Fantasy Football Week 1: Examining Trade Market for Top 100 Flex Players

Trades? We talking about trades? Before a game has even been played?

Yeah, we're talking about trades.

Look, folks, an owner can offer you a great deal for your team at any moment. Even, yes, before a single regular-season snap has been played. So to make sure you are prepared in such a scenario, let's break down the top flex options on the trade market before a single game has even taken place (I've included tight ends on the list since some leagues allow you to flex tight ends, though doing so is generally an unwise idea).

Rank	Player	Team	Trade Value
1	Marshawn Lynch	Seattle Seahawks	10
2	Adrian Peterson	Minnesota Vikings	10
3	Eddie Lacy	Green Bay Packers	10
4	Jamaal Charles	Kansas City Chiefs	10
5	DeMarco Murray	Philadelphia Eagles	10
6	Le'Veon Bell	Pittsburgh Steelers	10
7	LeSean McCoy	Buffalo Bills	10
8	Matt Forte	Chicago Bears	10
9	Antonio Brown	Pittsburgh Steelers	9
10	Demaryius Thomas	Denver Broncos	9
11	Dez Bryant	Dallas Cowboys	9
12	Rob Gronkowski	New England Patriots	9
13	C.J. Anderson	Denver Broncos	9
14	Jeremy Hill	Cincinnati Bengals	9
15	Odell Beckham Jr.	New York Giants	8
16	Calvin Johnson	Detroit Lions	8
17	Julio Jones	Atlanta Falcons	8
18	A.J. Green	Cincinnati Bengals	8
19	Randall Cobb	Green Bay Packers	8
20	Alfred Morris	Washington	7
21	Mark Ingram	New Orleans Saints	7
22	Alshon Jeffery	Chicago Bears	7
23	Mike Evans	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	7
24	T.Y. Hilton	Indianapolis Colts	7
25	Jimmy Graham	Seattle Seahawks	6
26	Lamar Miller	Miami Dolphins	6
27	Carlos Hyde	San Francisco 49ers	6
28	Melvin Gordon	San Diego Chargers	6
29	DeAndre Hopkins	Houston Texans	5
30	Emmanuel Sanders	Denver Broncos	5
31	Frank Gore	Indianapolis Colts	5
32	Andre Ellington	Arizona Cardinals	5
33	Justin Forsett	Baltimore Ravens	5
34	Jeremy Maclin	Kansas City Chiefs	4
35	Brandin Cooks	New Orleans Saints	4
36	Jordan Matthews	Philadelphia Eagles	4
37	Sammy Watkins	Buffalo Bills	4
38	Arian Foster	Houston Texans	4
39	Greg Olsen	Carolina Panthers	4
40	Golden Tate	Detroit Lions	4
41	DeSean Jackson	Washington	4
42	Jonathan Stewart	Carolina Panthers	4
43	T.J. Yeldon	Jacksonville Jaguars	4
44	Latavius Murray	Oakland Raiders	4
45	LeGarratte Blount	New England Patriots	4
46	Keenan Allen	San Diego Chargers	3
47	Vincent Jackson	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	3
48	Jarvis Landry	Miami Dolphins	3
49	Julian Edelman	New England Patriots	3
50	Amari Cooper	Oakland Raiders	3
51	Todd Gurley	St. Louis Rams	3
52	Brandon Marshall	New York Jets	3
53	Mike Wallace	Minnesota Vikings	3
54	Martellus Bennett	Chicago Bears	3
55	Travis Kelce	Kansas City Chiefs	3
56	Zach Ertz	Philadelphia Eagles	3
57	Jason Witten	Dallas Cowboys	3
58	Rashad Jennings	New York Giants	3
59	Joseph Randle	Dallas Cowboys	3
60	Joique Bell	Detroit Lions	3
61	Chris Ivory	New York Jets	3
62	Isaiah Crowell	Cleveland Browns	3
63	Tevin Coleman	Atlanta Falcons	3
64	Doug Martin	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	3
65	Torrey Smith	San Francisco 49ers	2
66	Steve Smith	Baltimore Ravens	2
67	Michael Floyd	Arizona Cardinals	2
68	Davante Adams	Green Bay Packers	2
69	Giovani Bernard	Cincinnati Bengals	2
70	Bishop Sankey	Tennessee Titans	2
71	Ameer Abdullah	Detroit Lions	2
72	C.J. Spiller	New Orleans Saints	2
73	Dwayne Allen	Indianapolis Colts	2
74	Jordan Cameron	Miami Dolphins	2
75	Delanie Walker	Tennessee Titans	2
76	Charles Johnson	Minnesota Vikings	2
77	Malcom Floyd	San Diego Chargers	2
78	Allen Robinson	Jacksonville Jaguars	2
79	Eric Decker	New York Jets	2
80	Nelson Agholor	Philadelphia Eagles	2
81	Alfred Blue	Houston Texans	2
82	Ryan Mathews	Philadelphia Eagles	2
83	Larry Fitzgerald	Arizona Cardinals	1
84	Kendall Wright	Tennessee Titans	1
85	John Brown	Arizona Cardinals	1
86	Larry Donnell	New York Giants	1
87	Owen Daniels	Denver Broncos	1
88	Julius Thomas	Jacksonville Jaguars	1
89	Marques Colston	New Orleans Saints	1
90	Anquan Boldin	San Francisco 49ers	1
91	DeAngelo Williams	Pittsburgh Steelers	1
92	Tre Mason	St. Louis Rams	1
93	Devin Funchess	Carolina Panthers	1
94	Roddy White	Atlanta Falcons	1
95	Pierre Garcon	Washington	1
96	Markus Wheaton	Pittsburgh Steelers	1
97	Kyle Rudolph	Minnesota Vikings	1
98	Vernon Davis	San Francisco 49ers	1
99	Josh Hill	New Orleans Saints	1
100	Antonio Gates	San Diego Chargers	1

