Fantasy Football Week 3: Examining Trade Value for This Year's Top 100 Players

We are entering the time in a fantasy season where owners begin to see what type of team they have on their hands. While it's too early to blow your team up, you probably have a pretty good idea already if you have a weakness at one position or if depth at another will become a factor.

So, no, it's not too soon to start considering trades. But before you do, be sure to consult my handy trade chart below. To use the chart, simply match a player's value to the value you would be getting back in any deal for a fair trade. 

For example, if you want to get a player with a trade value of "10" in a deal, you'd need to give up a player with a value of "seven" and another with a value of "three," or some other combination that would get you to 10. 

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

The 2015 season has been bizarre thus far, with a slew of injuries, a lot of talented teams slumping and plenty of surprising options rising in the fantasy ranks. So while we break down a few potential trades you could make, let's also take a look at some players you should consider buying low or selling high on early in the season.

Here are some players worth trying to buy low on:

• Andrew Luck, QB, Indianapolis Colts
• LeSean McCoy, RB, Buffalo Bills
• C.J. Anderson, RB, Denver Broncos
• Arian Foster, RB, Houston Texans
• Brandin Cooks, WR, New Orleans Saints

There are always impatient fantasy owners in every league, and if one of those owners happen to own Luck, now is the moment to pounce. The Colts are going to rebound from their slow start, and Luck is going to do the same. It's just a matter of time. 

AJ Mast/Associated Press

If you are trying to get Luck right now, likely at a discounted price, the following deals are the absolute most you should give up while trying to pry him away from that antsy owner:

• Brandon Marshall and Rashad Jennings
• Keenan Allen and Tyler Eifert
• Todd Gurley and Kendall Wright
• Frank Gore and Torrey Smith

Will a savvy owner make those deals? Absolutely not. But Luck's value right now is pretty low given his six interceptions to start the season and Indy's 0-2 start. One thing many fantasy owners may overlook is that Luck faced two very good defenses, the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets, to start the season. The next two weeks he gets the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars. 

Don't be surprised when Luck bounces back in a very big way. And absolutely go out and get him if you can. 

LeSean McCoy and C.J. Anderson are both very interesting targets. McCoy has watched as both Anthony Dixon and Karlos Williams have stolen two touchdowns from him early in the season, a major concern. And C.J. Anderson has been basically nonexistent after two weeks. 

McCoy is a star, so he's going to bounce back. Yes, he'll likely see a touchdown or two vultured away throughout the year. That became an issue in Philadelphia by the end of his time there as well.

But will Anderson bounce back? And, for that matter, will Peyton Manning continue to be an elite fantasy quarterback?

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

Both questions are tough to answer right now. The sample size on Anderson's dominance from last year is very small, and that was in an entirely different scheme. Yes, he's leading Denver's backfield in touches (29 to the 21 Ronnie Hillman has gotten), but Hillman has been more efficient, albeit by a pretty small margin. 

And there's definitely an "If it wasn't broken, why fix it?" feeling to Denver's offense this year. Head coach Gary Kubiak's scheme calls for more plays under center from quarterback Peyton Manning, but it's been pretty clear Manning has been more effective in the shotgun.

Even Kubiak acknowledged as much.

"I would agree with that," he said, via Mike Klis of 9News.com. "The biggest thing right now offensively to me is protecting the quarterback, and finding a way to make big plays in this league. The thing that enables you to do those two things is run with the football, and we're not running the football."

Don't expect Kubiak to completely change his stripes, however, as Bleacher Report's Jason Cole spoke about in a recent video: 

While Anderson was having all of his success last year, yes, the Broncos were also running out of the shotgun a significant portion of the time. The threat of the passing game often loosened up front sevens and allowed Anderson to thrive, both running the ball and catching passes out of the backfield. 

It's possible that Kubiak has been trying to fit a square peg into a round hole early in the season with his playmakers, so he might allow Manning a little more flexibility to run things his way, though within the framework of Kubiak's offense. In other words, Manning is certainly still an elite consideration at quarterback.

And more importantly, don't give up on Anderson just yet, After his explosion last year, he deserves at least four games to show what he can do in a new offense. If you think you can nab him from an impatient owner, however, these are the type of deals you should dangle:

• Tom Brady and Pierre Garcon
• Russell Wilson and Julian Edelman
• Larry Fitzgerald and Terrance Williams
• T.J. Yeldon and Jason Witten

If Anderson ever lives up to his billing as an RB1 that he had coming into the season, those trades will look genius in about a month.

Now isn't just the time to buy low, however, it's also a great time to sell high. After two weeks, plenty of players have vastly exceeded expectations, and many of those players are unlikely to continue posting such huge numbers. If you happen to have one of them, target a struggling owner in your league and see if you can pawn off a fast starter for a player you suspect will be far better than him for the duration of the season.

Why not sell high on some of these players?:

• Andy Dalton, QB, Cincinnati Bengals
• Travis Benjamin, WR, Cleveland Browns
• Dion Lewis, RB, New England Patriots
• Danny Woodhead, RB, San Diego Chargers
• Matt Jones, RB, Washington
• Stevie Johnson, WR, San Diego Chargers

If you suspect these players will consistently produce throughout the year, by all means, keep hold of them. But if you have any lingering doubts they'll continue to produce, it's always better to sell high than wait around and watch as their value diminishes week by week.