Make sure to stay tuned later today for the buy/sells episode of the Upper Hand Fantasy Podcast heading into Week 9! The trade deadline is fast approaching, and with more and more players moving from one team to another (and quarterbacks being benched!), the value of players is in flux.

• Texans WR confirmed to have torn ACL in last week’s win over the Colts, set to miss the rest of the season

  • It’s an incredibly tough break for both Diggs himself and the Texans offense as a whole, especially considering that both sides of this offseason’s trade deal were reaping the benefits of Houston’s acquisition of the star pass catcher. Seeing as it’s an ACL injury, he’ll assuredly be out for the rest of the year and can safely be dropped in redraft formats. As for his dynasty value, it’s only fair to categorize it at this time as ‘in flux’ with Diggs signing what’s essentially a one-year deal with the team. He’s set to hit free agency this offseason and will likely be with a new team coming off his ACL tear at 32 years old – which isn’t exactly a good look. In the meantime, it’ll be up to Tank Dell and a host of backup WRs to get the job done in Week 9 for C.J. Stroud as Houston’s top pass catchers against the Jets. With little to no elite target competition, Dell will likely rank as a WR2 play this week. However, once Collins returns, fantasy managers should expect him to get back to dominating the target share for the Texans. QB C.J. Stroud obviously takes a hit without his reliable No. 2 in the passing game, though we saw Houston more than get things done last year with the two-headed monster of Collins and Dell before. However, with Joe Mixon just running wild this season, Houston very well may look to rely on the run game as long as they need to before returning Collins to the lineup.

• Panthers trade WR Diontae Johnson to Ravens amid rumors swirling over the past two weeks, injury situation

  • From a real life perspective, Diontae Johnson can’t be happier going from a lowly Panthers team at 1-7 to a 5-3 Ravens team in the thick of the playoff hunt. From a fantasy perspective, however, this move jumbles up not only Carolina’s WR room, but Baltimore’s, as well. Without Johnson as the primary target earner, veteran WR Adam Thielen is once again notched as the Panthers’ top receiver – and if it’s Bryce Young under quatrerback, that’s not a combination for success. WR Jalen Coker has also made somewhat of a name for himself in recent weeks and cold be worth a look as a late-week flier. As for the Ravens, Diontae Johnson likely loses his 27%+ target share upside and fits much more comfortably as a potential low-WR2 play / high-WR3. Zay Flowers, Baltimore’s target leader this season, takes a significant hit to his stock, while WR Rashod Bateman and TE Mark Andrews might not in be the best place anymore to be consistently relevant options from one week to the next moving forward. Given the Ravens’ tendency to run the ball and plenty of target competition, Rashod Bateman’s Cinderella run as a solid flex play is likely over. It may take a week or two, as we’ve seen in Amari Cooper’s case, for Johnson to pick up Baltimore’s offense, but he should settle in as a solid WR3 at the very least with the Ravens in short order.

_{Jakobi Meyers returns to lead in targets}

Meyers returns to a team-leading 24% target share. He now has four straight games of 24%+ target share, and in three total games without Davante Adams, he’s now out-targeted Brock Bowers in two of them. Bowers continues to be a must-start at TE, but Meyers’ ability earn targets and the lack of a quality offense can make this a more volatile situation for both players. Meyers is a high-end WR3 going forward after three Top-24 finishes in his last four games.

_{Aaron Jones is the next bell cow RB}

Despite hardly finishing as a RB2 on Thursday night, Jones 92% snap share was a career high. The fact that he also had 88% and 90% of the rushing attempt share each of the last two weeks is mostly unheard of in NFL backfields these days. 72% route participation is elite, but he only had 9% target share last week. We’ve seen 19%, 25% and 25% target shares for Jones earlier this season, and he could get back to that. He’s a Top-10 RB play every week even if the production hasn’t been there consistently.

Your obligatory Josh Downs post/mention

Downs had a huge day with 22.2 fantasy points, which led to a WR6 finish on the week. His long TD was a broken play, but he also had an incredible catch that was initially ruled a TD called down at the 1-yard line. He could’ve had an even bigger day if that held up (should’ve been a TD imo). As a Josh Downs truther, it should now be known that Downs is a baller. He’s now finished in the Top-16 in four of his last five games. Despite Anthony Richardson’s woes, he’s looking for Downs, as evidenced by his 30% target share on Sunday. And now, he gets Joe Flacco back under center for Week 9 with the Colts turning to the veteran over Richardson.