The NFL trade deadline is behind us, but you can still make fantasy trades (at least for another couple of weeks)! As we enter Week 9 of the 2023 NFL season, your fantasy team may be lacking top-tier talent or depth. Don't get sidetracked. Make sure to continue to make moves (through waivers and trades) and build up the strongest championship squad that you can.
With that in mind, here are three fantasy players to buy low and three to sell high:
BUY LOW
It is true Taylor has been outscored by Zack Moss in two of the last three weeks. As happy as that makes me, Moss’ No. 1 stan, I also expect big things from Taylor moving forward. Taylor played on a season-high 61% of offensive snaps last week, while Moss saw a season-low 39% of snaps. Each week since returning from IR, Taylor is getting more and more involved in the Colts offense. Even though Moss will continue to steal some carries and snaps, I expect that Taylor will be the primary pass-catching and goal-line back as we move into the second half of the season. Plus, if Moss happens to suffer an injury (which has happened often in his career), Taylor becomes a weekly top-five fantasy asset.
This rookie wide receiver is on the verge of a huge breakout. Rice has had at least 50 receiving yards in each of the last three weeks and played on a season-high 61% of snaps last Sunday. Patrick Mahomes seems to have finally found his go-to receiver behind Travis Kelce after we saw that Marquez Valdes-Scantling isn’t it, Kadarius Toney isn’t it and Skyy Moore definitely is not it. The Chiefs will likely be playing in shootouts over their next two games, as they face the Dolphins and Eagles -- trade for Rice on the cheap now, before he really takes off.
After a rough start to the season, the Bengals offense finally looks back to its typical form, with Joe Burrow healthy. Higgins is still working his way back to full health from a Week 4 rib injury; he played a limited number of snaps in Week 8 but still saw six targets for five receptions and 69 yards. As his snap count returns to normal, Higgins will continue to see a solid volume of targets come his direction. This may be your last chance to buy Higgins at a discount. The Bengals face the Bills Sunday night in what should be a very high-scoring affair, presenting a strong opportunity for Higgins to have a monster game.
SELL HIGH
It makes little sense that the Bills seem to have such little faith in Cook, but they refuse to give the second-year pro opportunities around the goal line, getting Latavius Murray -- who started the past three weeks -- more and more involved inside the 20s. To make matters worse, the Bills signed Leonard Fournette to their practice squad this week, and he will likely be active on game days in the near future. Cook is a talented player, but ever since Josh Allen came to town, Bills running backs simply cannot be trusted in fantasy on a week-to-week basis.
Edwards has scored 20-plus fantasy points in two straight weeks and is coming off a three-touchdown performance. With the Ravens leading their opponents comfortably over most of those games, Edwards has been given a huge workload. However, Edwards will face a couple of very hard run defenses over the next two weeks: the Seahawks on Sunday and the Browns the following week. Not only do I expect his production to regress, but it is also worth mentioning that Edwards, who missed all of 2021 and part of 2022 with a torn ACL, is on pace to set a career high in carries per game (13.1) and has already dealt with multiple injuries this year, though he has appeared in every contest so far. Sell Edwards now while his value is at its peak.
Kittle is an extremely talented player, as we witnessed last Sunday, when he blew up for 149 yards on 11 targets. Whenever Deebo Samuel or Brandon Aiyuk are out with an injury, it is safe to assume that Kittle will be highly involved in the offense and have a nice fantasy week. The issue is that when both are healthy and on the field, Kyle Shannan and Brock Purdy seem to completely ghost Kittle as a pass-catcher. Since the start of last season, Kittle has scored fewer than eight fantasy points (in full PPR scoring) in 11 of 23 games played -- meaning, nearly 50% of the time, he flops in your lineups. If you can trade Kittle for a tight end like Sam LaPorta, who is safer from week to week but carries similar upside, I would do that. There is a good chance you could get that trade done, with both players on bye this week.