The best fantasy football sell-high candidates you can move at the perfect time

There are two kinds of fantasy football managers in the world: the kind that saw David Montgomery score 30 points in Week 1 and realized that was an outlier for his whole career, and the kind that saw that as a baseline of what he was going to do this season. 

Since then, he’s scored a combined 17 points. If you were the first person, you sold high, and you reaped the benefits. If you were the second person, you held on and dealt with the pain. So let’s try to avoid that from here on out and find some other fantasy players who can be sold high.

What is selling high, and how do I do it?

‘Selling high’ is the super-ultra smart (read: incredibly corny) way to say ‘trade a guy who is over-performing’ … I’m pretty sure it’s a stock market thing, but I don’t know because I'm financially illiterate and don’t feel like looking it up.

There are a few reasons why a player can be over-performing: It could be because there’s historical data that shows he’s not some kind of fantasy killer. It could be a running back who has a backfield all to himself while another running back is getting healthy. It could be someone who has a really tough schedule coming up … or it could be a whole bunch of other things. You get it. 

Selling a player high in fantasy is tough because you have to assume that everyone has the same level of fantasy wherewithal as you. Let me tell you: they probably don’t. I’d venture to say that the majority of people who play fantasy football just kind of go off of vibes and the information in front of their faces. You, though? You’re smart. 

These are the guys to trade while they're relatively hot, and arguments you should make to those other ding dongs in your league. If you want to copy and paste those arguments when you make the trade, go for it. I won’t be mad. Just do me a solid and open and close the page every time you do it.

WR Devaughn Vele, New Orleans Saints

It hasn’t really been fun to roster Devaughn Vele. Early in the season, we saw that when the Saints offense was rolling, it was really rolling. It’s a pass-only unit, and wide receivers from those kinds of teams are great to have … But Chris Olave is by far the best option.

Sure, there have been a few games where Vele has gone off and been a top-20 guy, but they were spaced out (Weeks 1, 4, and 7). If you want those kinds of big-time points, you’re going to have to play him every week and take the turd games. You don’t want that. 

Fortunately for us, their first-round pick, Jordyn Tyson, is coming off of IR after their Week 8 bye. That’s going to eat a lot into Vele’s work, and we’re going to try to ship him off. 

The Sales Pitch:

The Saints have the sixth-most pass-heavy offense, so he’s going to get the ball thrown to him plenty of times. Sure, there have been a handful of duds, but those were against the Jameis Winston Giants, the Vikings (who don’t let anyone throw the ball), and that weird game against the Raiders. This dude is a real part of the offense. 

Their next handful of games are against the Browns, Panthers, Bears, Bengals, and Packers. Aside from the Browns, those defenses are all gettable by wide receivers, and the Saints are going to have to throw the ball to keep up with the offenses. 

I know he’s not Chris Olave, but he’s still good to have if Olave goes down … or hell, maybe Vele just starts vibing. Honestly, you’re fleecing me.

RB Emanuel Wilson, Seattle Seahawks

When you picked up Emmanuel Wilson off of waivers, you felt like the smartest person in the world … and then the actual football happened, and now you feel disgusting. The Seahawks' running game has been gross, and Wilson is just as likely to be a waste of a roster spot as he is to win you your week.

Trading him means you’re going to get someone who’s actually reliable (hopefully). BUT ALSO, it means you’re not going to lose sleep trying to decide if you want to put him in your flex spot or not. That’s a win-win, baby.

Now, Zach Charbonnet is going to come back from his ACL, and Jadarian Price is going to come off the IR. We know that means Wilson’s playing time is going to plummet, so let’s dump him off to some sorry sack. Luckily, he gave us one hell of a parting gift with his RB12 performance in Week 12.

The Sales Pitch:

This is going to be one hell of a sell job.

Yeah. Charbonnet is coming back. And yeah, he and Kenneth Walker were super sick last year as a one-two punch. But getting back on the field and being the same guy are two totally different things. For running backs? Buddy, there’s a huge difference. 

Here are the facts: Wilson has the 15th most carries in the red zone and the 12th most carries on the goal line. The Seahawks are relying on this guy to score them points, and they’re not going to waste the most important offensive snaps on a guy who might have the physical power to score. Honestly, you’re fleecing me. 

