Looking ahead to the fantasy playoffs, you might have time to swing one more last-minute trade in your fantasy league. The deadline for NFL.com standard leagues is November 22, so it's coming down to the wire, but every league is different. Trade deadline truthers, you can chill. And when it comes to buying or selling ahead of a fantasy playoff run, it's all about upcoming matchups. At this point in the season, we have enough data to tell us which teams are weakest against certain positions and which teams tend to limit those positions. With that in mind, here are some players you can look to buy or sell during this crucial final regular season stretch.
BUY: Dion Lewis, RB, New England Patriots
"Trade for a Patriots' running back! How do you have a job?"
At least one trade troll (worst kind of troll imo) is definitely going to comment that once this is posted. But either way, the answer is yes, trade for Dion Lewis right now. Basically a forgotten man in drafts back in August, Lewis has risen up to be the primary runner for the New England backfield in recent weeks. In the last two games in which Mike Gillisilee has been a healthy scratch, Lewis has absorbed half of his team's rush attempts (24 of 48) and run for 115 yards, or 4.8 yards per carry, and scored two total touchdowns. And dating back to Week 6 when Lewis began seeing double-digit carries, a mark he's hit every week since, he's logged 47 percent of the Patriots rush attempts with three total scores and 331 scrimmage yards.
SELL: Carlos Hyde, RB, San Francisco 49ers
Carlos Hyde has played the role of an all-purpose back this season for the 49ers, ranking fifth among all running backs with 42 receptions on the season for 274 yards in addition to his 141 carries for 592 yards. That kind of production might be hard to part ways with considering Hyde is the type of back who stays on the field even when his team is losing, which so far, has been all but one game.
Despite the volume though, Hyde only has four touchdowns all season, and they've come in clusters with a pair of two-touchdown games in Week 3 and Week 6. His schedule is about to get extremely difficult right when you'll be needing ceiling-type production. Hyde will face the Seahawks, Bears, Texans, Titans and Jaguars through Week 16. Three of those five are top-eight defenses in terms of limiting fantasy running back production and all of them are top-half units. Given that Hyde's team ranks bottom-five in terms of total points scored per game (17.4) you can see how his upside may be severely capped the rest of the season.
BUY: Marqise Lee, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
Look, I know trading for a Jaguars wide receiver seems like risky business. I get it, but let me lay it out before you judge my fireable takes. Marqise Lee has been Blake Bortles' most reliable option this season and has four games with double-digit targets. His 7.8 targets per game or 78 total ranks him 17th among NFL receivers and marks a 43 percent share of Jacksonville's wideout targets and 25 percent of his team's total looks on the season. Lee's 538 receiving yards ranks 27th among wideouts and while he only has two touchdowns, those scores have come in his last three games, so he's trending up. Some of that may have to do with Leonard Fournette's absence/ankle injury over the last five weeks, and that may linger which could cause Bortles to look Lee's way even more.
Lee's upcoming schedule is about as good as it gets. His next five games are against the Cardinals, Colts, Seahawks, Texans and 49ers. Four of those are bottom-half pass defenses, and Seattle is vulnerable due to a bevy of injuries as we saw against the Falcons in Week 11. So when you add up all the factors -- Lee has played consistently well this season, has an ideal schedule down the stretch, and probably won't cost you a ton of value - you can see why he's a buy.
SELL: Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Mike Evans has yet to record a single 100-yard receiving game this year and hasn't found the end zone since Week 7. The latter is the main problem, as his lack of big yardage games has turned him into a touchdown-dependent wide receiver. Yes, he provides a safe weekly floor thanks to his target volume, averaging 8.4 targets per game in the nine games he's played, but there's virtually no ceiling appeal. In standard scoring, he maxed out at 15.5 points back in Week 6. Evans' schedule the rest of the way is up and down with upcoming games against the Falcons (two), Packers, Lions and a top-10 points against wideouts Panthers unit in a crucial Week 16 game. His name value alone should draw your league-mates in if you can get depth in return, just don't sell yourself short.
BUY: Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angeles Rams
Despite scoring just seven points in Week 11, the Los Angeles Rams remain one of the highest-scoring teams in the NFL this year, with an average of 30.3 points scored per game. Seeing as the team's No. 1 wide receiver, Robert Woods, is slated to miss several weeks with a shoulder injury, trading for Cooper Kupp seems like a wise move. Kupp is already a heavily targeted player in the Rams offense. He's piled up 61 targets, second on the team, and is tied for second in receptions (38) and receiving yards (481). So his 6.1 targets per game average should increase with Woods sidelined.
Even more surprising, Kupp is the clear-cut go-to for Jared Goff in the red zone. The rookie's 16 red zone targets far and away lead the team and ranks Kupp second among all NFL wideouts. The only players ahead of him: Dez Bryant and Davante Adams. The Rams receiver has a handful of favorable matchups in coming weeks, further boosting his trade appeal. After the Saints in Week 12, he'll face the Cardinals, Eagles, Seahawks and Titans, and all of those games could very well be shootouts meaning lots of opportunity for volume.
SELL: T.Y. Hilton, WR, Indianapolis Colts
Two weeks ago, I suggested trading away T.Y. Hilton following a 29-point game, his best fantasy outing of the year, in Week 9. At that point all but one of his remaining matchups the rest of the season seemed daunting. That outlook has changed some, but he still has two upcoming games where he'll be virtually unstartable against the Jaguars in Week 13 and Ravens in Week 16.
I still think Hilton is a sell, but maybe you wait to see if he can take advantage of the Titans secondary this week before you move him. Tennessee shut him down back in Week 6, but this game is at home in Indianapolis and the Titans secondary was recently shredded by Pittsburgh on the road last week. Hilton will also face Buffalo and Denver in Weeks 14 and 15, two defenses that two weeks ago were top-10 units in terms of limiting fantasy wideout production but have since been exposed. Again, Hilton remains a sell, but you might be able to get better value back using his upgraded outlook as a selling point.
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