• Trade for Eagles RB D'Andre Swift: Swift ran the ball 18 times against the Dallas Cowboys and only gained 43 rushing yards in Week 9 before the Eagles Week 10 bye. He's a buy-low candidate ahead of the trade deadline.
• Sell Giants RB Saquon Barkley: Barkley averaged over 5.0 yards per carry in Week 10, but he wasn’t given enough opportunities because of the game script. The Giants aren’t expected to get much better this season, so there could be more games like this where New York is forced to pass the ball to try to keep up with its opponent.
• Make trades this week: Trade deadlines in most leagues are at the end of the week, making now the time to make a trade. This will be the last edition of this article due to the trade deadline passing.
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
The fantasy trade deadline is fast approaching. Here are five moves you should be looking to make in your fantasy leagues as you turn your attention to the fantasy playoffs.
TRADE FOR RB D’ANDRE SWIFT, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
Swift ran the ball 18 times against the Dallas Cowboys and only gained 43 rushing yards in Week 9 before the Eagles Week 10 bye.
- Swift ran the ball for 305 yards over his first two starts with Philadelphia but hasn’t topped 70 rushing yards in the six games since then.
- While his play hasn’t been as strong in recent weeks, his playing time hasn’t been impacted. He’s played in at least 65% of Philadelphia's offensive snaps in each of the last three weeks after playing under 65% in the previous four.
- Right guard Cam Jurgens should be returning sooner rather than later, which will help solidify the offensive line.
- The big reason to add him now is because he could dominate during the fantasy playoffs, where the Eagles have the best schedule for running backs.
- The Eagles play the Seattle Seahawks, New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals. All three teams are among the top 10 teams at allowing fantasy points to running backs.
- The last two opponents should be games where the Eagles gain a large lead and run the ball throughout the second half.
- Similarly, Kenneth Gainwell is one of the top waiver wire options as a handcuff because of the matchups, just in case something happens to Swift.
TRADE FOR WR MARQUISE BROWN, ARIZONA CARDINALS
Brown only caught one pass for 28 yards in Kyler Murray’s first game back at quarterback.
- Week 10 wasn’t an ideal matchup against the Atlanta Falcons, but he has still posted his best PFF receiving grade on the season since 2020.
- Murray has graded better as a passer than Joshua Dobbs over the past two seasons, so if anything, Brown should be seeing higher-quality passes going forward.
- Similar to Kupp, Brown faces two great matchups in the fantasy playoffs against the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles, who rank eighth and first, respectively, in allowing fantasy points to wide receivers.
- They are both teams who will likely blow out Arizona, forcing them to abandon the run early and throw a lot of passes.
- Their other matchup is against the Chicago Bears, who are also in the top half of the league at allowing fantasy points to wide receivers.
- It’s worth noting the Seattle Seahawks have the the best trio of games during the fantasy playoffs, but D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett both gained over 90 yards this past week and don’t fit in the buy low category.
TRADE FOR TE TAYSOM HILL, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
Hill caught two passes for 27 yards and ran once for six yards in the Saints' loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
- Minnesota made a field goal on its first drive. By the time the Saints got the ball, they were losing and never played a snap with a lead.
- Hill had lined up at quarterback for double-digit snaps the previous two games, but he didn’t do as much during this game.
- He has played 20% of the Saints' offensive snaps lined up in the backfield when the Saints are tied or winning this season and 7% when they are losing.
- The Saints only have one more game on their schedule against a team with a winning record.
- Hill was lining up a lot at tight end and receiver in Weeks 6 and 7 when Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau were dealing with injuries. He’s still seen at least 16 snaps at tight end or at wide receiver in each of the last three games.
- The Saints face the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the fantasy semi-finals and finals. Both are among the top-12 teams at allowing fantasy points to tight ends.
SELL RB SAQUON BARKLEY, NEW YORK GIANTS
Barkley ran 13 times for 66 yards in the Giants blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
- Barkley averaged over five yards per carry, but he wasn’t given enough opportunities because of the game script.
- The Giants aren’t expected to get much better this season, so there could be more games like this where New York is forced to pass the ball to try to keep up with its opponent.
- Life will get particularly difficult for Barkley during the fantasy playoffs.
- The Giants face the New Orleans Saints, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Los Angeles Rams.
- All three teams are among the top nine at preventing fantasy points to running backs, making it the most difficult schedule for running backs during the playoffs.
- All three rank among the top eight in team run-defense grade this season.
- Not only will Barkley have fewer opportunities going forward, but it will be harder for him to break long rungs when he’s needed the most.
SELL TE DALTON SCHULTZ, HOUSTON TEXANS
Schultz has scored the second-most fantasy points for a tight end over the last two weeks at 38.1.
- Schultz has seen more playing time in recent weeks. The team’s primary run-blocking tight end Teagan Quitoriano is currently on injured reserve, while his primary receiving backup Brevin Jordan has also missed the last two weeks.
- The Texans should not only get healthier at tight end but also at wide receiver. We haven’t seen Nico Collins, Tank Dell, Noah Brown and Robert Woods all healthy for a game since Week 1.
- The big concern for Schultz is the schedule in the fantasy playoffs, where he faces the Cleveland Browns and the Tennessee Titans twice.
- They’ve allowed the fewest and second-fewest fantasy points to a tight end this season, making it arguably the roughest schedule for any player during the playoffs.
- Mark Andrews is the only tight end to play well against either defense. He’s caught 11 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns over three games against those opponents.
- No other tight end has scored a touchdown against either team. Gerald Everett is the only player with more than 40 receiving yards against either team when he caught three passes for 47 yards against the Titans in Week 2.
- They are also both teams where Houston could gain a lead and focus on running the ball instead of passing.
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