Fantasy Football Week 9: Tips, Trade Value Rankings for Top 100 Players

What a time to be alive. World Series droughts are ending. Presidential elections are forthcoming. And fantasy deadlines are looming.

OK, so maybe one of these things isn't like the others.

No matter. It's an important time of your season, and the trade offers are going to be flying toward you fast and furious. Now isn't the time to get ripped off.

Luckily, with my weekly fantasy trade value chart, you'll have an idea of every player's general value when it comes to making trades. Obviously, individual people will value certain players differently, but consider this your guide to ensuring you get back fair value in any deal.

Rank	Position Rank	Player	Position	Team	Trade Value
Rank	Position Rank	Player	Position	Team	Trade Value
Rank	Position Rank	Player	Position	Team	Trade Value
Rank	Position Rank	Player	Position	Team	Trade Value
Rank	Position Rank	Player	Position	Team	Trade Value
Rank	Position Rank	Player	Position	Team	Trade Value
Rank	Position Rank	Player	Position	Team	Trade Value
Rank	Position Rank	Player	Position	Team	Trade Value
Rank	Position Rank	Player	Position	Team	Trade Value
Rank	Position Rank	Player	Position	Team	Trade Value
1	1	David Johnson	RB	Arizona Cardinals	11
2	2	Le'Veon Bell	RB	Pittsburgh Steelers	11
3	3	Ezekiel Elliott	RB	Dallas Cowboys	11
4	4	DeMarco Murray	RB	Tennessee Titans	11
5	5	Melvin Gordon	RB	San Diego Chargers	11
6	1	Rob Gronkowski	TE	New England Patriots	11
7	1	Julio Jones	WR	Atlanta Falcons	10
8	2	Antonio Brown	WR	Pittsburgh Steelers	10
9	3	A.J. Green	WR	Cincinnati Bengals	10
10	4	Mike Evans	WR	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	10
11	6	LeSean McCoy	RB	Buffalo Bills	9
12	7	LeGarrette Blount	RB	New England Patriots	9
13	8	Carlos Hyde	RB	San Francisco 49ers	9
14	9	Devonta Freeman	RB	Atlanta Falcons	9
15	1	Tom Brady	QB	New England Patriots	9
16	5	Odell Beckham Jr.	WR	New York Giants	9
17	10	Matt Forte	RB	New York Jets	8
18	11	Lamar Miller	RB	Houston Texans	8
19	12	Spencer Ware	RB	Kansas City Chiefs	8
20	13	Tevin Coleman	RB	Atlanta Falcons	8
21	14	Jay Ajayi	RB	Miami Dolphins	8
22	15	Jonathan Stewart	RB	Carolina Panthers	8
23	6	T.Y. Hilton	WR	Indianapolis Colts	8
24	7	Michael Crabtree	WR	Oakland Raiders	8
25	8	Amari Cooper	WR	Oakland Raiders	8
26	9	Dez Bryant	WR	Dallas Cowboys	8
27	10	Brandin Cooks	WR	New Orleans Saints	8
28	2	Aaron Rodgers	QB	Green Bay Packers	8
29	2	Greg Olsen	TE	Carolina Panthers	8
30	16	Isaiah Crowell	RB	Cleveland Browns	7
31	17	Frank Gore	RB	Indianapolis Colts	7
32	18	Todd Gurley	RB	Los Angeles Rams	7
33	19	Devontae Booker	RB	Denver Broncos	7
34	11	Larry Fitzgerald	WR	Arizona Cardinals	7
35	12	Jordy Nelson	WR	Green Bay Packers	7
36	13	Marvin Jones	WR	Detroit Lions	7
37	14	Demaryius Thomas	WR	Denver Broncos	7
38	15	Terrelle Pryor	WR	Cleveland Browns	7
39	16	Randall Cobb	WR	Green Bay Packers	7
40	3	Jordan Reed	TE	Washington	7
41	3	Matt Ryan	QB	Atlanta Falcons	6
42	4	Andrew Luck	QB	Indianapolis Colts	6
43	5	Drew Brees	QB	New Orleans Saints	6
44	6	Derek Carr	QB	Oakland Raiders	6
45	20	Jeremy Hill	RB	Cincinnati Bengals	6
46	21	Jordan Howard	RB	Chicago Bears	6
47	22	Christine Michael	RB	Seattle Seahawks	6
48	23	Theo Riddick	RB	Detroit Lions	6
49	24	Mark Ingram	RB	New Orleans Saints	6
50	17	Emmanuel Sanders	WR	Denver Broncos	5
51	18	Kelvin Benjamin	WR	Carolina Panthers	5
52	19	Jamison Crowder	WR	Washington	5
53	20	Alshon Jeffery	WR	Chicago Bears	5
54	21	Brandon Marshall	WR	New York Jets	5
55	22	Jarvis Landry	WR	Miami Dolphins	5
56	23	Mike Wallace	WR	Baltimore Ravens	5
57	4	Delanie Walker	TE	Tennessee Titans	5
58	7	Matt Stafford	QB	Detroit Lions	5
59	8	Ben Roethlisberger	QB	Pittsburgh Steelers	5
60	9	Cam Newton	QB	Carolina Panthers	5
61	24	DeAndre Hopkins	WR	Houston Texans	4
62	25	Allen Robinson	WR	Jacksonville Jaguars	4
63	26	Michael Thomas	WR	New Orleans Saints	4
64	5	Jimmy Graham	TE	Seattle Seahawks	4
65	6	Travis Kelce	TE	Kansas City Chiefs	4
66	25	Giovani Bernard	RB	Cincinnati Bengals	4
67	26	Doug Martin	RB	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	4
68	27	Latavius Murray	RB	Oakland Raiders	4
69	28	Terrance West	RB	Baltimore Ravens	4
70	10	Andy Dalton	QB	Cincinnati Bengals	3
71	11	Marcus Mariota	QB	Tennessee Titans	3
72	27	Quincy Enunwa	WR	New York Jets	3
73	28	Cole Beasley	WR	Dallas Cowboys	3
74	29	Tyrell Williams	WR	San Diego Chargers	3
75	30	Davante Adams	WR	Green Bay Packers	3
76	31	Brandon LaFell	WR	Cincinnati Bengals	3
77	32	Travis Benjamin	WR	San Diego Chargers	3
78	7	Zach Miller	TE	Chicago Bears	3
79	8	Hunter Henry	TE	San Diego Chargers	3
80	9	C.J. Fiedorowicz	TE	Houston Texans	3
81	10	Kyle Rudolph	TE	Minnesota Vikings	3
82	29	Matt Asiata	RB	Minnesota Vikings	3
83	30	Darren Sproles	RB	Philadelphia Eagles	3
84	31	James White	RB	New England Patriots	3
85	32	Matt Jones	RB	Washington	3
86	33	Julian Edelman	WR	New England Patriots	2
87	34	Doug Baldwin	WR	Seattle Seahawks	2
88	35	Stefon Diggs	WR	Minnesota Vikings	2
89	36	Jordan Matthews	WR	Philadelphia Eagles	2
90	33	Duke Johnson	RB	Cleveland Browns	2
91	34	Ty Montgomery	RB/WR	Green Bay Packers	2
92	35	Rashad Jennings	RB	New York Giants	2
93	12	Kirk Cousins	QB	Washington	2
94	13	Tyrod Taylor	QB	Buffalo Bills	2
95	11	Coby Fleener	TE	New Orleans Saints	2
96	12	Jack Doyle	TE	Indianapolis Colts	2
97	37	DeSean Jackson	WR	Washington	2
98	38	Jeremy Maclin	WR	Kansas City Chiefs	2
99	39	Allen Hurns	WR	Jacksonville Jaguars	2
100	40	Will Fuller	WR	Houston Texans	2

