Each week, several members of the BRoto staff will offer one player each to buy low on and one player each to sell high on. Take advantage of your league mates by acquiring players at their lowest value and dealing players at their highest values!
Now let's dive in to the week 8 targets and sells:
Buy Low
Rashod Bateman - WR Baltimore Ravens
Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
The 27th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, Rashod Bateman, has played two games in his young career and is dripping with upside.
While his first two stat lines leave much to be desired (4-29-0 on six targets, 3-80-0 on six targets), Bateman has immediately hopped into a valuable role for Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.
With a Week 8 bye coming up for Baltimore and the impending return of Mr. I-actively-make-my-team-worse-but-am-still-extremely-overrated, Sammy Watkins, many fantasy managers may not think it is worth their while to start Bateman moving forward. However, Lamar Jackson has been a top-5 QB in True Throw Value for many stretches of his career and is now throwing more than he ever has. With teams focusing on burgeoning stars Marquise Brown and Mark Andrews, Bateman should continue to be in line for targets against lesser defenders.
Bateman carries WR3 appeal, with WR2 upside, from here on out and can likely be had for a low price.
Jason Petropoulos
Tee Higgins - WR Cincinnati Bengals
It’s clear that Ja’Marr Chase is a stud but that doesn’t mean that Higgins can’t be Robin to Chase’s Batman.
Over the past two weeks, Chase has seen 16 targets compared to Higgins’ 13. He may not be the downfield threat that Chase is but Burrow is still slinging the rock 30+ times a game and they all can’t go to Chase.
The Bengals will also start seeing defenses adjust for Chase which will bode well for Higgins.
Per ESPN play-by-play, Tee Higgins had three deep targets in week 7, that were incomplete, so Higgins 9.79 aDOT is deceptive.
One final point on Higgins, he finished with a 39.5% target share AND a 94.3 WOPR this past Sunday. Go buy Higgins before it’s too late.
Clayton Jones
Chase Edmonds - RB Arizona Cardinals
Everyone wants to focus on James Conner TD’s, but Edmonds has eight red zone carries through six weeks. Realistically, Edmonds is a positive regression candidate in the TD department, having none through seven weeks despite having double digit carries in four of seven games this season.
Edmonds still maintains the passing down work and still saw more carries than Conner in Week 7: 15 to 10. The only worry has been blowouts. Arizona has demolished their last two opponents: the Cleveland Browns and the Houston Texans, leading to more Conner and less Edmonds.
The Cardinals play the Packers on Thursday night followed by a tough division game against the 49ers. They still have to play the Rams, Colts, Cowboys, and two late season matchups against the Seahawks who will have Russell Wilson back by then.
Edmonds is still getting plenty of work. Through seven weeks, Edmonds has had three or more targets in every game and is fourth amongst RBs with a 14.8% target share, 7th in overall targets to RBs and 10th in receiving yards to RBs! Go buy Edmonds!
Clayton Jones
Sell High
Joe Mixon - RB Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Mixon is a fine running back and that’s about it. It doesn’t matter if he underperforms ADP year after year, the Mixon hive stays thick headed through it all clamoring for folks to trust in Mixon as a top 20 fantasy player. Well, he’s not, so trade him now for a return of that caliber.
Mixon is a part of one of the most exciting young offenses in the league and has played in every single game this season, yet, he has topped 13.2 half ppr fantasy points just twice. Five of seven games this season Mixon has been outside the top 20 RBs on the week, despite one of the easiest schedules for RBs.
The Bengals schedule is fairly light the rest of the way, but he still has a bye and at least three difficult matchups on tap.
One of the fallacies fantasy managers tell themselves about Mixon is that he catches passes. Well, through seven games, Mixon has 13 receptions and 90 receiving yards. This is tied for 35th among RBs in receptions and 38th in receiving yards.
Mixon is just 46th in PPOxTD and tied for 33rd with .29 rushing yards over expected per attempt. His 35 total rushing yards over expected is tied with Alex Collins.
Furthermore, while the Bengals were being cautious and conservative with Joe Burrow through the first part of the season, they have become much more aggressive over the last several weeks. Burrow’s passing yards totals from weeks 1-3 compared to weeks 4-7 are a stark contrast. Weeks 1-3: 261, 207, 172. Weeks 4-7: 348, 281, 271, 416. This has led to a higher neutral pass rate and an average of 37% more pass attempts per game.
