Week 9 Swap Meet: 5 of the Most Traded Players This Week (2019 Fantasy Football)

Week 9 can be an absolute nightmare for many fantasy owners. To start, you could be in must-win mode, with another loss essentially eliminating you from playoff contention. Of course, you reading and following my work means you’re too smart to be in that situation.

Aside from the stakes of the matchup, we have many fantasy-relevant players on bye this week, with the Falcons, Bengals, Saints, and Rams all off. That’s a lot of fantasy WRs that will be on benches this week. This could lead to tough lineup construction, which may force you to make some trades if you cannot afford to lose another game.

These are five of the most-traded players from this week. If you do find yourself involved in trades with these players in them, I will give you a few names of relatively equal value that you can consider or at least gauge the player’s value off of. All values given take half-point PPR scoring into consideration.

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Drew Brees (QB – NO)
Brees returned to action last week without missing a beat. He passed for 373 yards and three touchdowns to just a single interception against Arizona. In his two full games this season, Brees has averaged 23.9 fantasy points per game, which is third among QBs on a per-game basis.

Brees is on bye this week, which means he is able to rest his hand and recover from any potential soreness that he may have experienced. The chance of re-injury is low, and the veteran can be viewed as a QB1 for the rest of the season. With so many QBs getting hurt or benched this year, a healthy, rested QB1 is a valuable trade asset, which is why Brees has been traded so much over the past week. Whether you’re shopping Brees or you need a starting level QB, these are three players that can be included in a trade for Brees.

Devonta Freeman (RB – ATL): Rushing yards continue to be tough to come by for Freeman, but he has been a consistent producer as a receiver. This receiving production has helped him be RB17 through eight weeks.
A.J. Green (WR – CIN): Green will be making his season debut after his Week 9 bye, but it will not be Andy Dalton throwing him the football. Luckily, I don’t think Green’s performance has been a product of Dalton. A bold statement, I know. He may start out slow, but he should be a WR2 with upside for the rest of the way.
Darren Waller (TE – OAK): Waller has been TE3 this season and his value among the fantasy community is finally going up. Given his role in this offense, he will continue to be a solid producer for fantasy.

Melvin Gordon (RB – LAC)
Slowly, very slowly, Melvin Gordon is getting better in fantasy. Last week, he scored his first touchdown of the season and averaged 3.9 yards per carry, his highest of the season. Still, he had just 34 total yards on 10 touches and cannot be trusted as a starting running back right now.

The Chargers fired their offensive coordinator this week, which could bring a new sense of energy into this offense and help things run a bit smoother. Let’s be real, it’s not like Gordon has been the one poor performer. This offense has done nothing recently. Once the offense as a whole improves, Gordon’s fantasy production will improve with it, and he’ll have obvious RB2 upside if it does. Whether you’re in a position to buy low on Gordon or you need to trade him to get someone who can perform now, these are three players that hold similar values to Gordon right now.

Sony Michel (RB – NE): After a very slow start to the season, Michel has totaled over 70 rushing yards in three of his last four games. He also showed the upside he has as the starting running back for New England, by scoring three touchdowns a couple of weeks ago.
Tyrell Williams (WR – OAK): Williams has played just five games this season, but he has caught a touchdown in all of them. This consistency has led him to WR33 in the ranks. Of course, this streak has to end at some point, but he is the clear go-to weapon through the air when the Raiders get in scoring range.
Zach Ertz (TE – PHI): We will talk about Ertz a little later in this article, but he is TE7 on the season. However, he has been just TE24 over the past three weeks and has not been converting on the targets he is seeing. Still, we know his talent and he should improve.

Emmanuel Sanders (WR – SF)
Last week, Sanders was traded in reality, from Denver to San Francisco. So naturally, in fantasy the same happened, making him one of the most traded players of the week. The veteran WR heads out west and immediately sees a QB and offensive upgrade. He is the clear best WR on the team, so Kyle Shanahan will get to work designing ways to get Sanders the ball often during this long week after their Thursday night matchup.

He appears to be enjoying his time with the 49ers so far, finding the end zone in both games with the team. He will continue to get a lot of Jimmy Garoppolo’s attention, and he should be in the WR2 conversation for the rest of the season, making him a great player to own for fantasy. These are three players that have similar value to Sanders this week if you find yourself in a trade with Sanders in it.

