Rashard Mendenhall's Fantasy Trade Value, Updated Outlook After Week 5

Rashard Mendenhall hasn't been a super-productive running back in fantasy football, and he's simply a fill-in when your other running backs are on bye week, making him a very tough sell to try and trade away.

The Arizona Cardinals running back had 43 yards on 17 carries along with a touchdown, putting up 10 points in ESPN standard scoring leagues.  He now has 219 yards and two touchdowns on the ground with nine receptions for 64 yards through the air this season.

It hasn't been the best effort from the Cardinals on the ground lately.  They haven't rushed for 100 yards as a team in the past 10 games, and they're averaging just 78.8 yards on the ground per game this season which puts them 25th in the NFL.

As far as trade value goes, it's really going to be hard to sell this guy.  His next two games are against the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks before the bye week—two of the better defenses in the league.

If you really want to get rid of him, you could try to throw him in on a trade to possibly sweeten a deal.  If you want to make an ever-so-slight upgrade from a guy like DeMarco Murray to Reggie Bush, you could offer another player along with Mendenhall to give them some depth at the position.

Things should get better for the Cardinals after the bye week with games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Philadelphia Eagles, so you could make the argument that he could put up points down the road.

Still, at this point Mendenhall is a depth guy to have on the bench and play as a flex when you're all out of options.