Ian Allan answers your fantasy football questions. Special trades addition. Are A.J. Green and Trent Williams headed to new teams? Is a combo of Hollywood Brown and James White more valuable than Nick Chubb? Philip Rivers' disintegrating offensive line.
Question 1
Do you like this trade? Preston Williams and Nick Chubb for James White and Hollywood Brown? It’s really a two-for-one trade but wanted your thoughts.
Tom Clark (Suffers , NY)
I’m actually starting Preston Williams in a league this week. I have some bye issues at wide receiver. (I don’t know that Williams will be on my roster a week from now, but he might be decent Sunday, considering the Dolphins are playing a similarly suspect opponent.) But as you point out, it’s a two-for-one deal. Chubb is a top-10 back; Kareem Hunt will be coming back for the last eight games, but Chubb seems to be their guy. I don’t think Hunt will turn that into a one-two punch backfield. I would expect Hunt will need a few weeks to get going, and that when everything’s fired up and running smoothly, Hunt displace Hilliard as their main third-down back and see some change-of-pace work, probably on the field for 20-30 percent of their offensive plays. Barring injuries, I expect Hunt will be more of handcuff rather than part of one-two punch. With White, you’re getting a top-20 back; he won’t be much of a factor (at all) as a runner, but he’s a huge part of their passing game. He’ll catch 80-plus balls. In PPR scoring, that makes him a reliable asset. The question, then, is does Hollywood Brown provide enough to bridge the gap between White and Chubb? Maybe. He’s kind of Baltimore’s most dangerous receiver. He’s built out of the same stuff as DeSean Jackson, T.Y. Hilton and Tyreek Hill, with the wheels to come up with 60-yard touchdowns on any given play. But Brown is tiny and experienced; I don’t think he’ll be much of a factor in the red zone (though he did catch a touchdown in that part of the field last week, costing me a game when I foolishly benched him in favor of Jake Kumerow). The Ravens have an rudimentary passing game. They’re using their tight ends a lot, and they’re rolling through a lot of wide receivers – Willie Snead, Seth Roberts and Miles Boykin. I think their other Oklahoma pass catcher (Mark Andrews) will catch more passes than Brown in most games. So for me, in a PPR format, Brown grades out as just the 35th-best wide receiver. It’s a fair, reasonable trade offer, but I would be reluctant to move Chubb and that roster spot (Preston Williams today, but probably somebody you sign on waivers in a week or two) for White and Brown.
Question 2
I'm in a 12-team, PPR league that starts 3 WRs, and I 'm looking to upgrade my RBs (Damien Williams, Josh Jacobs, Chris Thompson and Tarik Cohen) via trade. I have a solid group of WRs (DeAndre Hopkins, Cooper Kupp, Chris Godwin, Christian Kirk and Michael Gallup), so I'm weighing offering either Chris Godwin for Kerryon Johnson straight up or Godwin and Tarik Cohen for Kerryon and Julian Edelman. The other side of the trade is relatively strong at RB (Barkley, Austin Ekeler, Kerryon and David Montgomery) and relatively weaker at WR (AJ Green, Julian Edelman, Calvin Ridley, Terry McLaurin and Demarcus Robinson). What do you think?
Jason Curran (Bronxville, NY)
Lots of names here. Not sure if you’ll be able to put together a trade that will be acceptable. That comes down to finding a combination where the two owners value somebody differently. A.J. Green might be a guy to think about. When he’s right physically, he might still be one of the 10 best wide receivers in the league. He won’t put up those kind of numbers in Cincinnati; it’s a lesser team, and they’ve got another top-level receiver (Tyler Boyd). But I’ve seen a few stories go by suggesting Green will be moved before the trade deadline on October 29. That would make a lot of sense, with the Bengals looking to rebuild and him being an older, higher-priced guy.
Question 3
I sit in first place in my league at 4-1 thanks to your product which I have been using exclusively for many years. Do you think Trent Williams is traded before the deadline? And if he lands with the Browns (very likely spot for him) will that be enough to solidify their shaky line and get Mayfield and the WRs back on track?
Gavin Domm (San Francisco, CA)
The trade deadline is the Tuesday after Week 8 – October 29. If Washington doesn’t believe that it can make Williams happy (perhaps by giving him a new contract) the correct course is to move him, picking up some extra draft capital. Miami was able to get two first-round picks and a second-rounder in the trade involving Laremy Tunsil. Williams is a better player than Tunsil right now but is six years older and has had some injury issues, missing 1-6 games in each of the last five years. But he’s been a top-5 tackle when healthy, and he seems fine now. I would expect they would be able to get at least a first-round pick for him. I would expect there would probably be a dozen teams that would at least start looking into possibilities. Four playoff contenders have injury issues with their left tackles – San Francisco, New England, Kansas City and the Chargers. With Carolina sitting at 3-2, I wonder if they would be interested? In the Tampa Bay game in Week 2, Shaq Barrett was running by their left tackle all night, pretty much shutting down the entire offense. And the Browns, as you point out, might be the best fit of all. They had the weird deal last year where they ranked last in sacks in the first half of the season. They fired Hue Jackson, making Freddie Kitchens their offensive coordinator. He made a few offensive changes, including inserting Greg Robinson as the starting left tackle, and the Browns somehow in the second half of the season allowed a league-low 5 sacks. An instant worst-to-first turnaround. But we all should have recognized the potential for a regression. Robinson spent five years with the Rams and Lions, and they were never able to get adequate left-tackle play out of him. When Robinson hit free agency in the spring, no other teams were interested at all in signing him to be a starter. He ended up re-inking with Cleveland, signing a one-year deal worth only $6.4 million. The Browns actually released Robinson briefly in a paperwork move (when players are on the initial 53-man roster, they’re eligible to come off injured reserve during the season). Robinson went along with this wink-nod agreement, but it was surprising that the Browns would be willing to risk having their starting left tackle possibly sign with another team. It’s an admission that they’re playing a lesser guy there. Trent Williams would very much help that offense. More likely, however, the Browns will attempt to fix their issues as they did last year – by using different formations and play calling.
Question 4
My team currently sits 3-2 and just has that feel of blandness. Maybe I'm overreacting and you can tell me or if I want a shot at winning my league do I need to go after more of a #2 RB in my 12 team PPR league that rewards for long TDs. I feel like I need to cash in and trade inconsistent guys like Coleman & Howard while they are coming off good weeks. My team is QBs Rivers & D. Jones; RBs Cook, Howard, Coleman, Mattison & C. Thompson; WRs Lockett, M. Williams, Hardman, D. Westbrook & Kumerow; TE Kelce; K Zuerlein & DEF Packers. Thanks for your input.
Brian Boyd (Maple Grove, MN)
I think you need better quarterback. Philip Rivers can’t move, and now they’re playing without their two most important offensive line starters. They just put Mike Pouncey on injured reserve, and they haven’t had Russell Okung all year. Okung had the blood clots issue this summer; he’s eligible to be activated after Week 6, but I’m not sure where he’s at in his recovery. If the offensive line isn’t right, you’ll need more than just Rivers at quarterback. Daniel Jones isn’t that guy. Had the nice debut against the Bucs, but he’s just a youngster feeling his way and trying to develop.