Fantasy Football Trade Advice Week 6: Travis Etienne, Tank Dell, Jordan Mason
Ted takes a look at what to do with three of the hottest fantasy football trade pieces heading into Week 6.
There's nothing more fun than making a fantasy football trade. However, it can often be hard to know which players to target and which of your own you can get good value for.
That's where FantasySP's tools come in: We can use the FantasySP Fantasy Assistant to find players that have the most Expected Trade Interest (ETI) and then cross-reference with the Trade Value Chart to see how much those players are worth. Here are this week’s leaders in ETI:
As usual, the top players in ETI are ones where it is reasonable that different fantasy managers will have wildly different values. Is Travis Etienne going to lose his job to Tank Bigsby? Is Tank Dell going to pop off with Nico Collins on IR? Is Christian McCaffrey ever going to come back and ruin Jordan Mason’s league-winning season? These uncertainties are what create trade opportunities. Lets’ break down each of these ETI leaders and how best to approach them on the trade market.
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Best Fantasy Football Trades To Make Week 6
Buy Low On Travis Etienne
This is a true buy-low recommendation. At this point in the season, you should not be giving up anywhere near draft day value to acquire Etienne. If his manager in your league still believes in him, this is not a deal to force.
With that said, there are probably plenty of ETN managers out there who are ready to move on. So far this season, the third-year back has been straight-up outplayed by his sophomore teammate, Tank Bigsby. It’s not close, either: Bigsby ranks as by far the best back in the league according to Next Gen Stats with 4.19 rush yards over expected per carry, while Etienne is essentially average at 0.56. Making matters worse, Bigsby out-snapped and out-carried his teammate for the first time on Sunday, picking up 101 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries as Etienne went six for 17.
With all that in mind, why am I recommending trading for Etienne? The answer is simple: Volume is king. Although Bigbsy saw more touches this week, Jaguars Head Coach Doug Pederson said that was a result of Etienne dealing with a shoulder injury. Even after Week 5, Etienne still easily leads Bigsby in snap share (60.8% to 21.5%) and rush attempts (53 to 34) for the season. This difference is even more apparent in the receiving game, where Etienne has 22 targets on a 44% route participation rate while Bigsby has just one target all season on less than 8% participation.
Bigsby’s elite performance does mean this split will likely trend towards 50/50, at least on the ground. However, Pederson was emphatic that Etienne is still the team’s lead back. Coach speak is not always reliable, but fantasy managers assuming this is now Bigsby’s backfield may be in for a rude awakening. If you can get Etienne at bargain bin prices, do it.
Sell High On Tank Dell
I wasn’t sure whether to call this a sell high or a sell low. On the one hand, Dell has been a huge disappointment this year. He is averaging just 5.8 half-PPR points per game on a 13.3% target share. On the other hand, it was announced this morning that Nico Collins is heading to IR. Many fantasy managers will expect Dell to step up with Nico sidelined and become a consistent fantasy option.
However, I think Dell’s fantasy value right now is the highest it will be all season. For one, his issues this year have not just been competing with Collins and Stefon Diggs for routes. As a rookie, Dell posted a very good 2.22 yards per route run on an 83.3 PFF Receiving Grade. So far this season, his yards per route run is an abysmal 0.97, while his PFF Grade is down to 61.8. According to Fantasy Points Data, his route win rate has been cut nearly in half, from 27.8% down to 15.2%. To me, these numbers indicate that he is still not fully recovered from the fractured tibia that ended his 2023 season.
More importantly, even if Dell does produce better with Collins sidelined, that will be a temporary boost. With Collins healthy, Dell was the clear odd man out in the Texans’ receiving room (as I predicted in the offseason). We play fantasy football to win championships, and Dell will likely be back to lackluster production by the time the fantasy football playoffs roll around. Even for teams desperate for wins right now, there’s a real chance that Dell continues to disappoint with Collins out. Combine that with Collins’ inevitable return and Dell’s bad production so far, and this is a sell-high window to take advantage of.
Sell High On Jordan Mason
The logic for selling Jordan Mason is similar to the logic for selling Dell. Right now, Mason is one of the best fantasy football assets in the league. But, come the fantasy playoffs, Christian McCaffrey should be back, and Mason will be much less valuable, if not entirely useless. Of course, we don’t know for sure when CMC will be back, as his issues are clearly unique and lingering. But recent news suggests the 49ers are planning on having him return within the next month.
When (if?) McCaffrey does return, he will immediately claim all of the high-value touches in the 49ers’ backfield. Mason’s performances may have earned him more work on the ground, but CMC will always be the go-to back in the red zone and through the air. After all, the 49ers currently rank fourth-worst in the NFL in red-zone rate at just 40.9%. In 2023, they were first in the league at 68% … and CMC scored 40% of their red-zone TDs. And we all know that McCaffrey is one of the league's best receiving backs.
When he’s cleared to return, which I believe he will be, McCaffrey is going to tank Mason’s value. From there, this is a simple question of overarching strategy. You want your team to peak in the fantasy playoffs, so moving Mason now for someone who is better set up to do that is a winning play.
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