Fantasy Football Week 9 Buy Low Sell High trade candidates: Cash in on Adam Thielen, invest in Javonte Williams, and more

Fantasy football managers should always be looking for ways to improve their rosters during the course of any NFL season. Exploring the trade block is one of the best ways to do so. Maximizing value in the trade market often requires a specific strategy, where managers should generally buy low on undervalued players and sell high when a player reaches their theoretical peak value.

The specific fantasy value for a given player can sometimes drastically fluctuate from week to week based on many different factors. Injuries to relevant players and changes to offensive roles are among the most important of the many variables. When maximizing return, it's often wise to go a bit against the grain by seeking out certain fantasy football players that most managers are looking to get rid of.

The general idea of determining which players make for ideal trade targets is to analyze where their production may be projected to be going, rather than their overall statistics to that point of the season so far. Managers want to buy a player based on what they will do for their team, not what they already did for a different one.

The opposite approach can be used when selling players. It's most beneficial to trade a player that has been performing well because they will command the best return packages. Choosing who to sell in fantasy football is based on a player theoretically producing bigger numbers than what their actual value will be moving forward, creating an opportunity to cash in before seemingly inevitable regression.

In Week 9, it's important to look for fantasy options that have shown signs of having a better second half of the year than they did in the first half. Acquiring a player who has relatively struggled, but gives reasons that they could bounce back strong, will allow a manager to find a cheap asset with more upside than what they've done so far this year.

Before finalizing any trades in fantasy football, all managers should be consulting the trade analyzer first. This useful tool makes sure the proper return package is being received. It was also used to generate the following list of players to buy and sell ahead of Week 9 of the 2023 fantasy football season.

Fantasy Football Week 9 Sell High Trade Candidates

Thielen trade

#1 - Raheem Mostert

While Raheem Mostert has been excellent for the Miami Dolphins this season, ranking among the top ten overall running backs in fantasy football, his production is much more likely to go down than up in the second half of the season. This has nothing to do with his play, but is more about the Dolphins' depth of options in the position that are getting healthy.

Rookie sensation De'Von Achane is expected to return after just one more missed game when he's first eligible to be removed from the injured reserve list. Jeff Wilson Jr. also recently made his retun from an injury and Salvon Ahmed has been mixing into the workload as well. They seem destined for a committee approach, meaning fantasy managers should cash in on Mostert now before his value drops.

#2 - Adam Thielen

Adam Thielen has been one of the biggest surprises of the 2023 fantasy football season. His massive volume in his first year with the Carolina Panthers has him ranked among the top ten wide receivers after being a late-round flier at best during draft season.

It's realistic to believe that Thielen will never again hold as much fantasy value as he does right now. This creates the ideal scenario to flip him for a massive haul after his dominant first half of the season. The Panthers have just one win this year, so they may turn their focus on developing their younger players as much as possible.

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#3 - Jahmyr Gibbs

With David Montgomery out with a rib injury, rookie Jahmyr Gibbs has served as the starting running back for the Detroit Lions in each of the past two games. He has responded by exploding for two weekly finishes among the top five fantasy football running backs. The issue is that when Montgomery returns, they are still expected to share the backfield workload.

Prior to his injury, Montgomery dominated the backfield touches for the Lions and ranked inside the top ten overall in total fantasy points. While Gibbs likely earned himself a larger workload going forward, it makes sense to trade him before his production inevitably regresses upon Montgomery's expected return in the coming weeks.

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Before plugging any of these targets into fantasy football lineups, make sure to reference the Start/Sit Optimizer first.

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Fantasy Football Week 9 Buy Low Trade Candidates

Williams trade

#1 - Aaron Jones

Aaron Jones has been extremely disappointing during the 2023 fantasy football season. He has failed to eclipse 50 total yards in a single game since Week 1 for the Green Bay Packers. Some of this has been due to injuries, missing three games and not playing fully healthy in the games he has appeared in.

Jones was a second-round pick in many fantasy drafts this season, depending on league format and scoring settings, showing the value he was expected to bring into this season. It's reasonable to believe that when he does get fully healthy, he's an ideal candidate to finish the season strong. He can be had for cheap right now and is worth a speculative investment.

#2 - Javonte Williams

Javonte Williams has an alarming injury history during his career so far, including a major knee surgery. The Denver Broncos were expected to ease him back into action this year before eventually making him their featured back. That time may be now after he set a career-high with 27 carries in his most recent game.

Williams nearly doubled his previous season-high of 15 carries, which he set the week before. The Broncos appear to be comfortable removing his workload restrictions, so he could realistically have a huge second half to the 2023 fantasy football season, as long as he can stay healthy.

#3 - Marquise Brown

Marquise Brown is having a relatively solid fantasy season, ranking among the top wide receivers in five of his eight games this year. It's important to remember that he has done so with Josh Dobbs at quarterback. He's expected to get a major upgrade in the coming weeks with Kyler Murray nearing his return to the lineup.

Murray should help boost the entire Arizona Cardinals' offense with his dynamic skillset. Brown may be the biggest beneficiary of this as he is the clear WR1 in their offensive scheme without a ton of competition for targets. This makes him an ideal 'Buy Low' target as his value should go up with a significant upgrade at quarterback.