Fantasy Football Trades Week 3: James Conner, Isiah Pacheco and More

Last week, I bemoaned the fact that it is always hard to make trades after Week 1. But things change fast in the fantasy football world. We are already 12% done with the fantasy season, and 0-2 managers are likely getting antsy. Moves will happen as we head toward Week 3, so it's time to get involved.

And if you're wondering what players are being moved the most, FantasySP has you covered. The Fantasy Assistant uses predictive analytics to generate an Expected Trade Interest (ETI) for each player. A higher ETI means that a player is more likely to be traded. Here are the leaders heading into Week 3:

At the top, we have two RBs who aren't coming through as the workhorses we were hoping for in James Conner and Isiah Pacheco. They are closely followed by Quentin Johnston, who has started blistering hot after being left for dead by the fantasy community. Technically, QJ is tied with Travis Etienne, but I covered Etienne in last week's article and stand by my take. Without further ado, here is what to do with this week's hottest trade candidates. 

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Sell James Conner

I don't really know if Conner counts as a sell-high or a sell-low. On the one hand, he is currently the half-PPR RB17, with decent performances in both of his first two outings. On the other hand, it's no secret that second-year RB Trey Benson is cutting into his workload. Unless you're targeting a very unobservant manager, you're not going to be able to move Conner as a workhorse. 

At the end of the day, sell-high vs. sell-low doesn't matter. What's important is what to do with Conner, and I recommend getting him off your rosters. Being the RB17 isn't bad, but failing to crack 13 half-PPR points despite scoring in both of his outings is not a good sign. This is doubly true when those two matchups were against two NFC South pushovers in the Saints and Panthers. 

Meanwhile, Benson's increased role is a problem. Yes, some of Benson's work, particularly the receiving usage, is work that went to Emari Demercado last year, not Conner. But not all of it. In 2024, Conner posted a 69.9% RB rush share and a 10.7% target share in his 16 healthy games. Other Arizona backs combined for a 30.1% rush share (duh) and a 7.5% target share. So far in 2025, Conner is at a 67.6% RB rush share and a 9.3% target share. Benson has a 32.4% RB rush share (duh) and an identical 9.3% target share. 

Right now, you're probably double-checking, because those numbers really aren't that different. And I'll admit, I also expected the difference to be larger. However, Conner's 2024 usage is at least slightly reduced by a few weird game scripts. In two games that the Cardinals won easily (but not too easily), his numbers should be better. Conner's underlying metrics have also declined: His snap share is down from 64% to 58.7%, and his route participation rate is down from 44.1% to 37.9%. 

Even beyond Benson, Conner hasn't been his usual efficient self to start this season. In 2024, he was PFF's fifth-highest graded RB and ranked 13th in both yards per attempt and yards after contact per attempt. So far in 2025, he has a middling grade and ranks 42nd out of 55 qualified backs in both yardage metrics. When a 30-year-old running back is losing work and slowing down in the efficiency department, the time to sell is early, not late. 

Hold Isiah Pacheco

In some ways, Pacheco is comparable to Conner. Anyone drafting him hoped he would be the workhorse in a solid-to-great offense. Instead, he's losing work to a teammate. However, the difference between Pacheco and Conner is that absolutely no one is still buying the idea that Pacheco is a solid RB2. He doesn't have the solid production that Conner has, and his split with Kareem Hunt is essentially a 50/50 timeshare.

In fact, I might argue that Pacheco's role is currently less fantasy-friendly than Hunt's. Yes, Pacheco has two more carries, one more target, and 15 more snaps. But neither of these guys is providing anything in the explosive play department. That means their best chance for usable fantasy weeks is to score touchdowns … and Hunt has played six of the Chiefs' eight snaps inside the 10. 

So if Pacheco is stuck on the bum end of a committee in a currently mediocre Kansas City offense, why am I recommending holding him? Hope. If you trade Pacheco right now to a manager with a pulse, you're not going to get anyone exciting back. And I think there is some hope, albeit very slim, that Pacheco is still playing his way back into shape after breaking his ankle last season.

If he regains some explosiveness, Pacheco's role should expand, and he could be the solid RB2 you (and I, in some leagues) drafted him to be. Is this likely? No. But it's possible, and I can't imagine you're getting anything better for Pacheco on the trade market at this point. 

Buy High on Quentin Johnston

In most leagues, the manager who currently rosters Johnston added him off waivers, after either his big Week 1 or his Week 2 encore. That, plus his status as a bit of a fantasy meme player, means he should be cheap. At the very least, you won't have to (and shouldn't choose to) pay anywhere near his current WR5 rankings.

But I don't think Johnston's hot start is a fluke. The Chargers have no real receiving TE, Greg Roman's offenses don't really target running backs, and they are hardly using a fourth receiver. That means it's not too crazy that each of Johnston, Ladd McConkey, and Keenan Allen currently has a target share of at least 23%. Johnston leads this trio with a 36% air yards share, and he is tied with McConkey with an elite 90% route participation rate. 

Along with being condensed, LA's passing offense is high-volume. The Chargers are letting Justin Herbert cook with a pass rate 12.1% above expectation, the highest in the league. As long as these trends continue, there's a fantasy-viable role here for QJ, even if he doesn't keep scoring a long TD every week. 

Then the only question becomes whether Johnston can take advantage of this opportunity. And why not? He's a former first-rounder, and he only just turned 24 years old. We may be looking at a good old-fashioned third-year breakout. If you can still pay waiver pickup prices to get Johnston on your roster, the upside he brings is easily worth it. 

Ted Chmyz is a fantasy football contributor for FantasySP. Find him on Twitter @Tchmyz for more fantasy content or to ask questions.