The NFL trade deadline is still more than a week away, and we’ve already had two fantasy-relevant trades in the past few days. The Carolina Panthers traded Robbie Anderson to the Arizona Cardinals on Monday. Then, they sent Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night. While everyone in the fantasy community hopes they trade DJ Moore, that seems unlikely unless a team is willing to overpay.
Speaking of DJ Moore, he isn’t the only Moore that fantasy players want to see traded before the November 1 deadline. New York Jets second-year receiver Elijah Moore has requested a trade. The team announced Moore will not play in Week 7 but have no intention of trading him. Maybe fantasy players will get lucky, and the trade request will be the wake-up call the Jets need to give the talented WR more targets moving forward.
While there has been some trade movement already and a few players we wish would get traded, let’s focus on the three most likely to get moved before the deadline: Cam Akers, Chase Claypool, and Mike Gesicki.
The Los Angeles Rams have publicly stated they want to trade Akers. Whether a deal gets done or Akers sticks with the team is still to be determined.
Sean McVay all but says outright that the Rams are exploring trade possibilities with Cam Akers. Sounds like they’ve had some interest but McVay also said he didn’t want to rule in absolutes in whether they will try to salvage situation if they can’t find a partner.
— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) October 17, 2022
Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Steelers reportedly have a high asking price for Claypool. If they don’t get their asking price, the Steelers will likely keep him, despite rookie George Pickens‘ impressive play the past few weeks.
#Steelers WR Chase Claypool is a player NFL teams have inquired about. Executives believe he was available for trade during preseason
His price would be similar to what the #Panthers got for CMC, a league executive told @BillHuberNFL
Multiple "2nd-round picks, a 3rd and a 5th." pic.twitter.com/15WuDdlZ4q
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 21, 2022
Lastly, the Miami Dolphins reportedly will trade Gesicki before the deadline. Hopefully, that happens, given that the tight end position is extremely thin for fantasy players. The veteran tight end has averaged only 3.2 targets and 7.1 half-point PPR fantasy points per game this season. However, he has averaged 12.4 fantasy points per game in the three games with four or more targets this year.
The #Dolphins are expected to trade TE Mike Gesicki by the NFL Trade Deadline. pic.twitter.com/Xv90dxAXrM
— Michael Balko (@MichaelBalkoJr) October 20, 2022
Remember, this article isn’t predicting where the players will land if traded. I am looking at the best landing spots from purely a fantasy football standpoint.
Ideal Landing Spots for Cam Akers
Carolina Panthers
After trading McCaffrey away, the Panthers have D’Onta Foreman, Chuba Hubbard, and Raheem Blackshear left at running back. No offense to those three, but Carolina now has the worst running back room in the NFL. Foreman played well to close out last season for the Tennessee Titans, averaging 4.4 yards per rushing attempt over his final six games. Meanwhile, Hubbard struggled to fill McCaffrey’s shoes last year when the superstar running back missed time, averaging 7.4 half-point PPR fantasy points per game. Akers hasn’t played well since returning from a torn Achilles. However, a change of scenery and a fresh start might be all he needs. In Carolina, the former Florida State star would have an easy pathway to a featured role.
Tennessee Titans
Fantasy players with Derrick Henry on their roster won’t like this, but hear me out. Last year King Henry missed half the season with a foot injury. Thankfully he’s been able to stay healthy so far this season, but the workload is starting to add up. The veteran running back has averaged 26.7 touches per game over his past three contests. Furthermore, he has accounted for 49.9% of Tennessee’s offensive yards during that span. Akers obviously wouldn’t come in and replace Henry. However, the third-year running back could lighten Henry’s workload a little while turning the Titans into an even more run-heavy offense. Think of Henry and Akers as the AFC South version of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. Both running backs would be startable most weeks.
Ideal Landing Spots for Chase Claypool
Kansas City Chiefs
When the Chiefs traded Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins in the offseason, everyone knew the wide receiver room would change dramatically. However, the combination of JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Skyy Moore, and Mecole Hardman hasn’t gotten the job done. All four rank outside the top 30 wide receivers in half-PPR scoring, averaging under 23.5 fantasy points per game combined. Meanwhile, Hill is the WR4 for the year, averaging 18.2 fantasy points per game. Adding Claypool won’t replace Hill, but he will give Patrick Mahomes a physical outside receiver capable of making plays downfield. Imagine what Claypool could do as the No. 1 wide receiver in Kansas City, with Mahomes throwing him the ball.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville wide receiver core got off to a hot start this season. Christian Kirk and Zay Jones each had six receptions for at least 65 yards in Week 1. However, both have struggled lately. Kirk averaged 17.9 half-point PPR fantasy points per game over the first three weeks of the year but has scored only 17.7 total fantasy points per game since. Meanwhile, Jones scored 19.5 fantasy points in Week 3 but has only 9.4 total fantasy points over the past two weeks. With both struggling, adding Claypool would be what everyone needs. Claypool would see an uptick in targets, Kirk would have someone to keep defenses from doubling him all the time, and Jones is better suited as the No. 3 receiver.
Ideal Landing Spots for Mike Gesicki
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I almost listed the Atlanta Falcons as a landing spot since they don’t properly use Kyle Pitts. However, jokes aside, the Buccaneers would be an excellent spot for Gesicki. After losing Rob Gronkowski to retirement, Tampa Bay has relied on Cameron Brate, Cade Otton, Kyle Rudolph, and Ko Kieft this season. However, they combine to average only 8.1 half-point PPR fantasy points per game this year. Furthermore, the Julio Jones experiment has failed. The veteran receiver has only four receptions in two games this season and continues to struggle with injuries. Pairing Gesicki with Tom Brady would give fantasy players another reliable starting option at tight end.
New York Giants
Daniel Bellinger has played well the past two weeks, averaging a touchdown and 10.9 half-point PPR fantasy points per game. However, Gesicki would be a massive upgrade over the rookie. Furthermore, the Giants lack talent at wide receiver outside of Wan’Dale Robinson. While he is far from an elite quarterback, Daniel Jones is completing a career-high 67.3% of his pass attempts this season. Furthermore, New York is winning despite their passing attack, not because of it, as no wide receiver or tight end has more than 19 receptions this year. Gesicki would have no trouble averaging seven or more targets per game in New York, given their lack of weapons.
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Mike Fanelli is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @Mike_NFL2.
