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

It's been a while since an NFL Sunday was as marred by injuries to prominent players as what we saw in Week 2. And that means a lot of players' trade values have been adjusted because of either the time they will be sidelined or the time their teammates will be sidelined.

We will attempt to compensate for those fluctuations below in the weekly trade value chart to at least give you an idea of where you should be valuing your players or potential trade targets. As always, we can't account for your league rules or team needs, but this should give you a general baseline to consider before entering negotiations.

May the fantasy points be with you!

Trade Value: 12

1. Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Dallas Cowboys

2. Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints

3. Dalvin Cook, RB, Minnesota Vikings

4. Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, Kansas City Chiefs

5. Derrick Henry, RB, Tennessee Titans

6. Aaron Jones, RB, Green Bay Packers

7. Josh Jacobs, RB, Las Vegas Raiders

Trade Value: 11

8. DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Houston Texans

9. Davante Adams, WR, Green Bay Packers

10. Tyreek Hill, WR, Kansas City Chiefs

11. Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons

Trade Value: 10

12. Chris Carson, RB, Seattle Seahawks

13. Miles Sanders, RB, Philadelphia Eagles

14. Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts

15. Chris Godwin, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

16. Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

17. Adam Thielen, WR, Minnesota Vikings

18. Calvin Ridley, WR, Atlanta Falcons

19. Stefon Diggs, WR, Buffalo Bills

Trade Value: 9

20. Nick Chubb, RB, Cleveland Browns

21. Kenyan Drake, RB, Arizona Cardinals

22. Kareem Hunt, RB, Cleveland Browns

23. Melvin Gordon, RB, Denver Broncos

24. Michael Thomas, WR, New Orleans Saints

25. DK Metcalf, WR, Seattle Seahawks

26. Tyler Lockett, WR, Seattle Seahawks

27. Amari Cooper, WR, Dallas Cowboys

28. Robert Woods, WR, Los Angeles Rams

29. JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers

30. Allen Robinson II, WR, Chicago Bears

Trade Value: 8

31. Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs

32. George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers

33. Darren Waller, TE, Las Vegas Raiders

34. Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs

35. Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens

36. Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle Seahawks

37. Deshaun Watson, QB, Houston Texans

Trade Value: 7

38. Leonard Fournette, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

39. Raheem Mostert, RB, San Francisco 49ers

40. Robby Anderson, WR, New York Jets

41. Julian Edelman, WR, New England Patriots

42. John Brown, WR, Buffalo Bills

43. Kenny Golladay, WR, Detroit Lions

44. DJ Moore, WR, Carolina Panthers

45. Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angeles Rams

46. Terry McLaurin, WR, Washington Football Team

Trade Value: 6

47. Joe Mixon, RB, Cincinnati Bengals

48. James Conner, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers

49. Austin Ekeler, RB, Los Angeles Chargers

50. Todd Gurley, RB, Atlanta Falcons

51. Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers

52. David Johnson, RB, Houston Texans

53. Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills

54. Kyler Murray, QB, Arizona Cardinals

55. Dak Prescott, QB, Dallas Cowboys

56. Cam Newton, QB, New England Patriots

Trade Value: 5

57. Zach Ertz, TE, Philadelphia Eagles 

58. Odell Beckham Jr., WR, Cleveland Browns

59. Darius Slayton, WR, New York Giants

60. Diontae Johnson, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers

61. A.J. Brown, WR, Tennessee Titans

62. Marquise Brown, WR, Baltimore Ravens

63. Keenan Allen, WR, Los Angeles Chargers

64. DJ Chark Jr., WR, Jacksonville Jaguars

65. DeVante Parker, WR, Miami Dolphins

66. James Robinson, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

67. David Montgomery, RB, Chicago Bears

Trade Value: 4

68. Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons

69. Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers

70. T.Y. Hilton, WR, Indianapolis Colts

71. Jamison Crowder, WR, New York Jets

72. Jarvis Landry, WR, Cleveland Browns

73. Keelan Cole Jr., WR, Jacksonville Jaguars

74. Noah Fant, TE, Denver Broncos

75. Tyler Higbee, TE, Los Angeles Rams

76. Mark Andrews, TE, Baltimore Ravens

77. Hunter Henry, TE, Los Angeles Rams

78. Evan Engram, TE, New York Giants

79. Mike Gesicki, TE, Miami Dolphins

Trade Value: 3

80. Devin Singletary, RB, Buffalo Bills

81. Nyheim Hines, RB, Indianapolis Colts

82. J.K. Dobbins, RB, Baltimore Ravens 

83. Mark Ingram II, RB, Baltimore Ravens

84. Devonta Freeman, RB, New York Giants 

85. Joshua Kelley, RB, Los Angeles Chargers

86. Antonio Gibson, RB, Washington Football Team

87. Ronald Jones II, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Trade Value: 2

88. Ryan Tannehill, QB, Tennessee Titans

89. Tom Brady, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

90. Dallas Goedert, TE, Philadelphia Eagles

91. Jonnu Smith, TE, Tennessee Titans

92. Marvin Jones Jr., WR, Detroit Lions

93. Tyler Boyd, WR, Cincinnati Bengals

94. Jerry Jeudy, WR, Denver Broncos

95. Sammy Watkins, WR, Kansas City Chiefs

96. CeeDee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys

97. Brandin Cooks, WR, Houston Texans

98. N'Keal Harry, WR, New England Patriots

99. Jerick McKinnon, RB, San Francisco 49ers

100. Mike Davis, RB, Carolina Panthers

There are some hot starts you can trust. Russell Wilson has been awesome in fantasy because, well, he's awesome. DeAndre Hopkins is going to feast as an Arizona Cardinal, like he did as a Houston Texan. Alvin Kamara is one of the best all-around playmakers in football on one of the league's most dangerous offenses. Travis Kelce plays with Patrick Mahomes, etc., etc.

Other players are more fascinating to evaluate. Will their value hold and/or improve?

Calvin Ridley is a player a lot of folks will be talking about after starting the season with 16 receptions for 239 yards and four touchdowns, all on 22 targets. That output obviously isn't sustainable—Ridley is on pace for 32 touchdowns. He'll naturally regress from that number.

But just how far?

The Atlanta Falcons have never been afraid to throw the ball around, so the targets should remain steady. He's clearly earned quarterback Matt Ryan's trust. And even without the touchdowns, he would be having an excellent fantasy season, especially in PPR leagues. He's also in his third year and put up solid numbers in each of his first two seasons—we could be looking at a breakout campaign here.

It seems more likely that Ridley is heading for a big season than it does that his two games are a pure fluke. It's also likely that his trade value will never be higher. Now probably isn't a great time to buy on him in a trade, but it's a hell of a time to sell. But if you aren't getting back WR1 prices, just sit on him—he's going to keep producing, albeit at a slightly more subdued level.

Then there's the Tampa Bay Buccaneers backfield. It sure feels like Leonard Fournette is about to take over the starting running back role after rushing 12 times for 103 yards and two scores in Week 2, adding four receptions for 13 yards. Ronald Jones II, meanwhile, had seven carries for 23 yards and a score, adding two receptions for four yards.

Here's the thing about Jones: If Tampa's coaching staff were committed to him as the top guy, would they have signed Fournette in the first place? Maybe, or maybe Fournette was brought aboard because Jones, quite frankly, has never been that good or seized the job.

It's time to start treating Fournette like a top-15 running back. You can probably get him cheaper than that in a trade right now, but given both his and Jones' resumes, expect Fournette to be the main man in this backfield going forward.