tua taking any hits, so they have been using tons of quick passing over the last two weeks. That has led to more short-area work for De’Von Achane and Jonnu Smith in the passing game. In years past, the Dolphins have been mainly just a two-horse offense in the receiving game with Waddle and Tyreek Hill, but Waddle has gotten a lower target share than both Smith and Achane since Tua has come back. We know Tyreek can turn a five-yard completion into a huge gain, so his floor in a quick passing game is going to be higher than Waddle’s and I don’t love the added competition for the former Alabama wide receiver.

I’d rather have receivers like Darnell Mooney or Courtland Sutton, and if I needed a running back, I’d try to flip Waddle for any of Rhamondre Stevenson, Tyrone Tracy Jr., or even take a gamble on Jonathon Brooks coming off the IR.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba – WR, Seattle Seahawks
This is the ultimate “sell high” and every manager in your league will know it, but it’s still worth exploring. Smith-Njigba exploded for seven catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns against the Rams in Week 9. With DK Metcalf sidelined and the Seahawks trailing for much of the game, the team shifted Smith-Njigba’s role and pushed the ball down the field to him at an aggressive rate. That’s highly unlikely to be his role when Metcalf returns in Week 11 after the bye week. Now, the fantasy manager in your league likely knows that so you’re not going to fool anybody but trying to get rid of JSN, but he was a very trendy prospect coming out of Ohio State, so there are people who may also treat this as a “breakout game.”

Since JSN is likely a bench wide receiver on your team, this may be the time to move him for help at another position. Maybe you can move him to get Tyrone Tracy Jr., Chase Brown, Rachaad White, or Najee Harris. I’d rather have each of those RBs if I needed help at the position.

Straight Sell

Another self-explanatory one, but these are players we just want to get off our team. We’re not yet at the point where we’re cutting them, but if we can get anything of value in a trade, we want to move off of these players because we don’t believe in the long-term value at all.

Alexander Mattison – RB, Las Vegas Raiders
This is more of a deep league trade recommendation since Mattison isn’t fantasy-viable in a lot of shallow leagues, but he is averaging 9.6 points per game in half-PPR leagues which has made him RB28 on the season, so that makes him an RB2/3 fringe play. However, I think that might be coming to a close. In Week 9, Mattison handled just 45% of the carries and lost red zone work to Zamir White. He is also losing most of the passing down work to Ameer Abdullah and on a Raiders team that isn’t good, I just can’t justify holding onto a running back in a timeshare like this.