With Burrow balling out and Ja’Marr Chase looking like an absolute superstar, I do not expect this team to revert to their conservative early season ways.
Mixon is a solid RB, but he is not a top five or top ten RB as so many people desperately want him to be. Ship him off now and reap the benefits.
Michael Petropoulos
Kyle Pitts - TE Atlanta Falcons
Before I begin, let me clarify: in no way is Kyle Pitts a must trade. With his insane skill set, usage and the TE landscape being as grim as ever, trading Kyle Pitts may very well be counter-productive. If you will be left with no viable TE, or can’t get a deal that blows you away, don’t trade Pitts. With that being said, Pitts’ value has never been higher and will probably not be as high for a very long time. If you want to trade Kyle Pitts, now is the time.
While most fantasy analysts who gushed over Kyle Pitts this offseason have used his last two games as proof, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Kyle Pitts officially ascended into the level of top-tier TE superstar, I say not so fast.
After a decent first four weeks that saw Pitts get some decent volume, he turned his 26 targets into just one performance over 10 PPR points, peaking at TE8 in Week 2 and bottoming out at TE24 in Week 3. Then, he faced the Jets and Dolphins.
In a London matchup with the Jets, the Falcons top-2 receivers were both missing from the game, turning Pitts into the lone option against the struggling defense and he cashed in, turning 10 targets into a 9/119/1 line resulting in a TE2 overall finish against a Jets team that allows more than 26% more Points Over Average (POA) to opposing TEs. He then took advantage of another great matchup against the Dolphins, where he torched the terrible defense for 7/163/0. While you can only play who is on your schedule and there is something to be said about Pitts taking advantage of these matchups, his upcoming matchups look a lot less appealing.
Carolina, at New Orleans, at Dallas and New England all rank in the bottom half of fantasy points given up to the TE and only Carolina has a positive POA. Calvin Ridley and Russell Gage have also returned to the lineup, and with the emergence of swiss-army knife Cordarelle Patterson, Pitts is one of four pass catching options in a bad offense, ranked 19th in points per game despite the last two weeks. QB Matt Ryan’s True Throw Value is 24th, meaning he has the 24th most valuable throw in the league, resulting in Kyle Pitts 8th ranked TE ranking in True Target Value. While that isn’t terrible, I think that is more in line with the results you will be seeing from Pitts as the season goes along.
Couple all of this with all the reasons I was fading Pitts in the offseason, and Kyle Pitts’ value will likely never be as high as it is right now. For a refresher of those reasons, check out the offseason article - You are Drafting Kyle Pitts Too High.
If you can acquire a superstar for Pitts, do it now, before his value will never be higher.
Tim Petropoulos
Courtland Sutton - WR Denver Broncos
With Week 8 just around the corner, we are nearing the halfway point of the fantasy football season. This juncture of the season marks a turning point for contenders and pretenders in your fantasy football leagues. Now is the time to up your roster for the final push by limiting risk with consistent weekly producers. Courtland Sutton has not been a consistent producer in 2021.
Sutton is a boom or bust player. He has had three weekly finishes in the WR1 tier in 2021 but has also had four weekly finishes below WR30, including a WR55 finish in Week 3 and a WR63 finish in Week 4. His lowest weekly finish came in Week 1 when he shockingly finished outside the top 100 wide receivers. Week 1 was coincidentally the only complete game Sutton shared with his budding sophomore counterpart, Jerry Jeudy.
Jeudy got forced out of a Week 2 contest with a nasty high ankle sprain. The Broncos recently activated Jeudy off injured reserve and the young receiver is expected to make his return in Week 8. During Jeudy’s Week 1 performance, the sophomore wideout recorded six receptions on seven targets for 72 yards.
Broncos quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has had a pleasant resurgence to his NFL career but remains a low output option. Sutton is guaranteed to see a reduction from his team-leading 24.9% target share with Jeudy in the lineup. The return of Jeudy, along with Bridgewater's low passing numbers, could flatten Sutton’s production completely.
Matt Ward
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