While you never want to overreact to the previous week’s games, you do have to take an immediate assessment of players for the purposes of waiver claims and trades. You have to treat your fantasy players like commodities on the stock market. Values may rise and fall based on player performance, but more importantly, you have to determine which values are changing based on public perception. Many players who see their stock rising are immediate sell-high candidates while those who seem to be falling out of favor could be fantastic buy-low options as well.
Here’s a look at the current changes in value after Week 2 games:
Stock Rising
Patrick Mahomes , QB KC – Let’s face it, you throw six touchdowns to beat the Steelers on their home turf and set an NFL record with 10 touchdown passes in your first two career starts and your value has never been higher. While it would seem Andy Reid has found his golden boy and the Chiefs are now the newest rendition of the Greatest Show on Turf (no, not even close, but who doesn’t love a little hyperbole?), it’s important to realize that the second-year quarterback is going to hit some bumps in the road and he’s always been, dating back to college, an interception-prone guy. If someone is offering you the world, you should probably take it, given the depth at the position.
Ryan Fitzpatrick , QB TB – FitzMagic is the ultimate sell-high candidate as the 2-0 Bucs look fantastic and anyone who shows up to a post-game presser dressed like Conor McGregor deserves some fanfare. But let’s pump the brakes here a little and hold off on handing over the Comeback Player of the Year award. Yes, the Bucs offense looks great right now, but maybe we should also realize the Saints’ and Eagles’ defenses aren’t as great as we thought. You’ve got to ride the wave until it breaks, but just like with Mahomes, if someone is offering you the moon, you take the damn moon.
Matt Breida , RB SF – Nothing like a 66-yard touchdown to run to put you onto everyone’s radar, right? Breida’s role hasn’t changed at all as he remains the pass-catching back in the 49ers offense. He had a great showing against a soft and slow Lions defense, but just keep in mind that if they face an opponent who has fast edge-rushers and hard-hitting defensive backs, a more methodical, up-the-middle approach could lend itself to more touches for Alfred Morris .
Giovani Bernard , RB CIN – With Joe Mixon out for at least two weeks with the knee issue, Bernard becomes a must-grab in fantasy as he will get the majority of touches out of the Bengals backfield. Rookie Mark Walton could see a share of the carries to help keep Bernard fresh and healthy, but if you’re putting in waiver claims today, he’s your target.
DeSean Jackson , WR TB – For as long as you have FitzMagic, you’ve got solid targets going Jackson’s way. Even with Winston under center, DJax is still going to hold value, so if he’s out there on your waiver wire, you should look to add him. If someone is shopping him, you can pay a comparable price, but this isn’t a must-own right now. The Bucs are flying high, but you can’t get caught up in the hype. Be sensible.
Keelan Cole , WR JAC – Acrobatic and one-handed catches will always put you on the map as fantasy football owners tend to blow everything out of proportion. Cole is a solid guy to own, but we cannot ignore the fact that this is still a run-first team, especially once Leonard Fournette comes back. Cole is really nothing more than a WR3/Flex play, so just be wary of someone attempting to sell-high.
John Brown , WR BAL – He’s still got the Sickle-Cell trait, so there will always be that lurking in the back of people’s minds, but it’s tough to ignore touchdowns in each of his first two games. He is clearly a red zone target for Joe Flacco and considering how much John Harbaugh likes to watch his quarterback throw, you can probably expect the target consistency to stay pretty strong. You’re not likely to see too many 100-yard efforts, but for you back-end wideouts, he’s probably going to pay some dividends on your investment.
Antonio Callaway , WR CLE – No Josh Gordon puts Callaway front-and-center in this pass attack now as he becomes the clear-cut No. 2 behind Jarvis Landry . We saw him break that big touchdown against the Saints, and while their defense may be overrated, he is going to see a significant increase in targets. The rookie has tremendous speed and good hands, so he’s definitely worth a waiver add if he’s available. We’re still not going to rate him higher than a WR3/Flex play just yet, but his value is trending in the right direction.
O.J. Howard , TE TB – Just like DJax, if there’s FitzMagic, then Howard is worthy of your attention. The majority of his work in Week 2 came on that one big touchdown grab, but that’s always been Howard’s M.O., as evidence by his performances last season. Winston always favored Cameron Brate , but we cannot ignore this pass-happy offense for now and see if we can’t exploit it today and sell high tomorrow.
