Fantasy football leagues are in full swing, and with it comes severe episodes of projected anger as well as moments of triumph. Once again, this year is panning out to be a classic mix of stars showing off what they have and unexpected ringers surprising opponents and fantasy owners alike.
As usual, the stars are showing up and flexing their talents. At wide receiver, Antonio Brown and Julio Jones have satisfied their fantasy owners with some impressive showings. Two weeks ago, Jones added his name to the short and impressive list of wide receivers who have racked up at least 300 yards in a single game.
There have also been some surprises, however, in the fantasy passing game. Detroit is making the good-surprise list with Marvin Jones, who is topping off most leagues as the number one fantasy receiver in all the land.
On the other hand, some top looks have been coming up shorter than expected. Odell Beckham Jr., despite having a huge week last week, is hustling a player rank in the low 20s when he was a top three pick in many drafts. Dez Bryant is following suit, but hey, who can blame a guy for being consistent? Just like last year, the star from Dallas is battling injuries but is hoping to be suited up for the remainder of the year, especially after a bye week for a little extra rest.
Taking names from the backfield, Adrian Peterson has disappointed hundreds of thousands of people by being placed on injured reserve for the season. Le’Veon Bell is back and ready to go big. Ezekiel Elliot is showing off everything he learned at THE Ohio State University (just in case you got THE Ohio State University mixed up with all the other Ohio State Universities out there).
Matt Ryan is showing bits of his old self, sitting atop all other QBs in fantasy points. Big Ben Roethlisberger was having great success with Brown and other wideouts like Sammie Coates until he went off and got hurt. And anyone who’s ever had a mother, which is everyone, knows it’s all fun and games having the number three QB in fantasy until someone gets hurt. Matthew Stafford puts the Lions on the map again as a top five QB any given week. And now that Tom Brady is back and putting up Tom Brady-appropriate numbers, fantasy owners are realizing the four-week wait was worth it.
As a responsible multileague fantasy football player, I think it’s time to make some trades. Matt Ryan has fantastic trade value right now, and fantasy owners need to get what they can for him before he has his classic midseason fall out and Atlanta starts losing. Willie Snead is a late-round steal that is at a low trade value due to his toe injury. However, he’s going to be suiting up again so trading a steady flex player can snag you a fantastic WR3 and respectable WR2. If Sammie Coates from Pittsburgh is still on the waiver wire, get him now. If someone has him, he might be a decent trade piece if you need to trade depth for big-game potential.
Talking about trades, I just made a big move myself. I gave up Beckham and Lamar Miller in exchange for David Johnson. I know, I know, might sound silly. But as I still have three top-10 WRs in Jordy Nelson, Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree, getting one of the most explosive and high scoring RBs in the NFL has a marginal cost. Moral of the story: it’s OK to give up a star that’s not performing in order to get an even better star that’s consistently awesome week after week.
