Week 9 Fantasy Football Buy, Sell, Hold: Go Get Rashid Shaheed Now (And Say Goodbye to Chris Olave)

THE END IS NEIGH!

No, really. Just like the NFL's trade deadline on November 4th, your ability to make fantasy trades is likely about to come to an abrupt end in just a few short weeks. So, listen up, buttercup!

Before Sending or Accepting Trade Offers:

1. Consider your playoff chances. Besides the occasional bragging rights, you do not need to be at the top of the leader boards. For now, we just need to make sure that we're going to make the playoffs. If you're lucky enough to have a *mostly* winning team, you can shoot for the stars and shoot for a bye week. Otherwise, shoot for making the playoff bracket. And most importantly: build your trades around what you need to get there.
2. Consider your bench. This is the "1b" to the 1a above. If your team is winning and you have the luxury of bulking up for the "end game" (Championships), it's time to consider ways to beef up your 'weakest' player positions. Do you really need to stash 3 mid-level "meh" startable RBs on your bench when you're already stacked with CMC and James Cook? Package a deal to a RB-needy team and secure that WR1 you're missing, buddy!
3. Consider your future. Maybe you're losing matchups and losing hope. I get it. That sucks. And I'm sorry. But that's not an excuse to mentally check out from the experience. With the trade deadline approaching, find ways to stay competitive for your league's future. If you're in a keeper league, consider trading for a player that could bring value if you were to keep them in next year's draft. If your league has a last place punishment, find a way to avoid that sh*t. Do what you need to, but don't f*cking quit. That's the lamest reaction possible. And I'll quite literally never forgive you.

Thanks for listening to my soap box.

Now, let's get into some Buyin', Sellin', and Holdin'.

Players to Buy

WR Rashid Shaheed

We're buying Rashid Shaheed shares (and a new jersey).

Look, I know that everyone is already moving Shaheed DOWN the rankings with the addition of Tyler Shough at QB in New Orleans. What? Did the overthrown TD have something to do with it? 

Probably.

But the long-story-short of it all is this: Shaheed might get a better QB… in a different city. AND HE NEEDS IT.

Shaheed has only had one(!!) top 10 performance this season.

• Week 1: WR51 6-33-0
• Week 2: WR25 4-52-1
• Week 3: WR48 4-42-0
• Week 4: WR42 4-47-0
• Week 5: WR8 4-114-1(yay)
• Week 6: WR52 4-28-0
• Week 7: WR49 4-40–0
• Week 8: WR32 9-75-0

But lucky for you, because he's busted more than boomed this season, Shaheed's not going to cost much in terms of "trade value". In fact, he immediately hit the trade block in a few of my leagues after his two(!!) fumbles on Sunday…

We know Shaheed still has that big playmaker ability that we've seen over the last few years (despite his several different iterations at QB). If he can swap teams and upgrade his passer, maybe… just mayyybe....he won't lead the league with the 3rd most UNcatchable air yards(308).

A GIRL CAN DREAM!

TE Oronde Gadsden

Like I stated at the beginning of this article, it's time to "shore up" your positions as you move into playoff territory.

If you're struggling at TE, but you have players to spare: Package away some assets and lock on to the Charger who has "Top-6 upside".

Some might whine: "But it's too late to buy low!"

Okay? And?

Acquiring good fantasy players isn't always about the sneaky "buy before they break out" early play. Sure, that would be nice. But sometimes, we just need to get them on our teams before the trade deadline.

TE Harold Fannin Jr.

I'm still in the camp that David Njoku might get traded before the deadline. But even if he doesn't, Fannin has looked fantastic when he's on the field.

During Week 8 (AKA David Njoku's return):

• Fannin ran 72% of the team's routes (Njoku 56%).
• Fannin saw 23% of the team's target share (Njoku 16%).
• Fannin's Utilization Score: 88 (Njoku: 69)

And when the Browns throw to Fannin, they get first downs. I hear those are pretty good.

Other Buys:

• WR George Pickens - :)
• WR Courtland Sutton

Players to Sell

RB RJ Harvey

PSA: Sean Payton doesn't care about you. He never did care about you. And he only cares about helping the Broncos win. (rude)

Scroll back to the very beginning of this article if you must. But you need to consider your team. If you can't afford to hold onto Harvey, it's time to sell high. Here's why:

Not only does Payton have a history (in Denver) of using RBs with reckless abandon, but he's also not using Harvey any more than he was prior to Week 8.

I repeat: RJ Harvey's boxscore might have spiked, but his usage did not.

And there's still that silly little RB1 guy in the way…

JK Dobbins is outperforming Harvey in:

• Yards per carry
• Yards after contact
• 10-plus yard attempts. OOF.

Until the tides truly start turning, there's not enough evidence to make Harvey a "buy" in this backfield environment. BUT given Harvey's stellar RB6 performance in Week 8 and his rookie appeal - you might find a buyer that's willing to pay up.

WR Chris Olave

Read Shaheed above. Chris Olave gets the Tyler Shough downgrade, but with less exciting trade rumor appeal. But if you read your tea leaves and think Olave gets traded - hold.

Players to Hold

WR Justin Jefferson

Without using any no-no words (I think I've hit my expletive quota for the day in the Fantasy Life group chat), I would like to remind everyone that Justin Jefferson is a star, despite his singular TD on the season.

While one could argue that the Vikings should have stuck it out with Sam Darnold, who is making JSN a f*cking (sorry!) WR1… We can't turn back time. We have to accept the fate of the franchise.

But we can try to find some positives.

One positive: Jefferson did score once this season. And the QB who threw him his only TD is set to return.

I know McCarthy didn't look great, but we've seen lackluster QBs surprise us before, right? (Hey, 2024 Bryce Young)

And since we can't get what we'd like for Jefferson in a trade right now, we've got to hold on to him and hold on to the hope that the Vikings can right this ship sooner than later…

RB Chase Brown

Spooky season is officially here! Jake Browning is back?

We've seen this song and dance before Weeks 2-5 when Browning got the start after Joe Burrow's injury. While Browning did throw 6 TDs through those 4 games, he ranked bottom 3 amongst QBs for 50% of them.

• Week 3: 19 completions, 140 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT (QB29)
• Week 4: 14 completions, 125 yards, 0 TDs (QB32)

While Chase Brown has only broken into the top 20 once this season (Week 8), his worst outings were Weeks 3-5 when.. Yep. You guessed it: When Browning started.

So why hold? Well…

The Good: Brown has faced some tough defensive matchups for RBs this season. This changes for the better after Week 12 (BAL, BUF, BAL, MIA). There's a possibility he finds more success against these weaker run defenses. And there's a chance Flacco returns soon.

But to be clear, it's not all good.

The Bad: Brown still has a bye week ahead and two tough matchups (PIT, NE) before he reaches his easy-ish stretch.

The Ugly: Burrow isn't scheduled to return for months. Monitor Joe Flacco's status. In the event Flacco is out longer than expected, Jake Browning's spooky season could linger…