Late Fantasy Football Trade Ideas: Sell Jaylen Waddle, Amari Cooper and DeAndre Hopkins | Buy Brandon Aiyuk, Cooper Kupp/Puka Nacua and Marquise Brown
Discussing the tough schedules for Jaylen Waddle, Amari Cooper and DeAndre Hopkins and easier schedules for Brandon Aiyuk, Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua and Marquise Brown during the fantasy football playoffs, which makes them trade candidates now.
With the fantasy football regular season winding down and playoffs approaching, I decided to start a series on some of the better fantasy players that had easy and tough schedules late in the season.
I tackled the quarterback position first and then went over some running backs. Next up is the wide receiver position. Be sure to check back later for the tight end story.
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Sell Jaylen Waddle, Amari Cooper and DeAndre Hopkins
Waddle, Cooper and Hopkins all have had pretty solid fantasy seasons, so it might not make a ton of sense to deal them away, especially if they’ve been your best players. The reason you should try to trade them away is because they have tough matchups during the fantasy football playoffs, and maybe you can acquire some other players that will make your team stronger as a whole.
Trading Waddle can work for a couple reasons. The Miami Dolphins’ offense is special, but it’s hard for No. 2 options to consistently contribute to fantasy teams. You can sell Waddle and get a pretty good return.
Miami will be playing the New York Jets in week 15, Dallas Cowboys in week 16 and Baltimore Ravens in the fantasy title game (week 17). Schedules can’t get much more difficult, as the Ravens are the most favorable matchup, and they are a top-seven defense in slowing opposing receivers.
Trade Waddle away while you can instead of letting down performances in the postseason end your season.
Moving on from Cooper makes sense for more than one reason too. Not only is his schedule tough late in the regular season, but he no longer has Deshaun Watson throwing him the ball. Maybe that means his trade value takes a bit of a hit, but he’s still Cleveland’s No. 1 wideout and should net you a decent return.
Cooper will be taking on the Chicago Bears in week 15, Houston Texans in week 16 and Jets in week 17. The Bears and Texans are both a touch above average in slowing opposing defenses, while the Jets have been the best.
It’s not as tough a schedule as Waddle has, but given Cooper’s quarterback situation, I’d let someone else deal with Cooper to end the season.
Hopkins has been pretty good this season for Tennessee, but is now working with a rookie quarterback, so growing pains from the QB will cap Hopkins’ ceiling. He’s also only scored three times, and those all came in one game with Will Levis playing, so maybe you can sell high on Hopkins.
The Titans play the Texans in weeks 15 and 17, while battling the Seattle Seahawks in week 16. Those are all pretty average matchups.
As you try to find a reasonable return for Hopkins, Waddle or Cooper, make sure to check out FantasySP’s trade value charts so you come up with fair trade offers.
Buy Brandon Aiyuk, Cooper Kupp/Puka Nacua and Marquise Brown
All four of these receivers have been pretty solid this season, but consistency has been lacking. It should make it a touch easier to acquire them.
Aiyuk and the Niners have the Arizona Cardinals in week 15, Baltimore Ravens in week 16 and Washington Commanders in week 17. The Ravens are a tough matchup, but if you can get by without a huge game from Aiyuk, you get rewarded with Aiyuk facing the second-worst defense against receivers (Commanders). Arizona is average in slowing receivers.
Aiyuk has been the Niners best pass catcher this season, so even a down week should still result in a decent score.
You get a bonus player to trade for as Kupp and Nacua are on the same team and are good fantasy options. Those two should dominate the targets for the Rams late in the season, as long as Matthew Stafford is the team’s quarterback.
The Rams have the Commanders in week 15, New Orleans Saints in week 16 and New York Giants in week 17. The Commanders and Giants are bottom-three defenses, while the Saints have been a bit better than average. The Saints are even better against the run, so that plays in the favor of Kupp and Nacua in the tougher matchup.
Brown got a boost to his fantasy stock in week 10 when Kyler Murray made his return. It didn’t result in a big game, but maybe that will allow you to acquire him for cheaper, and then hopefully he and Murray have a good connection going by week 15.
The Cardinals have the Niners in week 15, Bears in week 16 and Eagles in week 17. The Eagles are the worst team in the league when it comes to slowing opposing receivers. San Fran is a bottom-10 defense and Chicago is the toughest matchup, and they are just above average.
See what kind of deals you can come up with for these four wideouts. Since they are pretty good fantasy assets, you’ll probably need to send a WR back in the deal. My suggestion would be finding a depth WR and pair them with a RB/TE/QB of yours that you won’t need and offer those guys for one of Aiyuk, Kupp, Nacua and Brown.
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