Week 1 came and went, and it’s time to get into the grind of the fantasy football season. Grind might be a strong word, but whether your team (s) got off to a hot start, or you’re looking for your first win, we always want to explore ways to improve our rosters. Identifying players to buy and sell is one of the best ways to do that. Each week we’ll cover a few good candidates to try to trade for or ship off your team while the time is right.
Buy Colston Loveland
I love donuts, but not in Week 1 from one of the most hyped up Tight Ends of the offseason. To think the Bears scored 59 points and Loveland had ZERO fantasy points is hard to comprehend, but it happened. It could be tempting for a Loveland manager to see what they can get in a trade if they’re panicking, but buying low on him and seeing if you can trade for him is the move to make.
His value may never be lower than it is going into Week 2. According to JJ Zachariason of Lateround.com, Loveland had an 87% route share in Week 1. He noted that there have been 170 occasions of a Tight End having an 80% route share or higher going back to last year. Loveland’s Week 1 output is only the fifth occasion that one of those Tight Ends put up zero fantasy points among that group. In other words, the 2025 first-rounder had an extreme outlier performance considering the amount of routes he ran. He also ran eight more routes than any other Bears receiver.
Loveland did have two targets, one of them being in the end zone, where Quarterback Caleb Williams missed him. I’m probably not writing any of this if that pass connects. Go out and get Loveland at a reduced cost. Even if you have a viable Tight End, you can always make other trades (such as selling a high performer like Dallas Goedert) or put that player in your FLEX spot, possibly giving you a major edge at the position if you can get Loveland while the excitement around him has quieted.
Sell Patrick Mahomes
It doesn’t feel great to recommend selling a guy with the pedigree that Mahomes has, especially after he had over 21 standard fantasy points in his first game back from the torn ACL, but it could be a good time to see what you can get for him. Mahomes himself said he wasn’t planning on running that early into the game during his post-game interview. He was also quoted multiple times during the off-season indicating he will run less in 2026, such as “if all else fails I’ll just hand it off to K9 (Kenneth Walker) and let him go to work.” In Week 1, 8.3 of his 21 fantasy points came from his 23 rushing yards and one rushing TD, which is unsustainable moving forward with Mahomes likely running at a lower rate this season.
Speaking of Kenneth Walker, it looks like the Chiefs are going to pound the rock with him as much as humanly possible. Walker looked incredible, and as long as he can stay healthy, that’s going to limit how much Mahomes is asked to do. The Chiefs also don’t have the weapons in the passing game to expect Mahomes to put up serious production through the air. Sure, Rashee Rice got in the end zone in Week 1, but he also only had two receptions on two targets for 19 yards. After all of the off-season negativity surrounding Rice, his Week 1 outing didn’t exactly put all of that concern to bed. If a manager is panicking over Drake Maye or the injury to Kyler Murray and needs some insurance, it’s worth a shot to see if they’ll acquire Mahomes. If you can add some depth to your receiver or running back room by shipping off Mahomes, that’s definitely something to look into. Quarterback is generally one of the easier positions to replace.
Buy Josh Downs
The Colts WR had an underwhelming Week 1, coming away with just 37 yards on two receptions. The underlying metrics, however, were more encouraging. Downs had an 85.3% route participation, the highest on the Colts, according to Ryan Heath of Fantasy Points. That number was higher than any game he played in 2025, pointing to the possibility that Downs will have more involvement in the offense than in previous years. Downs also had three first-read targets on the opening drive. Only five other receivers across the league matched that number (Emeka Egbukda, Ladd McConkey, Mike Evans, Parker Washington, and Deebo Samuel), which is some pretty good company for Downs.
It’s a little concerning that Downs didn’t produce more in a trailing game script with an 85% route participation, but the first-read targets show Head Coach Shane Steichen is putting an emphasis on getting the ball to Downs. Based on Fantasy Points’ Average Separation Score, Downs ranked 6th in this respective metric among all receivers in the league in Week 1. He ran a ton of routes and was getting open, but it just didn’t turn into production yet. If the Downs manager in your league is just looking at the box score and not the under-the-hood numbers, they may be willing to ship off Downs at a reduced cost.