While drafting smartly and managing the waiver wire are keys to fantasy success, few teams lift up a trophy at season's end without swinging some trades along the way. With the trade deadline mere days away (Nov. 27th in standard NFL.com leagues), time is running out to make a potentially season-saving move. That's what we'll discuss this week in the final edition of "Trade Calls" (dry your eyes, kids, it's been a good run). Below you'll find the standard "trade for" and "trade away" segments, and I also dive into some reader-submitted questions as well. If your question didn't get answered in this space, feel free to send it my way on Twitter @AlexGelhar.
Trade for:
Doug Martin, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: After three straight weeks with 10.3 fantasy points or fewer, Martin's owners were likely discouraged heading into last Sunday's matchup with Philadelphia's stout run defense (only .54 fantasy points per touch allowed, third-lowest in the league). Well, Martin rebounded in a big way, notching 235 rushing yards and looking utterly dominant on the day. Of running backs who saw at least 50 percent of their team's attempts in Week 11, he had the most yards after contact per attempt (6.0) and the second-most forced missed tackles (six) trailing only Jonathan Stewart (eight). Martin's a massive part of the offense -- averaging 21.5 touches a game over his last four -- and the team will undoubtedly continue to rely on him down the stretch. Speaking of the stretch, Martin has a favorable playoff schedule, with juicy home dates against New Orleans and Chicago, and a road matchup against St. Louis. Given Martin's three-game skid prior to last week, and the fact that he failed to find the end zone, perhaps his owner is still willing to part with him. See what it'd take to get Martin on your squad before the deadline, as he could be a monster during the fantasy playoffs.
T.J. Yeldon, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars: Yeldon has looked great on the field, but that hasn't exactly translated into a ton of fantasy points quite yet. That's partially because he hasn't found the end zone with regularity yet, partially because the team decided to inexplicably turn Denard Robinson into a goal-line back last week, but I digress. Among running backs with at least 170-plus touches, Yeldon's 1.14 touchdown rate is the third-lowest, behind only Darren McFadden (1.07) and Justin Forsett (1.09), which points to a potential regression back to the mean for Yeldon. He should be able to find the end zone more frequently down the stretch, especially with the Jaguars offense humming of late. Yeldon's averaged just shy of 20 touches per game over the last four weeks, so the volume is there. His playoff schedule features home games against the Colts and Falcons, and a road trip to New Orleans. Indy and Atlanta have been tougher on backs, but both can be beaten by pass-catching running backs -- a trait Yeldon excels at. He can likely be acquired for a fair price in a trade, and could return huge rewards for your fantasy team down the stretch.
Eddie Lacy, RB, Green Bay Packers: It was one game, but Lacy sure looked like the back fantasy owners invested a first-round pick in back in August. He registered 100 rush yards for the first time all year, looked decisive, broke tackles and showed good burst through the hole. His 22 carries were the most he's received in a game since Week 17 of last year. This could have been a get right game for the big back, and his schedule the rest of the season is pretty favorable. His next four matchups feature three defenses in the bottom 10 of the league in terms of fantasy points allowed to running backs on the year, and all four have allowed 18.5-plus points to the position per game over the last month. Head coach Mike McCarthy hasn't named Lacy the starter over James Starks again, but if the team's history is any indication, this will be Lacy's backfield moving forward (McCarthy echoed a similar sentiment last year after Lacy's sluggish start, then fed him just over 20 touches a game from Week 8 on). Now could be your last chance to buy low on a potentially season-swinging fantasy player.
Trade away:
Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle Seahawks: Despite his name value and the offseason hype, Wilson has been a terrible fantasy quarterback this year. He's only finished as a QB1 (among the top 12 at his position) three times in 2015 out of 10 games, with two of those coming in his last two games. With the offensive line in shambles and the passing game struggling, Wilson is a matchup-based starter for the rest of the season, and he has a few tougher matchups coming up (Pittsburgh, Minnesota). If you've been holding onto him this long, try to ship him off based on his recent hot streak and name value to get somethign back in return. You'll be more than able to survive the rest of the season streaming quarterbacks, starting with Brian Hoyer this week.
