It’s time for The Tuesday Trader, where we look at some of the biggest
buy-low and sell-high guys. Today I want
to focus on TEs.
But first, a word on trade offers.
I get a lot of questions about “Should I trade abc for xyz?” About 50% of the time, the offers are very
fair. The other half range from “not
fair” to “there’s no way your opponent will accept this, much less talk to you
again.”
I offer trades all season long.
Each one (I hope) is conceivably fair.
In other words, I’m trying not to insult my opponent’s intelligence or
burn bridges.
Before offering a trade, ask yourself how you’d feel in your opponent’s
shoes, and someone offered you this trade.
If you’d feel insulted, then don’t offer it. A trade should give you an imperceptible
advantage based on knowledge you have and your opponent doesn’t. It’s fair based on what’s commonly known, and
since you know more than your opponent, that’s where the edge lies.
This is why trade offers are sometimes hard to evaluate. Their likelihood of acceptance is based on
the level of your opponent’s ignorance.
And that’s why I like trading with impulsive people; they’re guided by
short-term fears and needs. If you’re
thoughtful, you might be my friend, but I’ll be very wary negotiating trades
with you.
Anyway, sell-high TEs include Jacob Tamme and Martellus Bennett. I’ve tried trading Tamme for two weeks and
might end up dropping him. Matt Ryan
won’t continue to play out of his mind, and Austin Hooper cuts into Tamme’s
upside. I added Hunter Henry two weeks
ago and view him as a better long-term replacement—yes, even when Antonio Gates
returns. I’ve also been holding Zach
Ertz in the belief he’ll be a top 6 TE when he returns. That’s two too many TEs on my roster, so
Tamme will need to be jettisoned one way or the other.
Bennett has benefited from Gronk’s health issues, the lack of a dynamic
running game (Dion Lewis could return in a few weeks), and a mostly ineffective
WR corps. That should change with Tom
Brady’s return. Bennett will revert to
the #4 or #5 offensive option . . . at best.
On the flip side, Richard Rodgers, the previously mentioned Ertz, and
Gary Barnidge lead the buy-low group. Rodgers
is unowned in 97% of ESPN leagues, so most of you can grab him off
waivers. Jared Cook could be out for a
while with an ankle injury, and as expected he didn’t produce when healthy. Rodgers is the Packers’ best option at TE
(though I’ll defer somewhat to Cheesehead Zach Zarling’s judgment) and is a top
16 TE for the foreseeable future.
Ertz potentially will return this week, making him an appealing
acquisition if your opponent is worried about a setback or whether he’ll be
eased into action over several games.
And with Josh Gordon indefinitely suspended, Barnidge is a near-term
top-2 target for the Browns and is a near lock for TE1 numbers the rest of the
season. Don’t let his lack of scoring
worry you. Cleveland is averaging 18.5
points a game, and 21 since RGIII left the scene.