Fantasy Football Trade Targets Analyzer: Week 3 players to buy, sell, hold

Griffin Missant

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Fantasy Football Trade Targets Analyzer: Week 3 players to buy, sell, hold image

Outside of the classic Sunday lineup tilt, trading is the most difficult thing to navigate during a fantasy football season. If you've played fantasy long enough, you traded away a player that ended up breaking out. 

However, that should not deter you from making a deal where you truly feel your team gets better. Part of fantasy is the overreactions; if you stay level-headed, you'll be able to get great discounts on elite options. 

On the flip side, there are players whom you absolutely need to sell at this point. One game is a fluke, two games are a trend, and you need to react properly to what we are seeing through two weeks. 

Here are 3 buy, sell, and hold candidates heading into Week 3. 

FANTASY WEEK 3 RANKINGS: QB | ​​RB | WR | TE | D/ST | PK

Week 3 fantasy trade targets to buy

Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings 

Managers who drafted Justin Jefferson in Round 1 are anything but satisfied with their selection. This is the definition of a buy-low candidate. 

Through two weeks, those who have Jefferson have had to watch him be the WR20 and WR38 overall on the week. J.J. McCarthy was not the sole issue of this offense being poor, but he was definitely a contributor. 

Now insert Carson Wentz, who, for what it's worth, actually could thrive in this system. Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell made Sam Darnold look not just good, but elite. It's a QB-friendly offense, especially for veteran guys such as Wentz. 

While it's not the same offense, Wentz has prior experience in an offense similar to O'Connell's, having spent part of 2023 learning under Sean McVay, O'Connell's former mentor and the Rams' coach.

Jefferson managers might just hear that the backup for the Vikings is starting and be fed up, but Wentz has a real chance to excel and support WR1 numbers for Jefferson. 

Ladd McConkey, WR, Los Angeles Chargers 

The Chargers are a pass-first offense, just like everyone knew they would be coming into 2025. This is, of course, sarcasm and a pleasant surprise for anyone who did not draft Omarion Hampton. 

Surely, the Chargers being a pass-heavy team under Greg Roman is the biggest shocker from this team, but no, Ladd McConkey is weirdly not the WR1 thus far. 

Through the first two weeks, McConkey has been targeted the same number of times that Quentin Johnston has, with 14 total targets. However, Keenan Allen is being targeted the most with 17. McConkey also has fewer yards than both Allen and Johnston, as well as fewer touchdowns (Ladd has zero).

This is more of a gut feeling, but there is no way the Chargers do not go to McConkey more as the season progresses. He was dominant down the stretch and into the postseason last year in a run-heavy scheme. Expect things to even out for McConkey, and buy low now while you can. 

Jakobi Meyers, WR, Las Vegas Raiders 

Coming off a WR33 finish in Week 2, Jakobi Meyers should absolutely be a buy-low candidate. Meyers is not exciting when it relates to fantasy; he's going to ever single-handedly win you your weeks. However, his volume and usage stats are outstanding, and they allow him to quietly dominate in PPR leagues, especially. 

Through two weeks, Meyers has been targeted 22 times by Geno Smith. This is the fifth highest in the entire NFL; the only guys ahead of him are Malik Nabers, Ceedee Lamb, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Chris Olave.

On top of this elite target share, Meyers is on the field constantly. He played 94% of the snaps in Week 1 and played 93% in Week 2. 

There's a good chance whoever owns Meyers has him on their bench right now. He is someone you can get for cheap who will contribute right away. 

FANTASY LINEUP TIPS: Week 3 Start-Sit | Week 3 Sleepers | Week 3 Busts

Week 3 fantasy players to sell in a trade

Tee Higgins, WR, Cincinnatti Bengals 

The Joe Burrow injury, by far and away, hurts Tee Higgins the most. It's not hard to get Ja'Marr Chase the ball; after all, he's one of the best WRs in football. 

However, Higgins' entire role in this offense is those deep shots down the field. Burrow and Higgins had such amazing chemistry and trust. Burrow knew where to place those jump balls, right where Higgins could make a play.

Jake Browning will not be able to support Higgins in that way. In fact, when Browning was the starter in 2023, Higgins saw a 7% target share drop.

Higgins still has a big enough name where you'd be able to make something happen. Maybe try to go after Jakobi Meyers, who was just mentioned above. 

A.J. Brown, WR, Philadelphia Eagles 

The Eagles are extremely good at football and will win a lot of games this season. But is there a less entertaining team to watch in the NFL? This offense has zero creativity, which sucks because they have insanely talented players such as A.J. Brown. 

