Fantasy Football 2014: Trade Bait and Prey Week 9

With eight weeks behind us, the fantasy football season is getting serious. It’s time to make a move that could put your team into the playoffs or even the championship game.

As we enter Week 9, we have another 12 players who should be on the move. Remember, these trade suggestions are for the remainder of the season, not just Week 9.

Trade Bait (Sell High)

Quarterbacks

Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers: For some reason it’s tough to imagine Big Ben going for 522 yards and six touchdowns again anytime soon. Maybe it’s because he almost broke the NFL single-game passing yards record, or maybe he’s just not elite. Either way, his value will be soaring after a historically good game, meaning it’s time to sell.

Running Backs

Chris Ivory, New York Jets: If his 16-point outing had you thinking Ivory is a legitimate candidate to start at RB, think again. He is still a touchdown-dependent RB who happened to get two last week. Outside of that, he only had 43 yards on 13 carries (barely over three yards per carry) and isn’t getting enough consistent work to warrant starting him.

Wide Receivers

Brandin Cooks, New Orleans Saints: Cooks leads a trio of rookie WRs we don’t believe in after big games on Sunday. Cure, Cooks finally flashed those skills we’ve been salivating over for months to the tune of 21 points. But he has yet to get a consistent workload and needed two scores to break double-digit points this week. If you can convince someone that he’s going to only get better with Jimmy Graham back on the field, it’s time to sell.

Donte Moncrief, Indianapolis Colts: Moncrief is one of the most popular waiver wire adds this week after breaking out this week with 113 yards and a touchdown. He’s barely gotten any work to this point in the season, and he likely won’t get much more after this week. He was merely a product of a shootout that amassed 85 points between the Colts and Steelers. However, if you can make the argument that he’s finally garnered Andrew Luck’s attention, you could get some value for him.

Martavis Bryant, Pittsburgh Steelers: Another product of that 85-point track meet, Bryant caught two touchdowns in addition to his 83 yards. Sure, Bryant is a great red zone threat and can provide a spark every few weeks, but he had relevance this week for the sole reason that Big Ben had the game of his life. Don’t expect this trend to continue.

Tight Ends

Tim Wright, New England Patriots: Ever since the Patriots redefined the TE position with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, being a TE for the Pats has raised players’ fantasy values. Wright is one of a long line of New England TE2s whose value gets inflated once they have one good game. Wright had that game this week, so it’s time to sell high on him.

Trade Prey (Buy Low)

Quarterbacks

Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals: Palmer is back on this list after we told you to snag him last week. He put up a very respectable 21 points this week against the Eagles and made strides in getting his mojo back with veteran WR Larry Fitzgerald. He still isn’t going to be a starter every week, but Palmer is a very good QB2 who is only owned in 14.7 percent of leagues. Go get him.

Running Backs

Ronnie Hillman, Denver Broncos: Hillman is back on this list again after stringing together his third game of double-digit fantasy points. He’s been among the best RBs in fantasy since taking over as Denver’s starter. He’s looking more and more like Knowshon Moreno 2.0, meaning he’s going to be worth trading for until people realize his value.

Mark Ingram, New Orleans Saints: Welcome back, Marky Mark. Ingram had 24 carries for 172 yards and a score this week for 23 points.  After averaging 17.0 points through the first two weeks, Ingram looked like a stud. Now that he’s healthy again, he should still be considered one.

Wide Receivers

Allen Robinson, Jacksonville Jaguars: Robinson is the only Jaguars player worth owning at this point, and he’s been consistently seeing enough action to be fantasy relevant since Blake Bortles took over at QB. Now that he’s starting finding the end zone as well, he’s a legitimate WR3 with a much higher ceiling. He’s a must-own, and yet he’s available in 93.8 percent of leagues.

Brandon Lafell, New England Patriots: It’s tough to go back on advising you to sell high on Lafell four weeks ago, but he seems to be legit. While he’s still very inconsistent and might not be worth starting every week, he’s been playing well as of late and could be worth a spot start or two. He’s only owned in 22.3 percent of leagues as well, meaning it’s worth a roster spot to add him to your team.

Tight Ends

Jimmy Graham: It feels weird saying that Graham’s value is too low, but at this point it is. He’s coming off an injury and is still listed as questionable. But even through that lingering injury, he went for 59 yards and a touchdown last week. Once he’s healthy, Graham will be the first round pick that most people thought he would be at the beginning of the season. Grab him now while his value is considerably lower than that.