Week 9 Fantasy Football Trade Value Chart Watch: Buy Cade Otton and Ladd McConkey? Time to Sell Tee Higgins and Jordan Mason?

It’s time to continue our FantasySP Trade Value Chart watch series!

The Trade Value Chart is used in the FSP Trade Analyzer and many other tools here. By checking out the biggest movers each week, you can know when to buy/sell a fantasy player. Here’s last week’s story. Let’s get into it!

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Time to Buy Cade Otton?

Otton was a big riser after another strong game. He followed up an eight-catch, 10-target, 100-yard game in week 7 with 81 yards, two touchdowns, nine receptions and 10 targets in week 8.

Those performances, paired with the Chris Godwin and Mike Evans’ injuries have Otton soaring up the trade value chart. He went up over three points, and is now a top-80 option.

I actually think he’d go for even more for that in a trade. Good fantasy tight ends are rare to find, and I don’t see a reason why Otton couldn’t continue delivering big games the rest of the season.

Evans is only supposed to be out for a couple more games, but with Godwin out for the remainder of the regular season, Otton should be the No. 2 option in the passing game at worst. He might not put up week 7 and 8 numbers every time out, but I also think he could be a top-five fantasy TE every week. 

The Buccaneers like to throw the ball, and not every target can go to Evans. There’s a connection between Otton and Baker Mayfield, and I think it stays strong the remainder of the season. Otton has some favorable matchups ahead too, so that’s another reason why I really like him as a fantasy asset.

If you picked up Otton a couple weeks ago and don’t need him to be a weekly starter, you could trade Otton for a big return. You could target a position of need instead.

If you are desperate for a fantasy TE and have some depth to play with, I’d be all for going after Otton. His value is rising, but it shouldn’t be too crazy right now either. Don’t overpay for Otton, but also don’t be afraid to part with a depth piece or two to get him.

Acquire Ladd McConkey After Breakout Game?

Coming into week 8, McConkey had four straight games with at least 40 receiving yards and at least three catches. He broke out for 111 yards and two touchdowns on six catches and targets this past week.

That performance has McConkey soaring up the trade chart, and he’s now inside the top 60. While he’s still going to be a part of start/sit decisions on the flex line, McConkey is on the right side of things now. He’s also got more favorable matchups than tough ones ahead.

If you drafted McConkey as a possible weekly starter, you probably aren’t looking to move him. Maybe you drafted extremely well and McConkey is now stuck on your bench, and that’s when I’d try to trade him away.

You could land a weekly starting RB, TE or QB by trading McConkey away, and as long as it doesn’t hurt your fantasy wideout room, I’d be all for it. He could also be packaged if you aren’t sold on the rookie and prefer to sell high and get another WR back instead.

I think McConkey is here to stay as a weekly fantasy starting option and would be willing to go after him in a trade. He won’t replicate his week 8 numbers, but he can at least be an average fantasy performer going forward.

You could flip one of your receivers with a tougher schedule ahead for McConkey, or deal from a position of depth to land the rookie wideout. I’d try to make that move for him soon, as I expect more big showings in the future, and those would only make him more difficult to acquire.

Sell the Hobbled Tee Higgins?

Higgins missed time at the beginning of the season, and now is banged up again and missed another game in week 8.

He has 341 yards and three touchdowns on 29 catches and 45 targets this season. Higgins has delivered solid fantasy totals when he’s been out there, but it’s been frustrating that he’s also missed three games already.

Higgins has dropped outside the top 60 on the trade chart, and while he remains owned in every fantasy league, the constant injury concerns have to be annoying his fantasy owners.

If you are sick of the injury issues, why not trade Higgins and avoid the issue for the remainder of the season. You still should be able to get a pretty solid fantasy performer in return, like McConkey.

If the Bengals continue to fall out of the playoff picture, I think it’s more and more likely that Higgins gets shut down for the season. He is playing on the franchise tag after all.

If you are still a believer in Higgins and the Bengals, you might be able to snag Higgins for fairly cheap. The fantasy owner who rosters him might try to ship him away at all costs, so it might not even take a player who is ranked near Higgins on the trade chart.

The best situation to go after Higgins is when a fantasy owner is set with his team and is just looking for high-upside players to buy low on for the stretch run. Dealing a player from a position of depth isn’t going to hurt you all that much, and if Higgins returns to the field and picks up where he left off, you have another weekly starting option you can pretty much lock in every week.

Trade Away Jordan Mason?

Mason got re-injured in week 8, but has a bye this week to recover. The problem is that Christian McCaffrey is rumored to be returning in week 10, and then Mason’s fantasy outlook takes a massive hit.

Mason dropped 1.5 points on his player rating this week, and now McCaffrey has passed him on the trade chart. 

Most of us expect McCaffrey to regain his lead role when he’s back on the field, but it also wouldn’t be shocking to see Mason get enough work to be fantasy relevant yet. That makes it more likely that CMC rises in the rankings, while Mason continues to slip down.

So is it time to trade Mason away?

If I rostered McCaffrey and Mason, there’s no chance I’d consider moving either back. They are good/great fantasy assets on this Niners’ offense, and both could be startable in the right defensive matchups going forward. There should be at least a couple weeks where both could be starting options in standard leagues, and both should remain starting options in deep leagues all season.

If I rostered Mason and not McCaffrey, I’d definitely float Mason’s name out on the trade block. There’s no guarantee that CMC will return to his elite form, and the chance of re-injury is also there.

That makes it a little risky sending Mason out, but if both are healthy, CMC should be the better fantasy asset, and that will dry up Mason’s fantasy value. In other words, you might not get nearly as much in a return for Mason after this week, so sell high.

I personally think CMC and Mason share the backfield the rest of the season, with McCaffrey getting a few extra touches a game. Both should remain at least average fantasy options, especially in average-or-better matchups. I’d still try to sell high on Mason because of the uncertainty of the situation.

Good luck in your trading endeavors!