Fantasy Football Trade Deadline: Matthew Stafford and 2 More Players to Go After

In most standard fantasy football leagues, the trade deadline for owners is coming up after this weekend's games.

Just as important, fantasy playoffs in most leagues begin just two weeks after the trade deadline.

So, now is the time to get a hold of those players who may not be performing up to their potential but will be major fantasy factors down the playoff stretch.

I'm not going to tell you to trade for guys like Adrian Peterson or Calvin Johnson who owners are going to expect three stud players in return for.

These are a few guys who owners might not have a hard time getting rid of for a fair price due to either an average overall season or some recent poor performances.

Matthew Stafford: (QB) Lions

I know that Stafford has been putting up great numbers for the season overall, but there's still reason to believe owners will be looking to trade him away.

Stafford is coming off of his worst performance of the season in Week 10. He threw four interceptions and only one touchdown pass.

However, we have to keep in mind that he was playing a Chicago Bear defense that has been playing better and better. Just a week earlier, in Week 9, this same defense made Michael Vick look like a skittish rookie.

It was also his first game dealing with an injured finger. He has now had a week to prepare with some specially fit gloves, and it won't be so ugly this week against the Carolina Panthers.

Try to find out if the Stafford owner in your league is worried about the finger injury or his last outing.

If so, you might be able to get him for fairly cheap; and it will payoff during your fantasy playoffs.

His remaining schedule will either be shootouts or against subpar defensive squads.

After Carolina this week, he's got the Packers twice, the Saints, the Vikings, the Raiders and the Chargers. That's a juicy looking schedule for a fantasy quarterback.

Michael Turner: (RB) Falcons

There are some factors to keep in mind if you take my advice to try to get Turner late in the season. That is his typical tendency to slow down during the season's back end.

However, this could also be used as a selling point when you try to trade for him. He's also coming off a couple of so-so performances against the Colts then the Saints after their bye week.

With the matchups he has for the rest of the way, I don't see him not putting up solid numbers in each game.

He's got the Titans this week. Then he's got the Vikings, the Texans, the Panthers, the Jaguars, the Saints and the Buccaneers.

For the most part, those are some great matchups for fantasy running backs for the rest of the way.

Hakeem Nicks: (WR) Giants

Last week against the 49ers was the first time since Week 6 that Nicks has scored a touchdown. He hasn't broken the 100-yard mark in as many games either.

This is a guy who has performed far below what was expected of him for the 2011 season. He has had a couple flashes of the production we saw during the 2010 season, but overall it has been a very average season for Nicks.

However, the emergence of Victor Cruz and the presence of Mario Manningham should begin to give Nicks some more room to work as the season goes on.

Eli Manning is also having a great season for himself, and he's looking like a quarterback I would definitely want throwing to my fantasy receivers.

After facing the tough Eagles secondary in Week 11, Nicks gets matchups like the Saints, the Packers and the Cowboys twice. These will all be shootouts against suspect secondaries which is cause for optimism for Nicks' production from here on out.