Victor Cruz's Fantasy Trade Value, Updated Outlook Heading into Week 6

As the New York Giants offense continues to evolve and become more productive, star wideout Victor Cruz continues to fade from fantasy relevancy.

After hardly ranking in the top 30 scorers at his position one season ago, Cruz has traveled a wild feast-or-famine path for his owners this season:

WK	OPP	REC	YDS	TD	PTS
1	@Det	2	24	0	2
2	Ari	5	60	0	6
3	Hou	5	107	1	16
4	@Wsh	6	108	0	10
5	Atl	3	22	0	2

There is a new offense in New York led by coordinator Ben McAdoo that pays dividends when quarterback Eli Manning spreads the ball around, which does nothing but make the fat and lean weeks that typically come with Cruz even more dramatic.

Take last week against Atlanta, for example. Cruz was targeted six times, which was good for the second-highest tally on the team. But Preston Parker caught all three of his for 61 yards. Rookie Odell Beckham Jr., in his pro debut and on a pitch count to test out his hamstring, caught 4-of-5 for 44 yards and a score.

The man who led the team in targets wound up being Rueben Randle, who caught 4-of-10 for 33 yards and a touchdown. Keep in mind to not forget tight end Larry Donnell, who also dilutes the targets pool a few weeks removed from catching three touchdowns in a single outing.

For his part, Cruz embraces the diversity of the offense, as captured by Kimberly Jones of NFL.com:

A few days before that, Cruz even admitted that his specialty—going deep—has been mostly absent and will re-emerge thanks to the rookie, per Ralph Vacchiano of the (New York) Daily News:

As much as owners do not want to hear that, such is the nature of the beast.

For owners tired of the Cruz roller coaster, now would be the perfect time to unload. He is an ideal sell-high candidate. While true that the Philadelphia Eagles give up the most points to the position in the league and that is next on the slate for the Giants, Cruz is no guarantee to produce well in that matchup.

Pitch that in a trade, along with the fact that he gets a "horrible" Dallas defense (never mind the fact Dallas surrenders the sixth-fewest points to wideouts this season) after that before a bye, and it should be enough to get some decent net return on a big name who is in for a rocky rest of the season.

Alex Goodlett/Getty Images

Cruz is the sort of fantasy player who is good for one or two performances that swing the outcomes of games on their own. The problem is, it is difficult to even classify Cruz as a matchup-based play when it just does not seem to pan out that way—Arizona allows the second-most points to wideouts, yet in Week 2, Cruz scored all of six points.

In this offense, Cruz simply does not have stable value on a week-to-week basis. It does not help that he continues to shoot himself in the foot, either. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), he already has five drops on the season after recording as many in 15 games a season ago.

Cruz is a dud this season through both his own struggles and due to a new offense. For owners unwilling to hop off the train, Week 6 in Philadelphia is an amazing matchup, but so far this season that has meant little. The better option is to abandon the ship that still has tradeable value before it sinks.

All scoring info courtesy of ESPN standard leagues, as is points-against info and ownership stats. Statistics courtesy of ESPN.