Good morning.

It’s been a week of futility — the Jets fired GM Joe Douglas, the Giants benched QB Daniel Jones, and tonight, Kevin Stefanski will try to avoid becoming the 7th consecutive Browns head coach to be fired after a loss to the Steelers.

But hopefully for you, your fantasy team is on a much better path. So we’re coming to you today with players to buy and sell as you make your playoff push.

POLL 📊

MARKET TRENDS 🧐

Running Back

🚀 Chase Brown is a league-winner. It feels like we talk about him every week, but it’s for good reason:

“Chase Brown is essentially flawless from a usage perspective. Since Zack Moss went down, Brown has received every single backfield touch, played on 84.8% of the snaps, ran a route on 61.5% of dropbacks, commanded a 15.2% target share, and averaged an absurd 27.2 XFP/G. Across the full season, those marks would rank RB3, RB3, RB4, and RB1, respectively.” — Fantasy Points’ Scott Barrett

💰 Buy Bucky Irving. He ranks 1st among all RBs in missed tackle rate (16%) and 6th in broken tackle rate (14.6%), per Joe Orrico. While he’s still splitting time with Rachaad White, the rookie saw a season-high 16 opportunities in their last game, and is averaging 5.6 YPC compared to just 3.1 for White. Get him before his soft upcoming stretch (NYG, CAR, LV).

📉 Sell D’Andre Swift. He saw just a 58.3% carry share Sunday, his lowest mark since Week 3. Meanwhile, Roschon Johnson received 3 of 4 carries inside the 10-yard line, per Fantasy Points’ Ryan Heath. If this is a sign for what’s to come under new OC Thomas Brown, then that’s bad news for Swift managers.

💰 Buy Rhamondre Stevenson. He’s the RB4 overall in expected fantasy points since Drake Maye took over at QB, yet he’s only been the RB11 in actual fantasy points during that span, per Joe Orrico. He’s averaging 20+ opportunities per game in Weeks 8-11 and has a cake schedule (MIA, IND, ARI, BUF). While he isn’t the most efficient back in the game, this kind of bellcow usage is hard to find.

📉 Sell James Cook. He played a season-low 38% snap share in Week 11, but scored twice, inflating his fantasy production. He’s averaging +3.7 fantasy points over expectation, per Fantasy Points Data, so he’s due for some regression.

💰 Buy Tyrone Tracy Jr. He’s averaging 18.7 opportunities and 99 yards per game (5.1 YPC) since taking over the starting role. The Giants also have a top-10 remaining schedule for RBs with matchups against the Bucs, Cowboys, and Saints, who have all ranked bottom-6 in fantasy points allowed to RBs this season, per Player Profiler’s Chris O’Brien.

📉 Sell J.K. Dobbins. TD fortunes have boosted him to a tie for 15th in PPR points per game among RBs. In reality, he ranks 26th in expected PPR points per game and has received just 40.6% of LA’s carries since Gus Edwards’ return to the lineup, per Draft Sharks’ Matt Schauff.

Wide Receivers

🚀 Tee Higgins is BACK. In his first action since Week 7, Higgins went off for 148 yards and one TD on nine receptions. The only WRs averaging more fantasy points per game than Higgins are Ja’Marr Chase, Nico Collins, Cooper Kupp, Chris Godwin, and Amon-Ra St. Brown, per David J. Gautieri. That’s some elite company.

💰 Buy Rome Odunze. The rookie leads all Bears WRs in receiving yards this season, had a team-high 10 targets in his first game with new OC Thomas Brown, and has a top-3 easiest remaining WR schedule, per Joe Orrico. Rookie WRs typically break out down the stretch, so grab Odunze before he really takes off.

💰 Buy low on Tank Dell. Since Week 6, Dell ranks 6th in separation and 1st in route win rate among 76 qualifying WRs, per FantasyPros’ Derek Brown. It hasn’t manifested in many fantasy points, with Dell having just two top-30 WR finishes during that span, but he’s due for some positive regression.

📉 Sell Jayden Reed. He’s had just two receptions in three of his last four games, and is becoming more and more TD-dependent with just a 17% target share, per QB List’s Chris Helle.

