Fantasy Football Week 5: Updated Trade Value for Top 100 Players

There are a lot of things you can't buy in this world. Love. Dignity. For many people, a clue. A decent cheesesteak anywhere outside of Philadelphia. And, of course, a fantasy football title. 

That's right, folks, you can't buy fantasy titles. But you know what, you can make the trades that help you win those titles if you play the market right. And that's why I'm here, to ensure you never get ripped off again by providing you with my weekly trade value chart. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I suddenly have a hankering for a cheesesteak. 

Quarterbacks

Position Rank	Overall Rank	Player	Team	Trade Value
1	7	Peyton Manning	Denver Broncos	29
2	13	Drew Brees	New Orleans Saints	25
3	14	Aaron Rodgers	Green Bay Packers	25
4	31	Andrew Luck	Indianapolis Colts	21
5	32	Matt Stafford	Detroit Lions	21
6	47	Matt Ryan	Atlanta Falcons	17
7	55	Cam Newton	Carolina Panthers	14
8	68	Philip Rivers	San Diego Chargers	10
9	69	Nick Foles	Philadelphia Eagles	10
10	76	Russell Wilson	Seattle Seahawks	7
11	77	Colin Kaepernick	San Francisco 49ers	7

There probably aren't too many surprises at the quarterback position, but I'd like to focus on two players in particular, Cam Newton and Philip Rivers. The former is a guy you can buy low on right now. The latter is a player I think you can potentially sell high. 

Newton's start to the season has been troubling for fantasy owners. He missed the first game with an injury and has averaged just 13.6 fantasy points since. His detractors will point to the fact that he's running the ball less—just 11 rushing yards per game this year—or the fact that, outside of Greg Olsen and Kelvin Benjamin, the Carolina offense is devoid of weapons.

It's hard to argue either point.

Rob Carr/Getty Images

On the other hand, the fact that Newton was a top-five fantasy quarterback in his first three seasons suggests he'll turn things around. He started slowly last season, too, with 16 or fewer points in three of the first four games before finishing third among quarterbacks at the position. Surely, the Panthers will lean on his legs in the red zone, especially with the team an absolute mess at running back. And the team didn't exactly have great weapons last year, either.

Plus, it's not like Newton has played poorly to this point. Consider the following, from Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer:

I dropped him a bit on these rankings simply because I don't think owners looking to sell him right now are going to get his normal market value. But if you can get Newton for, say, Chris Ivory and Antonio Gates, aren't you going to do that deal in a second?

You should. Buy low on Newton right now. 

Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

As for Rivers, I think you should sell high. His fast start is reminiscent of a season ago, when he scored 22 or more fantasy points in three of the first four weeks but reached 20 or more points just once after that. Without question, Rivers is an excellent player and a weekly QB1 consideration, but he's not going to finish as the No. 2 quarterback in fantasy, where he's currently ranked. 

I have him ranked a bit lower than you might expect, but that's a buyer's cost, not a seller's cost. If you are selling him, you should be asking a Matt Ryan price (17) for Rivers, which could net you the following trade packages:

• Ben Tate and Sammy Watkins
• Vincent Jackson and Jeremy Hill
• Andre Johnson and Toby Gerhart
• Rob Gronkowski

Rivers has excellent matchups the next two weeks, but things will get much tougher after that. Now is the time to start considering moving the veteran while his value is inflated.

Running Backs

Position Rank	Overall Rank	Player	Team	Trade Value
1	1	LeSean McCoy	Philadelphia Eagles	30
2	2	Matt Forte	Chicago Bears	30
3	3	Marshawn Lynch	Seattle Seahawks	30
4	4	DeMarco Murray	Dallas Cowboys	30
5	5	Jamaal Charles	Kansas City Chiefs	30
6	6	Le'Veon Bell	Pittsburgh Steelers	30
7	8	Arian Foster	Houston Texans	28
8	9	Alfred Morris	Washington	28
9	10	Giovani Bernard	Cincinnati Bengals	28
10	23	Rashad Jennings	New York Giants	22
11	24	Eddie Lacy	Green Bay Packers	22
12	25	C.J. Spiller	Buffalo Bills	22
13	26	Montee Ball	Denver Broncos	22
14	27	Andre Ellington	Arizona Cardinals	22
15	28	Zac Stacy	St. Louis Rams	22
16	29	Doug Martin	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	22
17	30	Frank Gore	San Francisco 49ers	22
18	39	Ahmad Bradshaw	Indianapolis Colts	19
19	40	Matt Asiata	Minnesota Vikings	19
20	41	Reggie Bush	Detroit Lions	18
21	42	Joique Bell	Detroit Lions	18
22	43	Darren Sproles	Philadelphia Eagles	18
23	44	Lamar Miller	Miami Dolphins	18
24	65	Ben Tate	Cleveland Browns	11
25	66	Chris Ivory	New York Jets	11
26	67	Trent Richardson	Indianapolis Colts	11
27	73	Chris Johnson	New York Jets	8
28	74	Fred Jackson	Buffalo Bills	8
29	83	Stevan Ridley	New England Patriots	4
30	84	Shane Vereen	New England Patriots	4
31	85	Justin Forsett	Baltimore Ravens	4
32	86	Khiry Robinson	New Orleans Saints	4
33	87	Pierre Thomas	New Orleans Saints	4
34	88	Bishop Sankey	Tennessee Titans	4
35	93	Toby Gerhart	Jacksonville Jaguars	2
36	94	Darren McFadden	Oakland Raiders	2
37	95	Donald Brown	San Diego Chargers	2
38	96	Jonathan Stewart	Carolina Panthers	2
39	100	Jeremy Hill	Cincinnati Bengals	2

