Fantasy Football Trade Targets: Dynasty Buys and Sells Pre-NFL Draft

The guys you need to get on or off your roster before April's NFL Draft

Jay Felicio
Trade Talk 2 Days Ago
As so eloquently put by prominent wordsmith Fat Joe, “Yesterday’s price is not today’s price”. And that’s exactly why we’re here. Well, you’re here. You’re not “here” in the room with me. That would be weird. But you know what I mean. You’re reading my ramblings right now in an effort to get ahead of the curve when it comes to dynasty player values. And despite what conventional wisdom might say, that includes more than just ‘selling high and buying low. You stay a step ahead of your league when you’re not afraid to buy high or sell low in the proper scenario. That’s why I’m here.
Well not “here”.

…nevermind.

BUY: Justin Herbert,QB,LAC

As I mentioned on the QB List Podcast a few weeks ago, I’m fully back in on Justin Herbert. The cost has risen a smidge with the hiring of Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator, but Herbie is in an interesting spot where, depending on your league, he could be either a buy low or a buy high. But either way, get that beautiful man on your fantasy team. Through the first eight weeks, Herbert led the league with 2,140 passing yards and was tied for the second most passing touchdowns with 16. What makes the feat more impressive is that he did so despite facing a league-high 139 quarterback pressures, over 41% of his dropbacks. That was before Joe Alt was lost for the season, but already without Rashawn Slater, who was lost in the preseason. I don’t have to tell you much about McDaniel as an offensive coordinator, other than he made Tua Tagovailoa look like a franchise foundational quarterback and the Dolphins offense a fantasy goldmine. The Chargers’ o-line should be much improved, starting with returning linchpins Alt and Slater, signing of Pro Bowl center Tyler Biadasz  to a three-year contract, and almost assuredly addressing the guard position in the early rounds of this year’s draft, potentially in the first. We’ve seen Herbert’s upside as early as last season. Don’t let the gross finish down the stretch that reeked of injury and misfortune cost you the opportunity to acquire a 28-year-old quarterback in his prime with potential for multiple QB1 overall seasons. I’m not saying that’s Herbert’s future, but I’m not NOT saying it. Ya feel me?

SELL: Cam Skattebo,RB,NYG

Le sigh. This one hurts. Not just because I’m working on colleting the 2025 Mosaic Prism RC Rainbow of Cam Skattebo (currently sitting at 10ish cards). But man, even Giants haters love him. How can you not?

But sometimes, it’s not about the player. It’s not about Skatt’s skillset or progress in attempts to return from a horrific broken ankle  that prematurely ended his rookie season in Week 8 and left his foot flapping like 10,000 candles in the wind. But it all started with this quote from the Grand Poobah of Fantasy Football himself, Matthew Berry.

“Perhaps the most surprising RB rumor I heard was Ken Walker… to the Giants. Doesn’t mean he is definitely going there, but the Giants are very interested in him”.

As free agency approached, the Walker to Big Blue drumbeat got louder and louder. Although it didn’t come to fruition, the Giants were  very interested and supposedly submitted a strong offer before K9 chose the Chiefs. Now, as the NFL Draft is approaching, the mock drafts and rumors are swirling that the GMen very well may end up taking the uber-talented running back Jeremiah Love out of Notre Dame at pick five. If that ends up being the case, you can say bye-bye Lil Sebastian to Skattebo’s RB1 potential for fantasy. And yes, I’m well aware that the thought process to make this move is solely based on free agency rumors that didn’t pan out and possible pre-draft smokescreens. But as they say (who is they, btw?), where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And there’s a billowing black cloud hovering over Skattebo and the potential for New York to add another running back. I’m not saying give him away, but his value could be mere weeks away from taking a straight nosedive.

(Shoutout Lil’ Sebastian. Still miss you in the saddest fashion)

BUY: Marvin Harrison Jr,WR,ARI
Marvin Harrison Jr had Taylor Swift-type hype coming out of Ohio State and has delivered Taylor Hicks-type production. (IYKYK) But I’m simply not ready to  write off his career like so many are. Kyler Murray’s departure from Arizona is the best-case scenario for MHJ’s career, and Jacoby Brissett returning as the starter for 2026 isn’t the death nail many think. Brissett had an undeniable connection with Michael Wilson and tight end Trey McBride. But I bet you didn’t know Marv only played three full games with Brissett as a starter. Week 7, which admittedly wasn’t great, with two catches on six targets for 58 yards. But he probably shouldn’t have been playing after suffering a concussion just a week prior. After a Week 8 bye, Marv had two straight games where that potential to play like his Daddy started to flash. A combined 22 targets, 10 catches, 129 yards, and two touchdowns. Just when things started to click, Marv had to have an emergency appendectomy. He did return and technically played in three more games, but over 60% of snaps just once. Don’t hear what I’m not saying. I don’t think he’ll ever live up to the 1st-edition base-set Charizard, graded 10, mint-level expectations placed upon him coming into the league. But some legitimately think Michael Wilson is the best receiver on this team and value MHJ as a low-end WR2. For what it costs to acquire him now compared to what it cost to trade up for 1.01 to draft him a few seasons ago is well worth the risk. He’s still just 23 years old.
SELL: Bucky Irving,RB,TB

This time last year, Bucky Irving was one of the most valued running backs in all of dynasty. He strong-armed the starting job away from teammate Rachard White, who was heading into the final year of his contract. Irving missed most of the season due to injury, and when he came back, he was not the breakout star we saw in his rookie season. From weeks 13-18, Irving did play 56% of snaps and handle 57% of the team’s rushing attempts. But Bucky only played 24% of third downs, a freefall from the nearly 80% he was on the field in 2024. The poop-flavored icing on the Wally Pip-shaped cake? After returning from injury, Irving saw literally zero… zilch… nada… none… no carries inside the five. That job was given to Sean Tucker, whom the Buccaneers placed a right-of-first-refusal tender (since Tucker was a rookie on and is expected back with Tampa. (Since Tucker was a rookie free agent, it basically means Tampa can match any offer).

While some of Irving’s struggles last season can be attributed to his hip and knee injuries, even when healthy, he just wasn’t the same player as in his rookie year. Among running backs with at least 150 carries, Irving finished with the third-lowest explosive run rate, sixth-lowest missed forced tackles per attempt, and dead last in yards after contact per attempt. That’s….not great, Bob!

The hopes of an offseason to get Irving healthy and the departure of White were the prerequisites for returning to form, but Tampa signed Kenneth Gainwell to replace him, planting a haymaker right to the gut of Bucky believers. Gainwell broke out bigly in Pittsburgh last season with 1,000 combined yards and an RB2 season, and honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him end the season with more snaps in the Bucs backfield than Irving.

Instead of the recipe for a bounce-back third season, Irving sadly has all the ingredients for a lukewarm soup that tastes like disappointment. If you can find someone who still believes in his high-end RB2, back-end RB1 talent, ship him out.

That’s it for this go round, but keep an eye out all offseason. On top of all the incredible work you’ll see on QBList.com, I’ll be doing this series periodically throughout the offseason. Giving you the dynasty moves to make to help you bring home that ‘chip.

See ya on another time.

 

 

 

Photo by Jeffrey Brown | Adapted by Parker McDonald (@CarbonFoxGFX on Twitter/X)