Three to buy-low

Justin Fields, QB, Bears

The Bears offense is a disaster, and you would have had no trouble finding examples of why on Twitter. Fields hasn’t taken the step forward we were hoping, and honestly, he might have taken a step back since last season. I can at least see the theory behind the Bears trying to get Fields going early on as a passer, which might explain the lack of designed runs for him through two games – he has five, per PFF, after averaging 7.6 per game over the final 12 weeks of the season. But it hasn’t worked, and I think we’re going to see a return to the offense that at least let Fields thrive last year. The leap may not be happening like we hoped, but Fields still has better weapons than he had last year when he was a must-start Fantasy QB. I feel confident in him at least getting back to that level. I’ve had multiple people ask if they should drop Fields to start Jordan Love, and … just, no. 

Alexander Mattison, RB, Vikings

Mattison looks like a classic Dead Zone RB, the kind of guy who basically only has value in Fantasy because his team doesn’t give anyone else touches. But the thing is, even though Mattison had a costly lost fumble in Week 2, they never went away from him, as he had eight of nine RB carries and six of eight targets. Maybe Week 3 will be when they get Ty Chandler more involved, but the schedule is about to really lighten up with the Chargers and Panthers on the way, and Mattison might look a lot better in a couple of weeks than he does now. I still think there’s still high-end RB2 upside in this offense, and he’ll probably cost a lot less. 

Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Seahawks

Smith-Njigba hasn’t immediately rendered Tyler Lockett and/or DK Metcalf irrelevant like some thought he might, but I hope I don’t have to remind you that patience is typically a necessity when it comes to rookie wide receivers (who aren’t named “Puka Nacua,” at least). Smith-Njigba ran routes on 64% of the Seahawks’ snaps in Week 2 and he earned a target on 21% of his routes, so I’m really not too worried about him. If you drafted him, you should have done so under the assumption that he probably wouldn’t be too useful early on. But his production can only go up from here, and he’s potentially one injury away from being a must-start Fantasy WR. I’m always looking for high-upside bench stashes, and I’m going to be putting some offers out this week. 

One to buy-high

Keenan Allen, WR, Chargers

Allen hasn’t posted an average depth of target over 10 since 2019, but he’s sitting at 10.2 through two games, as perhaps the most obvious beneficiary of a more aggressive Chargers offense under Kellen Moore. He’s done that without sacrificing much YAC, leading to a 13.4 yards per reception, which would be his highest since 2017 – when he caught 102 passes for 1,393 yards. Allen is continuing to see a high target volume without any kind of dip in efficiency, a testament to his ability to get open as well as Justin Herbert’s accuracy in the deeper portions of the field. I don’t love the idea of buying high on a 31-year-old who missed significant time last season with a couple of hamstring injuries, but I also feel like Allen has legitimate top-five upside in this offense right now, and I think it’s unlikely he’s being priced like that in trades right now. 

Three to sell-high

Jordan Love, QB, Packers

Love seems like the most obvious sell-high candidate at the QB position right now, but like I said earlier, I’ve gotten enough questions about him that I think it’s worth addressing. His extremely low pass volume (52 attempts through two games) could be the result of the Packers injuries to their main pass-catching weapons, but I just haven’t been particularly impressed with him despite the six touchdowns to no interceptions. He has the third-worst Completion Percentage Above Expected among all QBs, per NFL Next Gen Stats, and I’d say most of his six touchdowns have been more about either the scheme, the wide receivers, or the defense than anything Love has done. He’s got decent enough playmakers around him and a good coaching staff, but I just haven’t seen much reason to think Love is likely to command a high-volume, high-efficiency passing attack and be a top-12 QB. If you cut his current 11.5% touchdown rate in half, it would be within spitting distance of Aaron Rodgers’ 6.2% career mark. That’s reason enough to sell high. 

D’Andre Swift, RB, Eagles

I’m not 100% sure how I feel about this one because if Swift is truly the Eagles lead back moving forward, he really could be a must-start Fantasy RB. And I genuinely believe that, if Kenneth Gainwell had gotten the same 28 carries Swift got in the same situations last week, he wouldn’t have gotten close to Swift’s 175 yards. However, Swift is also just one week removed from playing 29% of the snaps and getting a single carry. Was last week enough to convince the coaching staff he deserves to be the lead back ahead of Gainwell? If it were up to me, it would have been, but it’s not. There’s enough uncertainty around how the Eagles will proceed moving forward that if I had an opportunity to swap Swift for someone like Josh Jacobs, I’d do that right now. 

Brian Robinson, RB, Commanders

Robinson is coming off the best game of his career, and has now scored three touchdowns in the first two games. It’s the perfect time to sell him. He’s still just an early downs plodder, and despite his decent receiving production so far (49 yards and a touchdown), he ran just 16 routes in Week 2 on 45 dropbacks. You love the back to back games of 19 and 18 carries, but without touchdowns, he’s unlikely to crack double-digit Fantasy points most weeks. Robinson is a decent RB2 at best, and I think it’s pretty unlikely we’ll see many more two-week stretches where he drops 40-plus points again.

One to sell-low

Jahan Dotson, WR, Commanders 

I don’t want to give up on Dotson, but we’re seeing a continuation of a worrying trend from his rookie season in the early going. Dotson was just 61st among 88 wide receivers who ran at least 300 routes last season with a 16.2% targets per route run rate, and he’s been targeted on just 15.3% of his targets early on. Dotson is a talented player who put up solid per-target numbers last season, but Terry McLaurin might just be the better target earner here. Dotson entered the season with a lot of hype, and you might be able to take advantage of that hype in a trade here. 

Chubb’s injury is just a massive bummer. He’s one of the best running backs in the NFL, and early indications were he was getting the kind of passing game usage that could finally make him a true league-winning Fantasy option. He’s got a long road back from that injury, and he leaves a massive hole in a Browns offense that suddenly looks rudderless.