Fantasy Football Trade Targets For Week 2: Buy Low On Drake London

Week 2 is always the most interesting time when it comes to fantasy football trade targets and sending offers in your leagues.

Despite it being a long season, so many people tend to overreact, especially following a loss. Although Week 1 was an insanely high-scoring week, there were still plenty of disappointing performances that may have fantasy players freaking out.

Time to start working the phones.

Trade Targets Ahead Of Week 2 In Fantasy Football

Drake London, WR, Atlanta Falcons

Can we all just agree that Atlanta’s Week 1 doesn’t actually count?

Outside of Bijan Robinson’s greatness, of course.

The fantasy world has made it very clear that they didn’t want Tua Tagovailoa under center for the Falcons. But it took just 26 Cooper Rush dropbacks for the mood to change. Rush completely crushed any hopes for the Atlanta passing attack, completing 12-of-22 passes for 143 yards. He averaged a laughable 3.5 air yards per attempt, while 41.2% of his pass attempts were at or behind the line of scrimmage. As a result, London caught just two passes for 29 yards.

Things will be better if Tagovailoa returns, but the real upside is unlocked once Michael Penix is ready to roll. Of course, Penix is far from a top-tier quarterback, but he’s absolutely a massive upgrade over Rush. And we’ve seen London produce at a high level with Penix under center. From Weeks 4-11 of last year, London averaged 11.2 targets, 7.3 receptions, 108.5 yards and 24.2 PPR PPG. He was fantasy’s WR1, while recording five 100-yard games over that stretch. London’s midseason stretch illustrates the upside he possesses. During that span, he ranked second in TPRR (31%) and first in target share (36%), while accounting for a whopping 75% of Atlanta’s end zone targets.

Colston Loveland, TE, Chicago Bears

I’ll make this short and sweet.

Some may be freaking out over the fact that Loveland failed to catch a pass in a game where the Bears scored 59 points. But I’m more focused on Chicago’s 59 than Loveland’s zero. Yes, it was frustrating, but Loveland still dominated the usage, leading all Week 1 tight ends in route rate (89%). Overall, the Bears pass catchers took a backseat to Caleb Williams, D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai. But Chicago’s defense looks really, really bad, which should lead to plenty of games where Williams attempts 40-plus passes. That’s exciting, especially when Kalif Raymond doesn’t randomly see nine targets.

Remember, from Week 8 on last year, Loveland emerged as not just the team’s top tight end, but their best pass catcher.

During that stretch, Loveland ran 72% of the routes, logged 72.4% of the snaps and was targeted on 24% of his routes. That was the highest rate on the Bears, and the later the season, the more Chicago involved Loveland. From Weeks 17-20 (playoffs included, obviously), Loveland saw double-digit targets in all four games, averaging 12 looks per game while sporting a whopping 32% TPRR and 31% target share.

DK Metcalf, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers

It’s still early. But my stance has changed.

All offseason, I was out on Metcalf. The fit with Aaron Rodgers was a question, while the addition of Michael Pittman Jr. worried me. And while he only caught four passes for 40 yards on Sunday, I actually came away pretty encouraged by Metcalf’s Week 1 role.

For starters, Mike McCarthy leaned on the pass quite a bit in his Pittsburgh debut, which isn’t too shocking. The Steelers were third in dropback rate over expected (11%), as Rodgers attempted 40 passes. Secondly, while Metcalf still saw plenty of deep targets (his 171 air yards ranked second in football), there was a very intriguing change in his route diet. Metcalf’s slant route rate skyrocketed to 23.8% on Sunday, way, way up from his 13.8% rate from a season ago. Given Rodgers propensity to hyper-target slant routes, this is a very, very encouraging shift for Metcalf if it holds. Over the last two seasons, no quarterback has targeted slant routes more than Rodgers (96). If this holds, it will make Metcalf a lot less boom/bust than he was a season ago, especially if the Steelers continue to pass the ball at a high rate.

With a handful of wide receiver injuries already impacting fantasy rosters, Metcalf is someone to consider acquiring, especially after a quiet game where the underlying metrics and usage are a lot more promising.

George Kittle, TE, San Francisco 49ers

While Loveland is going to be the popular buy-low tight end to target, don’t forget about Kittle, who we last saw nearly a week ago. In his first game since a postseason Achilles tear, Kittle played a limited role, logging 46% of the snaps and 47% of the routes. San Francisco hyper-targeted him right out of the gate, as Kittle saw four targets on the first drive of the game, including a designed screen that was two yards shy of a touchdown. Kittle got just one more target the rest of the way, while game script and a snap count kept him on the sideline.

It remains to be seen how much more he’ll play in Week 2, but once Kittle returns to his usual role, he’s going to be a top-six fantasy tight end, especially given how banged up the wide receiver room is in San Francisco.