Well, that was a weird week. Did we just have two Monday Night Football games and a week four bye? Why yes… yes we did. In all honesty, props to the NFL for getting that Chiefs vs. Patriots rescheduled for Monday night. That game certainly caused a good number of fantasy commissioners to scramble for backup plans and contingency scenarios. Now hopefully we will continue to get good news about the Titans containing the COVID outbreak that left us (read: me) without Derrick Henry last week. Regularly scheduled bye weeks are upon us, which means the pool of legitimate starting players is shrinking even more. Time to get to trading. Check out who we’re buying and selling after the first four weeks of the season.
Will’s Buy: Amari Cooper
Is it lazy advice to suggest buying the wide receiver who is currently leading the league in targets? Maybe, but I’ve never denied being lazy. In all seriousness, Amari Cooper is quietly crushing it this season. He’s a buy simply because he has burned so many people in the past, which depresses his market. That kind of thinking is a mistake. This is not the Amari Cooper of old. The one thing that Cooper-haters love to point to is his inconsistency. That’s been a fair critique in recent years, but that does not seem to be the case in 2020. Cooper is averaging over 12 targets a game. His worst game so far saw him catch 10 passes for 81 yards. Clearly, his role has changed under the new coaching regime in Dallas. Cooper is acting as the Cowboys’ possession receiver and not the big-play threat that contributed to his boom-or-bust reputation. All of a sudden, Amari Cooper is a PPR monster.
Read that again. The Cowboys like to throw and they’ll need to keep throwing since their defense has allowed more points than any other team. He just scored his first TD of the year and he’s on pace for 200-plus targets. See if the Cooper manager in your league has been burned by him in the past, or if they fear he may relapse into his old inconsistent ways. This is the year to be in on Amari Cooper.
Zach’s Sell: Evan Engram
Through his first four games, Evan Engram has 11 catches, 96 yards, and no touchdowns. I’ve seen enough. There are likely players on waivers that would be just as alluring as Engram on any given week. The Giants appear lost this season, scoring 47 total points through four games. I don’t trust anyone on this offense to start on my team with the exception of Darrius Slayton and that would just be as a bye week fill-in at this point. Engram just cannot seem to get it going this year. His season-high in yardage in any week is 65. This goes to show how poor his other three contests have been. If anyone is still interested in the “big name” see what you can get for him, but he is inching closer to being a cut candidate for me.
For comparison, a player like Dalton Schultz had four catches for 72 yards and a touchdown this week alone, which is almost as good as Engram’s season-long fantasy point total. I cannot advocate starting any Giants’ player at this point and, based on the pedigree, Engram may be the most disappointing fantasy player of the bunch.
Zach’s Buy: Antonio Gibson
All aboard the Gibson hype train! Alright, I may be a bit late to this party, but man he can do it all. With no other running back on his heels, and his receiving upside, we are looking at what could be the next great hybrid back in the league. Washington appears ready to give Gibson all he can handle this season. Most of the pre-season doubters (myself included) noted that he only received 33 carries throughout his college career; they have to be silenced now after receiving 44 carries through his first four games in the NFL. The Washington Football Team will likely be playing in mostly negative game scripts the rest of the way and where some other running backs would be removed in those circumstances, Washington appears willing to keep him in throughout their ups and downs. If you can get your hands on this dynamic running back before he gets even more publicity do it, as the window is closing rapidly.
Will’s Sell: Joshua Kelley
I love Kelley, but this is a great sell window. Everyone seems to be assuming that he is in line for a true workhorse role now that Austin Ekeler is going to miss 4-6 weeks. If Kelley gets his regular workload plus the Ekeler work, he’d easily be a top 12 running back over the next month or so. If you can sell him for that price tag, you have to do it. The Chargers just do not want to hand over all the running back work to one guy. They haven’t for a long time. Kelley will absolutely see more volume with Ekeler sidelined, but he’s been inconsistent so far this year and he’ll be competing with Justin Jackson for touches moving forward. He had a terrible game last week against a tough Tampa Bay defense, but you can bring up the fact that his upcoming schedule is enticing in any negotiations you might have. I would be shopping him hard and trying to get a player who you know will be locked in as a top-24 WR or RB every week.
Zach’s Buy: Chase Edmonds
I was absolutely a Kenyan Drake truther in the preseason. However, to this point, he has been one of the more underwhelming running backs to start the season. After three weeks the Panthers had allowed an average of 124 rushing yards per game and the talk all week was that Kenyan was finally going to break out. Drake in fact did not break out and put up a measly 35 yards rushing on 13 attempts and had no involvement in the passing game. Meanwhile, Chase Edmonds had four carries for 13 yards and brought in five catches for 24 yards with a touchdown. Now, clearly, Drake has been their workhorse through their first four games. But, with minimal results, and Drake still not having that contract extension, one begins to wonder whether or not the Cardinals may give Edmonds more touches.
Drake has put up 254 rushing yards through his first four contests which amount to 63.5 yards per game. Edmonds hasn’t received enough looks to know how he would have fared with similar looks, but his involvement in the passing game and his penchant for the end zone makes him a speculative add in all formats for me. He isn’t a player who you necessarily need to “buy” but with Drake only getting into the end zone once all year, and the Cardinals now at 2-2, we may get a chance to see Edmonds more involved as soon as next week.
Is Will (@Dynastywalrus) dead wrong for believing in Amari Cooper? Is there enough room on the Antonio Gibson hype train for Zach (@DFF_Ztrain)? Hit us up on Twitter and give us your thoughts!
