(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
We may be only one-seventh of the way through the fantasy regular season (for those in leagues who play 14 weeks of regular season action), but that is enough to start the juices flowing for true trade-aholics like myself.
While many saner fantasy “experts” would urge patience and caution before jumping into the trading market, I’m recommending that all owners channel their ninja senses and go for the trade-button jugular.
This is mainly because of what is lining up to be a major value wave among the ranks of fantasy elite after the first two weeks of action.
Below are players who should figure heavily into trade discussions sooner rather than later.
1. Matt Forte. A horrific start for the Bears second-year player has many whispering about a sophomore slump. What many may overlook is that Forte started the season against two very solid run defenses and has weathered a period of transition in the passing game as Jay Cutler and company work to define their roles.
Forte will burst back into the fantasy scene this week against a Seattle defense that has been shredded on the ground (most recently by Frank Gore). If you’ve been slow to trading in the past, this is the one opportunity you don’t want to drag your feet on.
Many may be slow to deal him so early in the season, but then again, people who drafted Forte are likely facing an 0-3 start to the season—plenty of reason to panic.
2. Steve Slaton. The Texans have been on an offensive roller coaster ride so far this season, but Slaton has been the one constant—constantly stale. Two weeks, two excessively poor performances.
Slaton is a harder case to judge (than Forte), in my opinion. He faced one of the most under-rated defenses in football in the Jets in Week One, and ran against a stingy Titans defense last week...one that was much more susceptible to the pass than the run.
His three fumbles are worrisome, as are comments from coach Kubiak that the Texans should have considered Cedric Benson this offseason. Regardless, Slaton is too talented not to turn it around at least somewhat, and has a slate of games now schedule-wise that he should be able to exploit (Jaguars, Raiders, Cardinals, Bengals).
He’s too bargain-basement not to throw some offers out for at this point, I just worry that he sees more struggles this season that Matt Forte will.
3. Clinton Portis. I said before that these are players who should be involved in trade discussions, and Portis is an interesting case. Everyone considers the name Portis to be synonymous with consistency from a fantasy standpoint, and for years that was the case.
He did tank it as the season progressed last year and has been mediocre at best in 2009.
His stats against the Rams last week was disheartening, but he still should rebound mightily against the Lions this week. After that, however, I would recommend floating his name around your league to see what interest is out there.
If Portis does light things up in Week Three, he could be a solid bartering piece for you to land a younger, long-term option for the rest of the long haul.
2 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete