Week 7 Trades: Stock Up, Stock Down

Here’s a look at some of the fantasy players who had the best and worst performances of the weekend. These players are already on fantasy rosters in most leagues, so take this information into potential trade talks as you try to sell high or buy low.

Stock Up

Travis Etienne, RB, Jaguars

Etienne has been one of the hottest backs in fantasy football, and he showed it against the Colts. The talented runner rushed for a pair of touchdowns and put up 23.2 points, and he’s now scored a combined 59.7 points with a combined four end-zone visits in the last two weeks. Etienne is also getting plenty of volume, touching the ball at least 23 times in all but one of his first six games of the season.

Chuba Hubbard, RB, Panthers

Hubbard got a chance to shine this week with Miles Sanders out, and he took full advantage. The veteran rushed 19 times for 88 yards and found the end zone to finish with a season-high 16 fantasy points in a loss to Miami. That’s more points than Sanders had scored in four of his first five games. The Panthers have a bye next week, but Hubbard is proving that he’s the best runner in Carolina.

Jakobi Meyers, WR, Raiders

Meyers has quietly been the most consistent fantasy receiver in Las Vegas … and that includes Davante Adams. He hauled in five passes for 61 yards with a score and had 17.1 points in a bad loss to the Patriots. He has now scored more than 15 points in all but one game on the season, and he’s averaging more than 17 PPR points in all. Meyers faces a great matchup against the Bears coming up next.

Kyle Pitts, TE, Falcons

Are we finally getting the Pitts we have all hoped and dreamed about? After posting 15.7 points last week against the Texans, he followed up with 14.3 points in a loss to the Commanders. He has now seen a combined 17 targets over the last two weeks, and he’s pushed his points per game average for the season to almost nine. Even with Jonnu Smith also putting up good totals, Pitts’s stock is back on the rise.

Stock Down

Kirk Cousins, QB, Vikings

It might be time to be worried about Cousins in the fantasy football world. In his first game without superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson, he threw for just 181 yards and scored a season-low 8.7 fantasy points. Cousins has actually scored fewer than 10 points in two of his last three games, and he has a brutal matchup against what’s going to be a sour 49ers team next on the schedule. He’ll be a Week 7 sit ‘em.

Jonathan Taylor, RB, Colts

Taylor saw more carries than Zack Moss this week, but it was just one more carry and the touches were split at 13 apiece. Moss also outscored Taylor again, 17.9 to 11.5. We’re all expecting that Taylor will take over the backfield at some point after signing a huge extension with the Colts, but Moss has been too good to take off the field. Taylor also has a brutal matchup against the Browns next on the slate.

Davante Adams, WR, Raiders

I mentioned Meyers in the stock up portion of this column, and I also mentioned how he’s been more reliable than Adams. Crazy, but it’s true. The fantasy star was held to just two catches on five targets against New England, scoring a mere 4.9 points. Adams has now scored just 13.4 points in his last two games, and his quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, is injured (again). It’s a worst-case scenario in fantasy land.

Deebo Samuel, WR, 49ers

Samuel entered this week with just three targets in his last two games, and things got worse in a loss to the Browns. The veteran was knocked out of the contest early with an injured shoulder, leaving him to finish with a mere 1.1 fantasy points. He has now scored fewer than two points in two of his last three games (getting hurt doesn’t help), and Samuel’s status for Week 7 against the Vikings is in real question.

Tee Higgins, WR, Bengals

Speaking of disappointing wideouts, how about Higgins? He’s been a major dud in the stat sheets, scoring fewer than five PPR points in all but one contest this season. That includes a four-point stinker in Cincinnati’s win over the Seahawks. It’s hard to trade him and get any kind of value, especially with the Bengals heading into a bye week, so fantasy managers will likely have to pray that he can rebound soon.