5 Fantasy RBs to Trade For/Away
With a plethora of injuries from Week 2, let’s take a look at some potential trades to help you throughout the season. Fantasy managers who had the first two picks in the draft are probably needing to fill an RB spot with the loss of Saquon Barkley for the year (torn ACL) and Christian McCaffrey for potentially 4-6 weeks (ankle, on IR). Some other injuries to top running backs include; Raheem Mostert (high-ankle sprain, week-to-week), Le’Veon Bell (hamstring, IR), Phillip Lindsay (toe, 2-4 weeks), and Marlon Mack (torn Achilles, out for year).
All these injuries likely have fantasy owners scrambling through the trade block and the waiver wire for players to get them through these tough times, so let’s see how we can take advantage of this situation and fight for a playoff spot.
PLAYERS TO TRADE AWAY:
Melvin Gordon III – Melvin Gordon is likely performing at his best right now with increased usage due to Lindsay’s absence. Sell high on Gordon to avoid his potential late season struggles when he gets less touches with a healthy Lindsay.
Mark Ingram II – Mark Ingram was a higher fantasy draft pick being the “starter” in Baltimore. But he will have to be extremely efficient in the Baltimore offense that features fellow running mates; Lamar Jackson, Gus Edwards, and JK Dobbins. This will lead to a very TD-dependent and inconsistent year for Ingram as we’ve seen in the first 2 weeks. He rushed for 29 yards in week 1, and followed it up with 77 total yards and a TD in week 2. Sell Ingram to avoid a boom/bust player every week.
JK Dobbins – JK Dobbins is in the same boat as Ingram being in the 4-headed rushing attack in Baltimore. Dobbins has been extremely efficient considering the fact that he only has touched the ball 10 times and has scored twice and is averaging almost 8 yards per carry. Sell high on Dobbins so you can avoid another boom/bust Raven.
Ronald Jones II – RoJo has likely lost the starting job to Leonard Fournette after his fumble in Week 2. Although Fournette scored most of his points in garbage time, (103 rushing yards, 2 TDs, 4 rec, 13 yards in total) it seemed like enough to put the former Jaguar ahead of Jones. It still looks to be a RBBC in Tampa Bay, but RoJo is likely 1b to Fournette’s 1a.
Devin Singletary – Devin Singletary has underperformed considering his mid/high draft price and rookie RB Zack Moss has been getting significant touches. Zack Moss has 20 touches to Singletary’s 26. Get rid of Singletary so you can get some more value instead of hoping Singletary scores a TD every week.
PLAYERS TO TRADE FOR:
Christian McCaffrey – Fantasy owners might be willing to deal the best fantasy player in the league, but it will likely come at a price and missing playing time, but it might be worth it if you have some good fill-in RBs for those weeks. McCaffrey will miss at least 3 weeks and also has a untimely bye in week 13 for fantasy players. But if you are off to a hot start and are willing to take a risk, why not go for RunCMC?
Joe Mixon – Mixon has not reached the end zone in the first two weeks and he also fumbled in week one. Mixon should have better days ahead of him with what appears to be a sneaky good offense behind Joe Burrow.
Kenyan Drake – Kenyan Drake has also been decent, not great in the first two weeks which could lead to fantasy owners wanting to make a trade. Drake will most definitely have some bigger games in the near future in a good Arizona offense behind second year starter Kyler Murray.
Jonathan Taylor – Taylor may be hard to get in a trade, but if you can somehow pull it off, it would be a huge win. Taylor has a shot to be a top 5 fantasy running back with the loss of teammate Marlon Mack for the year. He touched the ball a whopping 28 times in Week 2 and that is gold to fantasy owners.
Raheem Mostert – Mostert is week-to-week with a high-ankle sprain, but once he gets healthy, he can be dangerous later this year. The 49ers rushing attack is their most lethal weapon on offense, and Mostert is the main back when he is playing. You will be very happy if you can buy-low on Mostert.
David Johnson – David Johnson will likely struggle again this week facing a tough Steelers defense, but after that he should be a reliable starter. He should get around 15 touches per week and also faces a terrible Bengals rushing defense in Week 16, which is the fantasy championship game in most leagues.
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