LeSean McCoy apparently doesn't think DeMarco Murray is one of the best backs in the NFL.

 “I think Murray’s good,” McCoy told Zach Baron of GQ.com. “But I don’t see him as competition as far as the best backs. I like my game a lot.”

Salty much?

Surprise trades can do that to a player, I suppose. But I tend to disagree with Shady, as I think the two players are part of the group that represents the most valuable options in all of fantasy this season. Those two, along with Marshawn Lynch, Adrian Peterson, Eddie Lacy, Jamaal Charles, Matt Forte and Le'Veon Bell, are absolutely the top values in fantasy at this point in the season. 

It's pretty simple, really—because of the lack of quality depth at the running back position, the elite tier of backs are worth their weight in gold. 

To be honest, folks, when deciding trade values at the moment, you are basically taking your own preseason rankings and separating players into value tiers. You could even break players up into groups of 10 based on your preseason rankings and assign each tier a numeric value.

From there, you are basically saying, "If Player 1 is in the top tier and worth 10 points, then I need to ensure I'm getting back a player or multiple players who have a value that also equals 10."

So, in my rankings, that means if you were looking to trade Forte, you would want to get back some of the following packages:

• Alfred Morris and Keenan Allen
• Odell Beckham Jr. and Torrey Smith
• DeAndre Hopkins and Emmanuel Sanders
• Demaryius Thomas and Tre Mason

Look, it's not always a perfect system. That's because in most trades you always want to be getting back far more value than the other player is getting. Getting back a value of "10" on the chart is the lowest possible return you want to get back for Forte, in other words.

I'd recommend always trying to a few value tiers above a player, however. While this chart should give you a general idea of how to value players, these aren't hard and fast values. Trust your gut.

Since this chart will change drastically throughout the season, it's hard to really recommend making that many trades at the moment. One thing I will say, however, is that you can probably buy low on injured or suspended players like Arian Foster, Julius Thomas or Todd Gurley.

In general, however, I recommend giving your team a week or two before pulling the strings on any trades. If someone blows you away with an offer, don't stubbornly reject it because you want to see how your team shakes out, but in general, I'll always advocate seeing what you have before shaking things up.