Week 3 Fantasy Football: Trade Value Charts & Trade Analyzer
Heading into Week 3 of the regular season (man, it moves so fast…), we’re seeing some superstar caliber players who’ve dropped substantially in the charts as a result of injury and/or underwhelming production through the first two weeks of the regular season. Notably, Dalvin Cook and Ja’Marr Chase have dropped substantially at their respective positions. Likewise, injuries to TE George Kittle and RB Alvin Kamara have prevented them from doing anything for their fantasy owners. Even Josh Allen, who is hands down the most valuable fantasy football quarterback this year, is trailing behind in the charts.
Let’s take a look at the best fantasy football players to try and buy-low in trades heading into Week 3.
QB Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (20.26)
Josh Allen currently has a trade value that is lower than QBs Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes. This is somewhat surprising, as Allen is off to a spectacular start in 2022. He’s completed 75.4% of his passes so far for 614 yards, seven touchdowns and just two interceptions. He threw for 317 yards and four touchdowns without a single turnover in their blowout win over the Tennessee Titans on Monday night. The Bills look like the best team in the NFL after the first two weeks of the regular season. Part of this is because of their turnover-forcing defense, but Josh Allen is the core of their potent offense without a question. He is without a doubt the most valuable quarterback in fantasy football leagues. If you can somehow ship Jalen Hurts for Josh Allen, pull the trigger immediately. Chances are that you would have to throw in a decent running back or receiver on top of Hurts in order to acquire Allen.
WR Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals (24.38)
Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals have been off to a rough start this season. In Week 1, the Bengals lost to the Steelers in overtime with Joe Burrow throwing a career-high four interceptions in a single game. This Sunday, the Bengals’ offense struggled to get going again and lost to Cooper Rush and the Dallas Cowboys. As a result of the offense being shut down, Chase was held to just five catches for 54 yards on Sunday. He did have a big Week 1 with 129 receiving yards and one touchdown. Let’s hope the Bengals get going offensively, and if they do, you can expect Chase to have those 100+ yard performances consistently. At the start of the season, Chase was easily within the top five wide receivers in fantasy football. However, two weeks into the season, Chase is now ranked eighth on the WR Trade Value Charts behind Cooper Kupp, Stefon Diggs, Justin Jefferson, Jaylen Waddle, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Tyreek Hill, and Davante Adams. Although Chase has to compete for targets with perhaps the best pass-catching trio in the league (Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd), he should bounce back in Week 3 against a New York Jets secondary that has been shredded each of the first two weeks of the season.
RB Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints (13.74)
Alvin Kamara struggled in Week 1 and did not play in Week 2 as a result of a rib injury that he is currently working through. At the moment, he is questionable heading into Week 3. Still, Alkin Kamara was a late first round draft pick in most fantasy football leagues, and has seen his trade value drop for approximately 25 points when the season began, to less than 14 points today.l Currently, dozens of running backs have higher trade values that him and many of them are RB2s on their respective teams. Jamaal Williams (15.27), Tony Pollard (16.21), and Kareem Hunt (16.56) all have trade values that are significantly higher than Kamara’s at the moment. The great news is that it was reported less than an hour ago that Kamara was back in practice today.
This is simply criminal for a guy like Kamara, who when healthy consistently pumps out 100+ all-purpose yards and at least a touchdown. In addition, the Saints might choose to expand on their running game after a rough home game against the Buccaneers in Week 2 where Jameis Winston threw three interceptions for just one meaningless late game touchdown. The Saints need Kamara back and when he does, expect him to come back hungry. Right now, his trade value is disrespectfully low.
RB Dalvin Cook, Minnesota Vikings (20.11)
Dalvin Cook was a consensus first-round pick in just about every fantasy football format out there. Cook repaid his fantasy owners in Week 1 with over 100 yards from scrimmage but failed to find the end zone. Still, the bruising running back totaled 90 rushing yards on 20 carries and caught three of five targets for an additional 18 receiving yards. It was a good start to the season for Cook against a stout Green Bay Packers’ defensive front. However, Cook really disappointed his fantasy owners in Week 2 against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football. Because Minnesota fell behind by two possessions early in the game, Minnesota had to abandon the running game in the second half. As a result, Cook only touched the ball 10 times and finished with a meager 36 scoreless yards from scrimmage.
This comes after Cook’s touchdown numbers took a huge hit in 2021. Cook will look to right the ship next week in a plum home date with the Lions' run defense that was trampled by the Eagles in the season opener. Still, after two scoreless performances to open the season, Cook has dropped significantly in the RB Trade Value Charts this week. Cook dropped by a whole -8.2 points and is now ranked 14th among running backs. This is the perfect time to get Cook at a discounted price.
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WR CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys (16.55)
The Cowboys couldn’t have had a worse Week 1. They were annihilated 3-17 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the first Sunday Night Football of the season. What made matters worse was a thumb injury Dak sustained which will keep him out until mid-season. This disruption to the Cowboys offense has likely impacted CeeDee Lamb’s performance in the first two weeks of the regular season. In Week 1, Lamb had just two receptions for 29 yards. This Sunday, Lamb had a better game catching seven passes for 75 yards. Still, Lamb has just barely scraped up 100 receiving yards and is yet to get into the end zone yet this season. CeeDee was easily a first round pick in most drafts but has now dipped below many other receivers in the trade value charts. Over the last week, Lamb has slipped by -6.5 points in the charts placing him below approximately 20 receivers including Amari Cooper (16.66), Brandin Cooks (17.32) and Drake London (18.43). Watch Lamb explode in the next few weeks, especially now that Cooper Rush will have some time to run some first-team reps in practices over the week. Part of the reason why his trade value has plummeted is specifically because Rush and noto Dak will be throwin him the ball until at least midseason. There is certainly some panic for fantasy owners who drafted CeeDee Lamb with the belief that Dak Prescott would be throwing him the ball. Nonetheless, Lamb’s trade value has sank too much, but this makes it a perfect time for you to try and snipe him from someone in your league who is not paying attention.
TE George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers (8.77)
The 49ers Pro-Bowl tight end hasn’t gotten to play in the first two weeks of the regular season as a result of a groin injury he is currently working through. As a result, Kittle’s trade value has dropped approximately eight points since the season began. While he hasn’t played and is questionable for Week 3, he currently ranks 22nd in among all tight ends in the trade value charts. What is even more interesting for Kittle is that he will be returning from injury to play with Jimmy Garoppolo with whom he’s had the most success throughout his NFL career. The chemistry the two have developed far exceeds what second-year QB Trey Lance had in the works with him last season and what he could have accomplished with Kittle in 2022. Now that Lance broke his ankle and will miss the remainder of the 2022 season, Garoppolo is going to be the starting QB and when Kittle returns, he will be better suited to produce big numbers than if Lance was throwing him the ball. The good news is that Kittle returned to practice today on a "limited basis" according to ESPN's Nick Wagoner.
Still, the fact remains that Kittle is yet to see the field this season. That doesn’t mean he should have a trade value that is lower than David Njoku (9.87), Evan Engram (11.42) or Hayden Hurst (11.59). Kittle was the fourth TE to come off the boards in fantasy drafts this year after Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, and Darren Waller. He should be considered no-less than a top-10 TE at the moment despite not having seen any action yet in 2022.
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