Thursday, Dec 12th

Fantasy Football Stock Watch: Week Four Buy/Sell/Hold

Three weeks have flown by, and we’re starting to get a feel for our teams. It’s still not time to panic, but your league mates might. In many cases, it’s way too early to jump ship. After three games last season, Trey McBride barely cracked the top 50 tight ends, and Dak didn’t even rank as a QB2. Let’s keep taking advantage of every situation and setting ourselves up to be in the best position to succeed throughout this grind of a fantasy football season.

BUY

RB Roschon Johnson, Chicago Bears

Johnson made his season debut in Week 3 against the Colts and turned his opportunities into 4 receptions and 62 total yards. In the process, he looked like the best running back in the Bears locker room. D’Andre Swift was last seen running into the back of DJ Moore blocking for him and cutting back into running lanes that had already been filled by defenders. 16 of Swift’s 37 carries this season have resulted in a one-yard gain or less. Khalil Herbert has shown nothing in three weeks; he’s been a non-factor. Johnson is currently 29% rostered on Sleeper and 13% on Yahoo. The Bears signed Swift in the off-season to be their RB1, but Johnson might just be the back to have in Chicago.

WR Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers

Find the Aiyuk owner in your league who’s likely frustrated with the talented wide receiver’s output up to this point, and find a way to get Aiyuk on your roster. He didn’t really have a pre-season after holding out, so those drops from last week can be written off as him shaking off the rust. While everyone is hyped up about Jauan Jennings, swoop in and get Aiyuk while you still can.

WR Tank Dell, Houston Texans

Fantasy managers are likely hanging their heads after drafting Tank Dell, but that’s the right time to jump into action. The crowded wide receiver room in Houston has taken the wind out of Dell’s sails as both Nico Collins and Stefon Diggs have met or exceeded expectations so far. Add the chest injury that has kept him parked on the sidelines during practice this week, and you have a prime candidate to buy low. CJ Stroud has targeted Dell at least six times in two of Houston’s three matchups so far and will continue to include Dell when he returns. Snag Dell now and have a little patience.

SELL

RB Javonte Williams, Denver Broncos

The cliff has been steep for Williams this season, as he has shown little to no burst or explosion in his game. Sure, you can point to teams stacking the box against Denver, but even in those situations, his output has been poor by comparison. Jaleel McLaughlin has done just as poorly, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Tyler Badie chip away at the workloads of both McLaughlin and Williams in the coming weeks. I’m completely off of Williams and dropping him in 10 and 12-team leagues.

HOLD

Tyreek Hill/De’Von Achane/Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins

I told you to hold Waddle last week, and I’m doubling down this week and adding the other talented skill position players on the Miami roster. Any one of these players is talented enough to win you a matchup on any given week, and you will not get anywhere close to proper value on the trade market at this time. That’s understandable, considering the names Skylar Thompson, Tyler Huntley, and Tim Boyle don’t exactly breed confidence from a fantasy football output for the players above. However, you won’t find guys with this type of game-breaking ability in many other places. It may take a couple of weeks for Mike McDaniel to get the Dolphins on track, but you’ll be glad you showed patience once things in Miami start to click again. If you can find someone in your league willing to trade any of these players at a discount, consider it.