Trade Sammy Watkins in Fantasy Football
By Dennis Moody
Do you have Sammy Watkins on your fantasy football team? If you do, you should consider trading him immediately if you can get decent value.
Red flags went up when the Buffalo Bills announced Sammy Watkins had offseason surgery on a broken foot but that he would be ready for the regular season. All reports indicated that the receiver would be back and healthy for Week 1.
That did not end up being the case as the wide receiver is on record as saying the foot was bothering him during the game and that is why he chose to have it examined after the battle against the Ravens.
The results of the tests conclude that Sammy Watkins foot is not broken and that he is going to have to push through the pain if he wants to continue to suit up for Buffalo. Watkins has proven he can play effectively through injuries in the past so why would we advise you to trade the wide receiver now?
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The reason is the nature of Watkins injury combined with how early in the season it is. It’s a lot easier to sell another manager who may have a deep wide receiver corps that trading for Watkins now when he’s beat up will reap great rewards, later in the season in time for the fantasy playoffs.
Also, trading Watkins now, before he potentially puts up several stinkers in fantasy football due to his injury means you will get more value for him. The problem with keeping Watkins in your lineup is it’s nearly impossible not to start someone who you drafted as high as Watkins and who has as much talent as him.
Week after week you will feel compelled to start him and week after week you will likely be disappointed by his lack of production if this injury does not heal properly. It’s a terrible situation to be in as a manager.
Against the Ravens Watkins did not push downfield often. Some speculate it’s because of how deep the safeties were playing against him but I have a feeling it was due to the discomfort in his foot. The surgery is believed to have happened in April and doesn’t seem like it’s healing very well.
Trying to trade Watkins for a slightly worse but healthy wide receiver who will be more effective week to week is the way to go if you can find a manager in your league to take Watkins for a decent price.
Trading Sammy after one disappointing week is a move that reeks of desperation but in fantasy football desperate times call for desperate measures. Rather than agonizing over whether you should start the receiver all year, it may make sense to cut ties with him now to save yourself the grief.
On the other hand, if there is a desperate manager in your league who has a more pessimistic outlook on Watkins than I do, you may want to see if you can trade next to nothing for him to stash him on your bench until he proves that he is healthy and productive.
Next: Four Takeaways From Bills Loss to Ravens
If you have Sammy Watkins on your team you kind of have to start him. And that’s really the core of the problem because he won’t have too many monster weeks with this ailment holding him back.