Week 2 felt 100 times better than Week 1 as far as a usage standpoint goes for Brown. After all, he more than doubled his targets, catches, and yards. However, Brown finished as the WR67, which marks his 8th time finishing as the WR60 or worse since joining the Eagles in 2022. 

At this point, Dallas Goedert (when healthy) is more involved than both Brown and DeVonta Smith. It wouldn't matter if the Eagles didn't have two elite options whose primes are being wasted. 

Use the big name, and get anyone you can for Brown. He is unstartable when it comes to a fantasy football standpoint. 

Tyrone Tracy, RB, New York Giants

We might have just seen Tyrone Tracy completely lose his role to Cam Skattebo in Week 2. We knew this was a possibility, but for it to happen this early is cause for concern. 

In Week 1, Tracy owned the backfield with a 74% snap share as opposed to Skattebo's 12%. Then in Week 2, it flipped, and Skattebo played 52% of the snaps versus Tracy's 42%. 

There have been some rumors that Tracy questioning the play-calling after Week 1 might've played a role in the decrease in snaps.

In fact, Devin Singletary (who only played 4 snaps) ran out there with the starters, not Tracy. This feels like a message toward Tracy speaking out. 

Skattebo looked awesome in Week 2 and provided a real spark to the Giants in that game against Dallas.

Tracy's value is not going to be high, but there may be some managers who need an RB and think Tracy will get more work going forward. 

TOP FANTASY PICKUPS: Week 3 waiver wire

Week 3 fantasy trade targets to hold

Kenneth Walker III, RB, Seattle Seahawks 

Full transparency: There can be a legitimate argument that Kenneth Walker belongs in Buy, Sell, or Hold.

There is just too much talent for him to be a true sell, and if you bought, you'd be paying a lot for him. SO we just settled on him being a Hold. 

We'll start with the good. Have you ever watched Walker play football? He's unbelievable, he's electric, he's powerful, he's everything you want in an NFL RB. 

Walker just finished as the RB9 in Week 2, where he looked spectacular. He ran for seven first-downs and averaged 8.45 yards per carry. So at this point, you might be thinking, "How is this guy not a buy?' 

We have yet to bring up Zach Charbonnet, who is being treated as if he's the RB1 in Seattle. In both Week 1 and Week 2, Charbonnet has played more snaps than Walker. To be exact, Charbonnet has played 22 more snaps through Weeks 1 and 2. Charbonnet has also given more rushing attempts in both weeks. 

Yet in Week 2, despite Charbonnet being used more, Walker finished with 18.8 fantasy points compared to 1 point for Charbonnet. 

It's incredibly frustrating watching this play out because while Charbonnet is not bad, Walker is leagues better than him. The hope is that Walker continues to look astronomically better and gets more work because of it. 

Rhamondre Stevenson, RB, New England Patriots

All offseason, the talk that surrounded the Patriots' backfield was solely about TreVeyon Henderson. Yet, Rhamandre Stevenson just finished as the RB6 overall in Week 2. 

Henderson struggled in Week 2, specifically in pass protection. Due to this, you saw his snaps decrease from Week 1 to Week 2. 

Managers usually try to find players to sell high after unexpectedly great performances, but Stevenson is here to stay. Through the first two weeks of the season. Stevenson has played 85 snaps compared to just 44 for Henderson. 

The nice thing about this Patriots offense (for the RBs anyway) is that they have no true WR!. The offensive scheme is very balanced, and the backs get used frequently in the passing game. Stevenson had 5 catches in Week 2 for 88 yards, which is excellent for PPR. 

Cam Skattebo, RB, New York Giants 

The people who called Cam Skattebo a fullback coming out of college might have to eat their words after what we saw in Week 2. 

Skattebo was a key contributor during that close game against Dallas. As mentioned above, he played 52% of the snaps versus Tracy's 42%. 

Again, it feels like managers are so focused on finding someone to sell high, they ignore what just transpired on the football field.

This next statement is the pure eye test, but Skattebo runs like every down is his last. This fires up a football team, but more importantly, it's the type of runner coaches want to put on the field.

By the end of the season, we should not be surprised if Skattebo is the RB1 in the Giants' offense. He's an absolute hold if you have him. 

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Griffin Missant

Griffin Missant joined The Sporting News in 2025 as a fantasy football intern. He graduated from Grand Valley State University, where he covered the Lakers football program. He has also worked for Sleeper and the Fantasy Trade Room. He has played fantasy for over a decade, and has been passionate about fantasy football ever since.