RB Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts

Jonathan Taylor is different from the other guys on this list because he’s good and he’s going to be good. If you’re trading him, you’re doing it because you think that he’ll get traded and his new team isn’t going to use him as successfully as the Colts … And that’s a pretty big gamble.

That’s not a crazy thought: Indianapolis is very middle-of-the-road when it comes to pass-run rate, and they rely on him to move that offense (as they should because he rocks). If he does get traded, he’s not going to be the guy anymore.

On a championship contender, he’s not going to be getting the 20 carries per game because they have other guys who deserve the ball … which is part of the reason they are a contender. If Taylor’s not getting the volume, he’s less valuable. 

The Sales Pitch:

This is Jonathan Taylor we’re talking about. Honestly, you’re fleecing me. 

WR Jalen Coker, Carolina Panthers

If you drafted Jalen Coker, you did it in a very late round, but you probably picked him up off waivers after his 30-point Week 1. He definitely wasn’t a guy that you planned on having as a weekly lock in your WR2 spot.

You fell backwards into one hell of a wide receiver who gave you three top-20 weeks. He’s good, and he’s going to keep getting points this season … But you can move on from him and get a player or two that will help you out big-time. 

With Jalen Hurts going down, I was forced to stream quarterbacks. So I traded Coker for Jayden Daniels and Isaiah Likely: two guys that have very high ceilings for one guy who had a high ceiling. 

If you’re in the same situation, I strongly recommend moving a luxury piece for people who are actually more cornerstone-ish.

The Sales Pitch:

Don’t worry about last week. That was an all-time terrible game by the entire Panthers offense. 

A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker. The Panthers’ combo isn’t as sexy as the other awesome WR groups we’ve seen recently, but they’re still awesome, and they’re going to keep helping each other be ultra productive. Honestly, you’re fleecing me.

QB Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers

Bryce Young was an awesome streaming option for a hot minute; he was top-10 in four of six games, and top-3 in two of those … But he’s got a pretty rough schedule ahead of him. 

As a matter of fact, ESPN’s Strength of Schedule says that he has the hardest remaining schedule of all quarterbacks. But most importantly, he has the hardest strength of schedule during the fantasy playoffs. If you can move off of him now, then you won’t have to worry about it later.

In a perfect world, we’re trading him to someone who has either Tetairoa McMillan or Jalen Coker … But there are a whole bunch of people who are starting Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins, and Kyler Murray who would love to change that. 

The Sales Pitch:

I don’t need Bryce anymore, and he’s clearly going to be an upgrade over what you have. Shoot, he’d be an upgrade for pretty much everyone in the league, but he’s going to be an awesome stack for you.

Aside from two weird turds against the Browns and the Buccaneers, the guy has exclusively been a top-10 QB. On top of that, he already had his bye week, so you don’t have to worry about that. Honestly, you’re fleecing me.

WR D.J. Moore, Buffalo Bills

We’re going to do this after the Bills play the Ravens in Week 8, because Baltimore has allowed seven wide receivers to have top-24 weeks, and four of them have had top-12 weeks. D.J. Moore is going to help us out big time this week.

After that, though? Woof. 

The Bills get the Vikings, who are awesome. Then the Jets, who are doing better. Then the Dolphins, who teams don’t throw on because running is so effective. Then the Chiefs, who are really good. If we can avoid that, then we should.

Also, Moore has this shoulder thing that he’s been dealing with. It’s caused him to miss Weeks 5 and 6 entirely, but it also took him out of Weeks 2 and 3 … when you already started him. All that to say, this trade is going to prevent a headache too. 

The Sales Pitch:

He’s Josh Allen’s WR1, and when he’s healthy, his fantasy floor is a middle-tier WR2. We’ve seen the Bills' defense, and it’s terrible. Josh is going to have to push the ball downfield, and that’s only going to make Moore more valuable. 

As for his health: he’s had three weeks to get his shoulder healthy, and then he came out against the Ravens and lit the world on fire. The dude is fine. Honestly, you’re fleecing me. 

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