Week 6 of the NFL season was confusing.
Chris Evans, Damien Williams, Eli Penny, Alex Collins, Chuba Hubbard, Rhamondre Stevenson, Le'Veon Bell, Devonta Freeman, Khalil Herbert, Donovan Peoples Jones, Tommy Sweeney and O.J. Howard all found the end zone, while star players like Darren Waller, Tyler Lockett, Terry McLaurin, Mike Evans, Chase Claypool and Austin Ekeler all struggled.
The Cardinals remain perfect through six weeks and the Lions are the last remaining winless team after Urban Meyer and the Jaguars got their first victory across the pond in London. The Colts and Ravens molly-whopped the Texans and Chargers, respectively. The Bills were upset by the Titans in primetime. And Aaron Rodgers still owns the Bears.
Whether you’re 6-0 or 0-6, now is an excellent time to throw out some trade offers to level up your teams. As we approach Week 7 and our first round of byes, here are the trade targets who saw their value shift after the last five weeks of games.
Buy-Low Week 7 Trade Targets
Below are ten Week 6 underperformers, or players whose value may increase over the next few weeks whom you should target via trades.
Trey Lance, QB, 49ers
The bad news is he didn't deliver in his first NFL start and completed only 15-of-29 passes for 192 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception. He's also dealing with a sprained knee.
The good news is he may have been dropped in your leagues and has already had his bye. Jimmy Garoppolo is also banged up and it's only a matter of time before Lance takes over as the franchise quarterback. He tallied a whopping 16 carries for 89 yards in Week 5 and will give you a safe rushing floor week-to-week, even if he struggles in the passing game.
Justin Fields, QB, Bears
Fields had his best fantasy performance to date in Week 6, by which I mean he scored 14 fantasy points and finished as QB18. Some positives were season-highs in both pass attempts and rushing yards.
I am worried about the volume, but I still believe he has a breakout game coming. If it's going to happen, it has to be this week against Tampa Bay's abysmal pass defense, which has given up the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks.
Elijah Mitchell, RB, 49ers
Mitchell didn't impress in his Week 5 return from dealing with a shoulder injury that kept him sidelined for two games. He rushed nine times for 43 yards and caught two passes for 19 yards, finishing as RB40 in half PPR.
While the production wasn't there, he did see almost all of the running back touches in that game and it appears he has reclaimed his RB1 status in this offense over Trey Sermon. I would buy Mitchell now, especially with his bye week out of the way.
Darnell Mooney, WR, Bears
This may seem odd given Mooney found the end zone for the first time this season in Week 6, but I once heard the saying: "The best time to buy was a week ago. The second-best time to buy is now."
This Fields breakout game is coming, and there's a good chance it comes this week on the road in Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers' sieve-like secondary has allowed the sixth-most passing yards and the eighth-most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers. Mooney is also outpacing Allen Robinson in targets, catches and receiving yards.
D.J. Moore, WR, Panthers
Moore is coming off two lackluster games due in large part to quarterback Sam Darnold's struggles. Moore is still the WR11 in half PPR through six weeks and has finished top 12 in three of six weeks. The targets are there, and it's not like we haven't seen Moore perform at a very high level with poor QB play in the past.
The Panthers face the Giants and Falcons next, which should provide ample scoring opportunities for Moore.
Chris Godwin, WR, Buccaneers
After scoring in three straight games to open the season, it's been the Antonio Brown and Mike Evans show of late — since Week 4, Godwin has finished as WR59, WR31 and WR52, which has been frustrating for fantasy managers.
Godwin still leads the team in catches, though. And while his value is somewhat capped given how much star power the Buccaneers have, his position in this high-scoring offense gives him a lot more upside than some other underperforming wideouts.
Terry McLaurin, WR, Washington
McLaurin didn't capitalize on a cupcake Week 6 matchup against the Chiefs' leaky secondary and finished well outside the top 12 for the second week in a row. A lot of his struggles are linked to Taylor Heinicke's limited passing prowess, though McLaurin is another receiver we've seen perform well with what we can generously refer to as subpar QB play from Kyle Allen, Case Keenum, Dwayne Haskins, Alex Smith, etc.
Packers' star cornerback Jaire Alexander is still on injured reserve, which should set McLaurin up for a good bounce back game this week.
