Week 9 of the 2020 NFL season was relatively kind to most football players, as there didn’t seem to be many serious, long-term injuries. So, while there aren’t as many obvious waiver wire targets as most weeks, there are still some gems to be found as you push toward the fantasy football playoffs.
This is a friendly reminder to check your league's trade deadline. The deadline has already passed for some leagues, while others still have another week and a half left for you to make those league-winning trades. The selections in this week's five players to trade and five players to trade for are geared toward the fantasy playoffs; some have league-winning upside a favorable schedule, while the others face bad matchups and would be better off on another roster.
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FIVE PLAYERS TO ADD
1. RB Duke Johnson Jr., Houston Texans
Last week, Christian McCaffrey, Laviska Shenault Jr. and Preston Williams were the only skill position players who suffered injuries that might keep them out for over a week. Mike Davis would take over again in Carolina if McCaffrey misses time, but most fantasy managers who picked him up earlier in the season never dropped him. Meanwhile, multiple players will see an increase in targets in Jacksonville and Miami with Shenault and Williams missing time, leading to no attractive waiver wire targets from those teams.
However, a few players left Week 9 with a concussion, and all of them have the possibility of missing their upcoming game. Texans running back David Johnson was one of those players. Duke took over for David and played every snap for Houston’s offense until the fourth quarter when a few backups took snaps. Next week, Duke would be an RB2 against an average Cleveland Browns run defense if David does miss the game. David hasn’t exactly lived up to expectations, so this would be an opportunity for Duke to earn more playing time.
2. RB Tony Pollard, Dallas Cowboys