Royce Freeman (RB – DEN): Freeman splits snaps with Phillip Lindsay, which severely limits his upside. However, he has been a consistent producer in the passing game, catching 33 passes this season, which is a big reason why he is RB25.
Joe Mixon (RB – CIN): His name continues to be the most valuable part about him, but Mixon has shown brief flashes of what we hoped we would see. There is a chance that after the bye he can improve on his RB32 ranking, because of the QB change and the return of A.J. Green to this offense.
Terry McLaurin (WR – WAS): “Scary Terry” has cooled off after a historic start to his rookie season. He has looked just as good, so this drop in production comes from both the coaching change and the instability of the QB position. He is WR17 on the season and should be considered a high-end WR3 the rest of the way.

T.Y. Hilton (WR – IND)
Hilton missed a game with an injury earlier this season and he has already had his bye week, meaning he has played just six games so far this year. Even with only six games played, he ranks as WR22 for this season, averaging 13.7 fantasy points per game. He has found the end zone in four of his six games and has at least six catches in half of his games. However, Hilton has yet to hit the 100-yard mark in a game this season, which does limit his upside going forward if he is not putting up those huge performances that we are accustomed to.

Still, Hilton is a steady receiver and the true top receiving weapon of Jacoby Brissett. He is not likely to win you a week single-handedly right now, but he sure isn’t going to lose it for you. This is valuable down the stretch of the fantasy season, and he does have matchups against Tampa Bay, New Orleans and Carolina in Weeks 14-16. If you looking to trade away or trade for this valuable fantasy receiver, these are three players that have similar value.

James Conner (RB – PIT): Conner has come alive during his past two games, totaling 269 yards and three touchdowns. These two performances have vaulted him to RB9 on the season, but now Conner has a shoulder injury and is at risk of missing some time.
Derrick Henry (RB – TEN): Henry is RB10 on the season, but he has been a frustrating start if he does not score a touchdown since he does not do much in the passing game. He also has not topped 100 yards since Week 4, which was the only time all season.
Keenan Allen (WR – LAC): Allen ranks as WR12 on the season, but he has been just WR49 since Week 4, and that is with him playing every game. He has been banged up and the offense overall has been bad, but he should bounce back soon.

Zach Ertz (TE – PHI)
Don’t look now, but Ertz may not be the best fantasy tight end on the Eagles’ team. Over the past three weeks, Ertz has been TE24, catching eight of his 18 targets for 112 yards. Dallas Goedert has been TE7, catching 12 of his 17 targets for 139 yards and two touchdowns. Of course, this is mostly because Ertz is a focal point for opposing defenses, but Goedert is certainly taking advantage.

DeSean Jackson is expected back for Philly this week, which will force defensive backs to back up and make sure the speedster does not get behind them. That opens things up underneath, which could really help Ertz. However, Ertz owners are frustrated and rightfully so. Not only has Ertz been bad, but another TE on the team has actually been good. Whether you’re the frustrated owner looking to trade him or you think you can buy low on the talented TE, these are three players that can be valued similarly to Ertz this week.

Phillip Lindsay (RB – DEN): Lindsay splits snaps with Royce Freeman, as discussed above, which limits the upside of both players. However, he is RB13 on the season and at least sees a consistent workload.
Odell Beckham Jr. (WR – CLE): It’s been a tough start for OBJ and the Browns. He ranks as the WR29 so far, but his schedule is about to get a bit easier, making him a nice buy-low candidate.
Drew Brees (QB – NO): We discussed Brees above. On a per-game basis, he is third among QBs, if we throw out the partial game where he was hurt. He is a QB1 the rest of the way.

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Zach Brunner is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Zach, follow him @FantasyFlurry.

NFL Drew Brees Devonta Freeman A.J. Green Andy Dalton Darren Waller Melvin Gordon Sony Michel Tyrell Williams Zach Ertz Emmanuel Sanders Jimmy Garoppolo’s Royce Freeman Phillip Lindsay Joe Mixon Terry McLaurin T.Y. Hilton Jacoby Brissett James Conner Derrick Henry Keenan Allen Dallas Goedert DeSean Jackson Odell Beckham Jr.