As you can see, I'm clearly not worried about LeSean McCoy at the moment. I went into more detail on why here, but it boils down to two things—he's had really tough matchups the past two weeks and his offensive line was missing three of its starters from a year ago. Lane Johnson returns this week, and it should help immensely. 

If an owner is willing to sell McCoy below his market value, by all means, pounce on Shady immediately.

There are six top options at the running back position and, given the uncertainty at running back this season, those guys are the six most valuable players for fantasy owners. If you have one of them, make sure you get gigantic value in return.

Arian Foster drops out of the top group due to his injury concerns, Alfred Morris is in the second tier because he's restricted as a two-down back and Giovani Bernard is in that second tier because Jeremy Hill is really talented and will continue to get carries. All are incredibly valuable, however.

And would you look at who keeps climbing up the rankings? Rashad Jennings has been stellar for fantasy owners this season, with 51 fantasy points on the year. He should continue to accumulate the points and be a steady RB2 every week. 

Al Bello/Getty Images

I'm not convinced that Eddie Lacy and Montee Ball won't start to produce for fantasy owners this year, but the value of each has to take a hit after slow starts to the season. Each is certainly a buy-low candidate, however, something to keep in mind. 

Matt Asiata gets a bump in these rankings, if only because despite the fact that Jerick McKinnon is clearly the more talented runner, Asiata doesn't seem likely to lose the starting gig anytime soon. 

“I think [McKinnon's] a change-of-pace back for us,” head coach Mike Zimmer told Matt Vensel of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “We’ll worry about next year [then]. I hope we can continue to grow his role but I don’t think he’s going to be an every-down player right now.”

Which means that Asiata will continue to hold a lot of value. Given that he's also the player likely to get goal-line touches, there's no reason to consider him anything less than a low-end RB2 or flex option. And that means he has a relatively high trade value, too.

Adam Bettcher/Getty Images

Two players who continue to see their value diminish are Reggie Bush and Joique Bell, and I can't tell if you should sell them high right now or look to buy them low. They're in a weird state of value limbo, where the results on the field for both players simply aren't what we saw from either a year ago and, given how well the Detroit Lions throw the ball, it remains uncertain if we'll see those results again. 

I'm leaning on just selling them for the moment, and given what they've accomplished in the past, I think you can still get a pretty good deal for either of them. Here are a few examples of what you might be able to get in return if you deal either:

• Larry Fitzgerald and Cordarrelle Patterson
• Kelvin Benjamin and Delanie Walker
• Nick Foles and Fred Jackson
• Jordan Cameron and Terrance Williams

A few players to keep an eye on: Lamar Miller, who is going to hold on to the starting gig for a few more weeks until Knowshon Moreno returns. He's looked quite good as the starter thus far. Ben Tate, if he can stay healthy, is a talented runner and has an excellent offensive line in front of him. Staying healthy, of course, is the issue. And would you look at that, Bishop Sankey makes an appearance on the value chart. Why?

Because he's been slowly stealing the starting gig from Shonn Greene, much as we all expected since the summer, and should start getting enough touches for fantasy relevance. Head coach Ken Whisenhunt certainly confirmed the increased touches on his radio show on 104.5 FM, per John Glennon of The Tennesseean:

"

You will see (more reps for Sankey). That's coming. And I think you'll see more of that earlier in the game this week. I think one of the things that does get lost is that he had more snaps in the game last week than any of our running backs. That game a little one-sided quickly, so maybe it wasn't as evident, but he was in there earlier.

"

There isn't a better buy-low candidate in fantasy football right now than Sankey. Go get him.