Analysis

Since Tom Brady has returned to action, Rob Gronkowski has averaged 15.7 fantasy points per week (in four total contests). To put that in perspective, there isn't a single wide receiver posting that many fantasy points per week this year, and just four running backs (David Johnson, DeMarco Murray, Melvin Gordon and Ezekiel Elliott) are eclipsing that mark.

To put that into further perspective, the only tight end who has more fantasy points this season than Gronk has in the past four games is Greg Olsen.

That's absurd.

If running back was a stronger position—and if Gronk didn't have a history of injury—he'd be the top player on this list. As it were, I think he remains among fantasy's elite. 

Marvin Jones, on the other hand, is a player who has proved to be consistently OK, rather than consistently great, which his place as the No. 7 wide receiver in fantasy points might otherwise suggest. Jones burst onto the scene with a 32-point showing in Week 3, but has since scored a total of 35 points in the past five weeks.

Yes, that's still a nice average of seven points per week, but how high should you value a player scoring seven points a week?

Certainly not as highly as your average WR1. Here are a couple of packages you could get back for Jones if you tried to sell on him now:

• Matt Stafford and Coby Fleener
• Jimmy Graham and Darren Sproles
• Giovani Bernard and Marcus Mariota
• Delanie Walker and Tyrod Taylor

Obviously, these aren't exactly awe-inspiring deals, so you'll probably want to try to do better. But they do represent the actual value Jones has proved to have over the past five weeks. On the other hand, he still does possess potential as the top receiver on an offense that likes to throw the ball frequently, so you shouldn't just give him away. 

But Jones is in a bit of a value purgatory at the moment, and he continues to dip closer to average than great.

Running back is a mess again this year, so you'll notice I have a good amount of running backs high on the rankings this week. Consider the following, from Michael Fabiano of NFL.com:

Adrian Peterson, Jamaal Charles, Eddie Lacy and C.J. Anderson are on injured reserve. Doug Martin, Carlos Hyde, Tevin Coleman, Jonathan Stewart, Thomas Rawls, Latavius Murray, LeSean McCoy and Le'Veon Bell, among others, have missed time. Todd Gurley and Mark Ingram have been busts.

Reliable running backs are worth their weight in gold again this year.

Devontae Booker, then, is one of the players who has shot up the trade value chart. He's the clear starter in Denver now and has registered 26 fantasy points over the past two weeks. If you are hurting at running back and are considering buying Booker, here's what you might be looking at giving up:

• Kelvin Benjamin and Jack Doyle
• Cam Newton and Allen Hurns
• DeAndre Hopkins and Andy Dalton
• Travis Kelce and Davante Adams

If Booker continues to produce, of course, the price will go up. He's probably more affordable now than he'll be for the rest of the season, unless he fails to produce. That's possible, seeing as Anderson was having an inconsistent season.

Still, Anderson was a solid RB2 when he was healthy. Booker doesn't give up much in the talent department, if anything, and should be a reliable top-20 running back the rest of the way. The time to buy low is now. His value will likely only increase. 

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter. All points-against and fantasy stats via ESPN.com standard-scoring leagues.