Fantasy Football Trade Deadline: The 9 Best Players to Buy Now

Trade deadlines are here!

It's now or never.

Waivers will soon be your only option as you navigate the playoffs. If you don't trade now, you'll be staring down the barrel of a back up's back up next Tuesday.

So let's talk about players to trade for now that can benefit you more than any late-season waiver acquisition will. Plus, who has any FAAB remaining anyways…

PSA: If you haven't made any trades this year, do one for the hell of it. Feel alive for once, will ya??

BUY: The Boom or Bust Dawgs

Imagine this: You've made the playoffs, but OH NO!! Your team sustains a brutal injury!

There's no one on waivers that’s worth a sh*#. You have some random bench stashes that have never come to fruition. BUT WAIT! There he is! Your sometimes trustworthy boom-or-bust dawg!

And he is barking like crazy to come out and play. You softly smile as you move him into your flex, because now, you have hope.

Annddddd SCENE!

RB Tyler Allgeier (TD Vulture Dawg)

Bijan Robinson is the RB1 in Atlanta. We all know this. But every now and then, Allgeier is given a bone. And those bones tend to come when his team is near the end zone. Even during weeks when Bijan scores, Allgeier might get a treat or two thrown his way.

Put it this way: If we were playing a game called "Did Tyler Allgeier Score That Week?" You could answer "Yes" every time and have a 50% shot at being correct.

Week 2: 16-76-1
Week 4: 16-51-1
Week 6: 10-32-1
Week 8: 4-4-1
Week 10: 11-57-2
Week 11: 3-10-1 (the even week curse is broken!)

Allgeier booms. Allgeier busts. But as far as "back up" RBs go, Allgeier has just as good a chance as any RB1 to score any given week. Good boy!!

WR Jameson Williams (Deep Threat Dawg)

The floor is low, but the ceiling is astronomically high.

Could Jameson Williams leave a game with zero catches? Yep. He did in Week 7.
Could Jameson Williams touch the ball only one or two times a game? Yep. It happened Weeks 2-5.
But… Could Jameson Williams finish as a top-10 WR? Yep! He did Weeks 2, 10, and 11.

While Jameson has the potential to bust any given week given his competition on offense, he is on a hot streak. He’s scored in four out of his last five games. AND he's seen a consistent increase in targets over the last month.

While the Lions offense could turn into the Amon-Ra St. Brown Show or the Jahmyr Gibbs Show or even the David Montgomery Show some weeks… Williams' potential for big games is too good to pass up. Not to mention his juicy schedule down the stretch…

RB RJ Harvey (Let The Dawg Loose!)

We should've known that JK Dobbins’ absence would mean that Sean Payton would give Jaleel McLaughlin(f*ck#!&) a chance to score. That's the name of the game in Denver, folks! RB Roulette.

While Harvey is sure to see a lot of volume with Dobbins on IR, his boom or bust nature comes from the fact that:

Payton is known for using his Denver RBs unpredictably
Harvey's upcoming schedule is… not-so-easy (LV, GB, JAX, KC).

BUT we've seen what can happen when Harvey is let loose in this offense:

Week 8: RB6
Week 9: RB9

It could be a risk, but the ceiling and potential are there.

TE Juwan Johnson (Dawg-ish)

He's still on waivers in some leagues after the Saints Bye?!

Despite the Saints’ lackluster offense, Juwan is still a TE that could score TDs. That has to count for something, right??

Juwan scored in back-to-back weeks before his Bye in Week 11. And now, with Rashid Shaheed out of town, New Orleans needs to rely on whatever pass catchers they can.

But temper your expectations… It's just as likely for Juwan to finish with 2 or fewer fantasy points per game as it is for him to hand out a week with double-digit fantasy production.

It doesn't get more boom or bust than that, fellas!

BUY: The Forgotten Guys

Sure, they're living in another player's shadow. But don't forget about them just because they're lower on the depth chart.

WR Cooper Kupp

Hey, grandpa. It's not 2021 anymore.

Cooper Kupp's spotlight has dimmed and a new one is shining brightly towards Jaxon Smith-Njigba. (With a few weeks of Tory Horton sprinkled in.)

But when it comes to forgotten heroes, we have to remember that Cooper Kupp is still catching targets on an offense that has been super friendly to WRs (despite Sam Darnold's zero TD, four INT game against the Rams in Week 11.)

Not even 20 days ago, people were hooping and hollering about how incredible Darnold was against the Commanders in Week 9, where he finished with 330 yards and 4 TDs.

With Darnold throwing the ball as often and well as he has been this season, you could do worse than Old Man Cooper, who is still capable of putting up 10-30 yards per target. He may not see the end zone as often as the younger guys on offense, but that doesn’t mean he can’t help you out in a bind.

WR Xavier Worthy

What can I say besides: Rashee Rice.

The Xavier Worthy train derailed and it hasn't gotten back on track since Worthy's injury in Week 1. Then, Rice's return in Week 7 all but put a nail in Worthy’s “high ceiling” coffin. But the Chiefs are known for spreading the ball around at times and Worthy is still a talented weapon on their offense.

Despite Rice's three WR10 or better finishes, Worthy is still seeing a handful of targets in the passing game each week. Maybe just maybe he gets a few weeks that go his way down the home stretch.

Who knows, maybe Worthy catches another 3-week hot streak like he did Weeks 15-17 in 2024…

BUY: The Better-Than-Waivers Boys

Eh… They may never get the "big breakout" game that we're hoping for, but they're better than anything you'll find on waivers.

RB Blake Corum

Con: Back up to Kyren Williams.
Con: Davante Adams loves to steal the short yard scoring opportunities.
Pro: Corum has seen 8 or more rushing attempts in 6 games this year.
Pro: Some RB-friendly matchups on the horizon

RB Devin Neal

Con: Back up to Alvin Kamara.
Con: A New Orleans Saint.
Pro: Beginning to see opportunities with rushing and receiving
Pro: Insanely RB-friendly matchups ROS

RB Brian Robinson

Con: Back up to Christian McCaffrey
Con: Bye in Week 14
Pro: TDs in two of his last three games
Pro: Back up to Christian McCaffrey