Wide Receivers

Position Rank	Overall Rank	Player	Team	Trade Value
1	12	Calvin Johnson	Detroit Lions	26
2	15	Antonio Brown	Pittsburgh Steelers	25
3	16	A.J. Green	Cincinnati Bengals	24
4	17	Dez Bryant	Dallas Cowboys	24
5	18	Brandon Marshall	Chicago Bears	24
6	19	Julio Jones	Atlanta Falcons	24
7	20	Jordy Nelson	Green Bay Packers	24
8	21	Demaryius Thomas	Denver Broncos	24
9	33	Randall Cobb	Green Bay Packers	21
10	34	Alshon Jeffery	Chicago Bears	20
11	35	Jeremy Maclin	Philadelphia Eagles	20
12	36	Victor Cruz	New York Giants	20
13	37	Emmanuel Sanders	Denver Broncos	20
14	38	Steve Smith	Baltimore Ravens	19
15	48	Percy Harvin	Seattle Seahawks	16
16	49	DeSean Jackson	Washington	16
17	50	Mike Wallace	Miami Dolphins	16
18	51	DeAndre Hopkins	Houston Texans	16
19	52	Andre Johnson	Houston Texans	15
20	53	Pierre Garcon	Washington	15
21	54	Vincent Jackson	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	15
22	56	Roddy White	Atlanta Falcons	13
23	57	Michael Crabtree	San Francisco 49ers	13
24	58	Michael Floyd	Arizona Cardinals	13
25	59	Keenan Allen	San Diego Chargers	13
26	60	Kelvin Benjamin	Carolina Panthers	13
27	61	Julian Edelman	New England Patriots	13
28	62	Wes Welker	Denver Broncos	13
29	70	Reggie Wayne	Indianapolis Colts	9
30	71	Larry Fitzgerald	Arizona Cardinals	9
31	72	Cordarrelle Patterson	Minnesota Vikings	9
32	78	Terrance Williams	Dallas Cowboys	6
33	79	Golden Tate	Detroit Lions	6
34	80	Eric Decker	New York Jets	6
35	81	Sammy Watkins	Buffalo Bills	6
36	92	Brandin Cooks	New Orleans Saints	2
37	98	Marques Colston	New Orleans Saints	2
38	99	T.Y. Hilton	Indianapolis Colts	2

Antonio Brown is the safest wide receiver in fantasy football. Seriously. He doesn't have the upside of a Calvin Johnson or Julio Jones, no, but he's basically guaranteed to earn you double-digit points every single week. 

He's worth his weight in gold, in other words. 

Speaking of Megatron, stop worrying. He was obviously a hobbled decoy this past week but didn't suffer any setbacks and remains fantasy's best receiving option when healthy. He'll continue to produce. 

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Now is a great time to buy low on DeSean Jackson or Vincent Jackson. Neither have produced with any regularity this season but both have always been streaky and now have quarterback situations that better suit their talents. If you want to add either, here's what you are probably giving up (spoiler alert: not much!):

• Greg Olsen and Justin Forsett
• Russell Wilson and Reggie Wayne
• Trent Richardson and Delanie Walker
• Philip Rivers and Eric Decker

Not too shabby, right? Both are players I'm targeting right now for sure. 

Tight Ends

Position Rank	Overall Rank	Player	Team	Trade Value
1	11	Jimmy Graham	New Orleans Saints	27
2	22	Julius Thomas	Denver Broncos	23
3	45	Rob Gronkowski	New England Patriots	17
4	46	Vernon Davis	San Francisco 49ers	17
5	63	Jordan Cameron	Cleveland Browns	12
6	64	Greg Olsen	Carolina Panthers	12
7	75	Martellus Bennett	Chicago Bears	7
8	82	Delanie Walker	Tennessee Titans	5
9	89	Travis Kelce	Kansas City Chiefs	3
10	90	Antonio Gates	San Diego Chargers	3
11	91	Jason Witten	Dallas Cowboys	3
12	97	Larry Donnell	New York Giants	2

Tight end is actually a surprisingly deep position right now, to the point that I easily could have included Zach Ertz, Dwayne Allen and Jordan Reed or Niles Paul (depending on who is healthy in Washington) in the top 100. That's potentially 15 tight ends right there that have proved worthy of a starting spot for fantasy owners.

Yes, it's still preferable to have a player like Jimmy Graham or Julius Thomas, since they basically produce like wide receivers, but after those two players I wouldn't spend much to nab a tight end since there's probably a pretty strong option at the position.

If anything, you should consider selling high on a player like Martellus Bennett, who is probably going to see his value diminish a bit once Brandon Marshall gets healthier. Bennett's a talented player, without question, and he seemingly has a healthy rapport with Jay Cutler. 

But there are also a lot of talented mouths to feed in Chicago, and getting Bennett the ball shouldn't take priority over getting it to Marshall, Alshon Jeffery and Matt Forte. I think his production will diminish at some point, so consider selling now.

All point totals and points-against statistics via ESPN standard-scoring leagues. Any player not listed on the chart has a trade value of one, including defenses. 

Hit me up on Twitter—I'll answer your fantasy questions and make some corny jokes, too. It's more fun than a Jay Cutler Fumblerooski.