💰 Buy Courtland Sutton. He ranks 4th in targets since Week 8, behind only Ja’Marr Chase, CeeDee Lamb, and Cooper Kupp. Plus, his 29% target share and 45% air yards share lead the Broncos, who have the easiest upcoming schedule for fantasy WRs, per Joe Orrico.

📉 Sell Malik Nabers. He got his second concussion of the season and will be stuck catching passes from Tommy DeVito for the rest of the year — not ideal.

💰 Buy Ladd McConkey. The entire tweet won’t fit here, but click below to check out Dataroma’s breakdown of Ladd’s impressive metrics👇 (TLDR; the dude gets open)

QB / TE

💰 Buy Justin Herbert. The Chargers went from the 2nd-most run-heavy offense through the first six weeks to the 6th-most pass-heavy offense ever since. They’ve now ranked top-10 in pass rate over expectation in 4 of their last 5 games, including +9.8% last week, which led all offenses.

Over this stretch, Herbert ranks as the QB7 by fantasy points per game (20.7), averaging 274.2 passing YPG (~QB3), up from 163.0 (~QB36). Better yet, he’s cleared 30 rushing yards in 3 of his last 4 games, averaging 37.0, up from 5.7, per Scott Barrett.

📉 Sell Jared Goff. It’ll be hard to let go after a 412 yard, four TD performance, but Goff has the 3rd-hardest QB schedule the rest of the way, per Matt Schauff. It might be best to wait one more week to do it, but at least start sending out some feelers to see who’s interested.

💰 Buy Bo Nix. Since Week 5, he’s been the QB5, averaging 21.4 PPG. The rookie has 16 total TDs to just two turnovers in this span and has shown serious rushing upside with games of 75, 61, and 36 rushing yards.

The Broncos also have the 4th easiest remaining schedule for QBs, with three of Nix’s last five games coming against bottom-9 defenses in schedule-adjusted fantasy points allowed to QBs and four of five being bottom-14, per Chris O’Brien.

💰 Buy David Njoku. It’s hard to imagine his managers letting him go, but if you can swing it, do it. He’s scored 17+ PPR points in three of his last four games, while seeing 7+ targets and catching 5+ balls in five straight contests, per Matt Schauff.

📉 Sell Mark Andrews. He saw a season-high 21.2% target share in Week 10 without Isaiah Likely. But when Likely returned this past weekend, it cratered back down to 9.1% — about in line with his previous season average (11.3%), per Ryan Heath. He also has one of the hardest remaining schedules, with matchups against LAC, PHI, NYG, PIT, and HOU — all of which are in the top-15 against opposing TEs.

💰 Buy Will Dissly. He currently ranks behind only Evan Engram (0.30) and tied with Brock Bowers in targets per route run among TEs (0.29), and he leads the Chargers in target share over their last 5 games (21.7%), per Scott Barrett.

QUICK SLANTS 👀

📖 Read Vinnie Iyer of The Sporting News’ TNF Start ‘Em Sit ‘Em for lineup advice, best matchups, and DFS picks for tonight’s game.

📖 Read Dalton Del Don of Yahoo’s Fantasy Football Panic Meter, a great weekly column where he gauges exactly how worried we should be — if at all — about some recent performances.

📖 Read Michael Salfino of The Athletic’s Market Share Report for an in-depth breakdown of player usage to help you with waivers and trades.

🎙️ Listen to Preparing for the Fantasy Playoffs: How to Optimize Your Roster Right Now from Establish The Run. Adam Levitan, Mark Dankenbring, John Daigle, and Jack Miller discuss RB/WR handcuffs, playoff QB and D/ST streamers, and general strategy for this time of year.

📺 Watch ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky break down a key 3rd & 9 from late in the Bills vs Chiefs game using VR🤯

TWEET OF THE DAY

IYKYK

As your trade proposals get rejected this week, remember not to give up. You have to keep grinding. Like Adam Schefter, who refused to let a little hanky panky get in the way of a good scoop:

Enjoy Steelers vs Browns. See you Sunday.

- Marcus