Chase Claypool, WR, Steelers
Claypool should have popped off in Week 6 on the heels of a 130-receiving yard game in the week prior, but he caught just 2-of-7 passes for 17 yards and had less production than Diontae Johnson, Pat Freiermuth, Najee Harris and Ray Ray McCloud. I remain encouraged by Claypool's targets, though, which should stay without JuJu Smith-Schuster for the rest of the season.
The Steelers have a Week 7 bye, so be mindful of that if you do try to make a deal this week.
Keenan Allen, WR, Chargers
Allen has been outscored by Mike Williams in four of six games so far.
Williams has been one of the biggest surprises of the season and already has a whopping six touchdowns, but Allen still leads the team in targets and catches. He also isn't far behind Williams in yardage, Allen just hasn't found the end zone nearly as much.
The opportunities are there for him to bounce back after the team's Week 7 bye.
Sterling Shepard, WR, Giants
Shepard returned from a two-week hamstring injury hiatus in Week 6 and didn't appear to have lost a step. He caught 10-of-14 passes for 76 yards — all team highs for the game, though not the most stellar fantasy performance.
With Kadarius Toney exiting that game with an ankle injury and Kenny Golladay perpetually injured, Shepard should be a good buy low(ish) for now while he's healthy.
Week 7 Trade Targets To Sell High On
Below are seven Week 6 overperformers, or players whose values may decrease over the next few weeks whom you should try to offload via trades.
Cordarrelle Patterson, RB/WR, Falcons
Patterson was RB4 though five weeks in half PPR and has been a true renaissance story for fantasy football. I He's a fantastic waiver wire find or late-round draft pick, but I would be wary of relying on him rest-of-season as a RB1.
Depending on what I could get for him, I would definitely consider flipping Patterson and deleveraging myself from this Falcons offense as much as possible.
Damien Harris, RB, Patriots
Harris has scored in two straight games and is coming off his second 100-yard game this season, meaning you are likely selling him at his apex. His complete lack of involvement in the Patriots' passing game makes me nervous, as well as the return of Rhamondre Stevenson, who was benched for three games after a costly fumble in Week 1.
Stevenson returned in Week 5 and saw 11 carries and another five carries in Week 6.
Khalil Herbert, RB, Bears
Herbert was the waiver wire hero of Week 6 with Damien Williams and David Montgomery out. Herbert saw 19 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown and caught two passes for 15 yards. His role will decrease significantly once Williams returns from the COVID-19/reserve list, though, which could be as early as this week.
The Bears' running back corps have a brutal Week 7 matchup against the Buccaneers, whose defense is allowing a NFL-low 54.8 rushing yards per game.
Christian Kirk & A.J. Green, WR, Cardinals
Kirk and Green are both featured in my Week 7 waiver wire column, as they are perfectly serviceable as free-agent pickups. That said, I don't think we should ignore the addition of Zach Ertz, who will undoubtedly siphon targets away from receivers not named DeAndre Hopkins.
Kirk and Green are both sell-highs with each scoring a touchdown in Week 6.
Marquez Callaway, WR, Saints
Callaway is also a solid waiver wire add this week if he happens to be available, though I would consider him a potential sell-high candidate coming off his best game to date. In Week 5 against Washington, he caught 4-of-8 targets for 85 yards and two touchdowns.
This offense is a bit too low-volume for him to be a week-to-week starter, especially with star wideout Michael Thomas slated to return soon.
Antonio Brown, WR, Buccaneers
Brown has been on fire of late and has scored three touchdowns in the last two weeks. He is the WR7 in half PPR on a per-game basis (missed one game on the COVID-19/reserve list) and has a touchdown and at least 93 yards in three of five games. He is also being peppered with targets and saw a season-high 13 in Week 6.
That said, I do expect to see a bit of a regression and a couple things to happen in the near term:
- Both Chris Godwin and Mike Evans to see more volume.
- Rob Gronkowski to return from injury.
And both will hurt Brown's value. If you can get low-end WR1/high-end WR2 value for him, I would definitely consider it.
Mike Gesicki, TE, Dolphins
You may be able to capitalize on Gesicki's value, which is on the rise after a strong Week 6 performance in which he caught 8-of-9 targets for 115 yards against the Jaguars.
He should be a good start this week against Atlanta, but I'm lowering expectations for him rest-of-season. Receivers DeVante Parker and Will Fuller have been out for multiple games, but will eventually return, and this offense simply isn't high volume enough to support a lot of fantasy-relevant players.
