Whether you’re playing redraft or dynasty, knowing what to do is crucial to success.
That’s why each of our fantasy football experts is giving you a step up to take advantage of this week.
Buy Carnell Tate Next Week
Jared Smola
I’m usually against trying to “time the market” in trades, but Tate is an exception.
The rookie drew a sneaky tough matchup in Week 8 against Cincinnati. The Bengals rank 14th in adjusted fantasy points allowed to WRs. But, led by elite CB DJ Turner, they allowed the second fewest fantasy points per game to outside WRs. Which is where Tate ran 73% of his routes.
Tate could miss this weekend before a Week 9 bye. There’s a good chance he’ll be cheaper next week than he is now.
Following that Week 9, Tate had the league’s second-easiest WR schedule. That includes three games against bottom-4 WR defenses, along with meetings with the Cowboys and Commanders.
QB play is an obvious concern in Tennessee. But Tate has the talent, role (26% target share), and schedule to deliver top 25 WR production in the second half of the season.
Start Here Before You Send Your Next Trade Offer
Kevin English
I get asked dozens of trading questions every week.
Often, the initial question is:
“I’m hurting at RB but deep at WR … can you help me build some offers to improve my team?”
It’s a fair question, but there’s a quick way to figure out the next step toward completing a trade: finding the right partner.
Open the Trade Analyzer and find the adjacent Trade Partner Finder Tab.
From there, select the position you need and the one you are willing to trade. Click Analyze, and the tool will identify your most compatible trading partners based on positional strengths and weaknesses.
Now you have a targeted list of managers who might actually want what you have to offer.
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Trade for TJ Hockenson to Start Preparing for the Playoffs
Shane Hallam
Hockenson isn’t a sexy TE for your fantasy squad, but this is the week to make a move, even if he’s your only bench TE. He sits at TE9 in PPR points per game right now, and could improve this week.
Hockenson got the Lions, the weakest TE defense this year by fantasy points allowed. As Ian pointed out this past week, “The Lions defense has allowed more TE1 finishes than the games they’ve played.”
That means you can start Hockenson right away.
But the real appeal is Hockenson’s fantasy-playoff schedule. He has the easiest TE schedule from weeks 15 to 17, according to our strength of schedule tool. That slate includes a Week 16 rematch against the Lions and a game against the Commanders, who are the second-worst defense against TEs and have given up six TE1 completions in six games.
He had a slightly negative matchup against the Jets in Week 17, but if he helps carry you to the championship, it’s worth the cheap price.
Throw in a bench RB or WR with Hockenson manager upside and see if you can get him on your team.
Use Makai Lemon’s Career-High Against the Cowboys to Offload
Ian Miller
Makai Lemon has taken at least 75% route shares every week, but his latest performance marked his first 10-point PPR. He finished with a career-high 19.7 PPR points after hauling in seven of a team-high 8 targets for 67 yards and a TD.
The Eagles needed both WRs DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks to go down in a matchup against a Cowboys defense that allowed the sixth-most points to WRs entering Week 7 for Lemon to finally surpass 50 receiving yards.
It’s an encouraging performance, but there are still reasons for skepticism. He has yet to achieve a 100-yard game, which every other first-round rookie WR has at this point, outside of WR Jordyn Tyson, who has yet to play with a hamstring injury.
He still averaged less than 1.00 yards per route run. For reference, only seven first-round rookie WRs finished a season with less than 1.00 yards per route, and all failed to achieve a WR2 season in their careers.
Despite this, his value is at its highest since the start of the season, allowing for straight-across pivots to WRs like KC Concepcion, Jalen Coker, Omar Cooper Jr, or even getting an added asset with AJ Brown.
In dynasty fantasy football, avoiding falling assets is just as important as capturing rising ones.