Jeremy Hill, RB, Cincinnati Bengals: I'll admit, I was wrong on Hill this year. I was one of the true believers in one of 2014's most exciting backs, and expected big things in 2015 (I took him in the second round in plenty of drafts). The back we've seen deployed frequently by the Bengals has been a timid, indecisive runner who doesn't trust his blocks or his own ability. He's been entirely too touchdown dependent this year, and all seven of his rushing touchdowns came within 8 yards of the end zone (his lone touchdown reception was from 13 yards out). All told, Hill has accumulated 48.9 percent of his 2015 fantasy scoring on his rushing touchdowns, meaning if he doesn't score he's essentially useless to you in fantasy. If you're somehow able to package him in a trade before the deadline off of his two-touchdown primetime performance against the Cardinals, do so and don't look back.
Mailbag:
As is the case every week, I received an overwhelming number of trade questions when I put out the call on Twitter. Apologies if I didn't get to yours in this space or on Twitter. Send me another tweet later this week (when my mentions aren't on fire) and I'll try my best to get to as many as possible. For now, here are some of the most interesting questions I received for Week 11:
As you can see above, I'm not in favor of Russell Wilson down the stretch, especially if you're giving up Ben Roethlisberger for him. Big Ben operates one of the most explosive passing attacks in the NFL with two dynamic wide receivers (Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant). I'd expect them to even find success on the road in Seattle, while Wilson figures to be a matchup-based starter moving forward. Hold tight with Roethlisberger.
First question first: I think you're giving up too much, even though I don't yet know the extent of Danny Amendola's injury. Chris Ivory's injury woes have been frustrating, but when healthy he's a lock for 20-plus touches and goal-line work. And we just saw Amendola post a dynamite game in his first crack at filling in for Julian Edelman. I think you're better off offering one of these two and a different ancillary player, or trying to stream tight ends based on good matchups. Brent Celek is a nice option this week, just don't forget he plays the early game on Thanksgiving. Same goes for the second question. Play the matchups with Graham and stream when you're able. Otherwise, if you have depth at other positions Gary Barnidge is a safe target who's been less volatile than Tyler Eifert, but scoring at about the same clip.
Unless you have a capable backup tight end, I'd hold onto Tyler Eifert. Tight end has been one of the most volatile positions in fantasy this year, and Eifert's red-zone prowess makes him a threat to score multiple times each and every week. While I'm sure the prospect of starting Steve Johnson or Rishard Matthews isn't the most encouraging, both have potential to post good stat lines in plus matchups -- like Johnson has this week against Jacksonville. I'd sit pat, or shoot higher in your targets if you really want to give up Eifert. You might be able to get a more consistent scorer like Martavis Bryant or Eric Decker in exchange, both of which would be better gets than Randall Cobb in my opinion.
Hmmm, if you have depth at running back, I'd go for this. However, if letting go of DeMarco Murray would force you into starting more questionable role players at running back, I suggest you stand pat. It's hard to give up a running back receiving 20 touches a game. Allen Robinson does have a fantastic upcoming schedule, though, which is why I'm OK with this trade as long as the loss of DeMarco doesn't put you in too big of a hole.
1,000 times no. If you're lucky enough to have Thomas Rawls right now, you hold onto him. There's a chance Marshawn Lynch will have season-ending surgery soon, which would make Rawls a top-10 running back for the rest of the season. In addition, Brock Osweiler starting could mean good things for the value of Demaryius Thomas, as the Brock Lobster is actually able to run Gary Kubiak's offense the way it was meant to be. I'd stand pat with your guys, as they have more upside together than Antonio Brown offers you on his own down the stretch.
-- Alex Gelhar is a fantasy football writer/editor for NFL.com, and the producer of the NFL Fantasy LIVE podcast. He's been hooked on "Fargo" this season on FX, and suggests you check it out. Let him know what you're watching (or ask him fantasy questions) on Twitter @AlexGelhar.