Will Dissly , TE SEA – Apparently, he really is a thing now. Nick Vannett has seemingly taken a backseat and now we are looking at Dissly for our primary work. The rookie now has touchdowns in his first two games and given the state of the position – which is as trashy as it gets – he’s going to continue to climb up the tight end leaderboards and at least be worthy of an add if you’re struggling at the position. While the stock is certainly rising, there is nothing about him that dictates accepting him in any sort of a trade.
Stock Falling
Sam Bradford , QB ARI – Yeesh! How bad has this guy looked through the first two week? Atrocious. Seems like it’s just a very short matter of time before the Cardinals pull the plug on him and start the Josh Rosen Era, so feel free to dump him for…well…anyone else.
Alex Smith , QB WAS – He went from being Mr. Efficient to persona non grata in the span of a week. He doesn’t have killer weapons, but between Chris Thompson , Jordan Reed and possibly Paul Richardson , he should be fine to use as a back-up QB. You can’t ever expect big numbers from him, but there’s little reason to believe he can’t be useful in a reserve role. Don’t sweat a bad week and keep in mind that his Week 4 bye puts him as a solid alternative for a week, especially if your starter has a bye week somewhere between Weeks 8 and 11 inclusive.
Alex Collins , RB BAL – We went through this with Collins last year as it took John Harbaugh until the Ravens bye week to get his head out of his ass. Collins was ripping off chunks of yardage this past week but with the Ravens falling behind, his usage was limited. This Javorius Allen nonsense should get pulled back a little bit as time goes on, so if someone is offering Collins at a discounted rate, you’d be wise to make the move and stash him. You should even be able to mix him in over the next few weeks too, so those who are writing him off are making a mistake. Just look at his TPC and TD total from last year after Week 8.
Jamaal Williams , RB GB – His value is taking a serious hit after two less-than-stellar weeks and with Aaron Jones coming off suspension. Because of his lack of productivity through the first two weeks, he’s not going to be someone you’re going to get good value back for in a trade, so unless you own Jones, you should probably look to deal him off as a handcuff and get something useful in return. And by useful, we’re talking about an improvement on your flex play or maybe just a better tight end if you’re struggling at the position. Jones owners will provide you with the better return, so don’t let them lowball you too much. Williams has more value to them than he does to you.
Larry Fitzgerald , WR ARI – The struggles we’re seeing with the Cardinals offense are pulling the value of Fitz down, but make no mistake – he is still a quality receiver and when the team finally opts to switch to Josh Rosen , Fitz’s value could spike as the youngster leans heavily on the veteran to get him out of jams. You shouldn’t be looking to drop him outright and you’re going to have to hold off on trading him until he has a strong game. If you don’t own him, you can certainly shop an overachieving player to his owner and see if you can stash him for a few weeks to see how things progress.
Phillip Dorsett , WR NE – The addition of Josh Gordon is going to put an immediate hit on Dorsett’s overall value. He was still a decent option had the trade not happened and still could be one to watch as no one knows whether Gordon will fly the straight-and-narrow. But for now, his value is going to take a major hit as he and Chris Hogan will eventually start sharing targets on the opposite side of the field. The return of Julian Edelman will also diminish Dorsett’s value in two weeks, so if you need to make room on your roster to pick up someone like Gio Bernard or Phillip Lindsay , he’s a perfectly acceptable candidate to be dropped.
Sterling Shepard , WR NYG – The Giants are dealing with some offensive line struggles and just general growing pains here at the onset of the season, so Shepard isn’t getting the looks he deserves. Odell Beckham will always be the No. 1 target and Evan Engram isn’t going anywhere, so if you’re looking at guys on waivers who seem likely to help you in the more immediate future, Shepard can be a roster casualty for you.
Mohamed Sanu , WR ATL – Similar to Shepard, Sanu is sort of falling out of favor in the Falcons offense as Julio Jones leads the way and more targets, particularly red zone looks, are landing in the laps of rookie Calvin Ridley and tight end Austin Hooper . Sanu was never anything more than a distant WR3 play anyway, so the lack of production through the first two weeks should allow you to let go without much issue.
Trent Taylor , WR SF – Anyone even see this guy? The 49ers slot receiver got a ton of preseason buzz, but two games in and just eight targets of which to speak, puts him off the radar and onto waivers. He was a nice late-round dart throw in drafts, but those types of players also make for easy cuts to open up roster space for more productive players.
Jonnu Smith , TE TEN – As we just witnessed in Week 2, with all the offensive line struggles, Smith is going to be held at the line to help block. It seems highly unlikely that he will be set free to be the pass-catcher Delanie Walker once was, so you’re going to have to swap him out for either a different tight end or just other help at another position.