Hopkins is freed from Tennessee! ⛓️‍💥

The fantasy football trade deadline (and the real-life NFL trade deadline, too) is fast approaching! Make sure to check out our full list of buys and sells heading into Week 8, and make sure to listen to the full episode of the Upper Hand Fantasy Podcast for complete breakdown and analysis of our favorite picks!

• Chiefs trade a conditional fourth-round pick to Titans in exchange for veteran WR DeAndre Hopkins

  • Who doesn’t love a good 7 AM trade? Anyone who works in the sports news coverage space, that’s who! All gripes aside, DeAndre Hopkins has quite literally been rescued from his hopeless circumstances in Tennessee and has gone from providing quite literally zero value to fantasy teams to some value. At 32 years old and far from being the pinnacle of health and durability, it’s unlikely that Hopkins becomes an every-week starter in fantasy lineups even in his new home with Patrick Mahomes under center. However, with a thrice vacated WR1 role in the Chiefs offense available, Hopkins could step in and be as close to a target magnet as he’s been in any of the past few years of his career. With Hopkins landing in KC, it seems as though Andy Reid and the Chiefs aren’t ready to hand the keys to the Chiefs’ passing game over to Xavier Worthy just yet. As a result, his fantasy value likely remains in the boom/bust WR3/4 range, while Hopkins could have immediate appeal as a mid-to-low WR3 in a solid matchup against the Raiders this week. As for TE Travis Kelce, fantasy managers should continue to temper expectations as target-earning weapons continue to pop up in the Chiefs offense. He’ll be a low TE1 start this week, but it’s unlikely any pieces in Kansas City’s passing game become mainstays at the top of the fantasy rankings the rest of the way.

• 49ers WR Jauan Jennings (hip), TE George Kittle (foot) both miss practice Wednesday to open the week

  • The 49ers left their game last week incredibly banged up at receiver, losing WR Brandon Aiyuk to an ACL tear and Deebo Samuel shortly before game time do to an illness rumored to be pneumonia. Jauan Jennings also missed last week’s game with a hip injury, and has now missed the first 49ers practice of the week heading into San Fran’s Week 8 tilt against the Cowboys. With Aiyuk out for the rest of the season, no timetable for a return just yet for Deebo Samuel, and Jennings continuing to miss practices, there’s a chance that the 49ers could roll into this weekend with the likes of Ricky Pearsall, Ronnie Bell, and Jacob Cowing atop the WR depth chart. In that event, Pearsall could be started as a WR3 play with upside against a suspect Cowboys defense, while Bell and Cowing would be shots in the dark. George Kittle, who missed Wednesday’s practice with a foot injury, likely isn’t in danger of missing Sunday night’s game at this point. If he would miss today’s practice, fantasy managers would want to hit up the waiver wire to find a potential replacement in the event he were ultimately ruled out. With the receiving corps as banged up as it is, QB Brock Purdy receives a downgrade in fantasy this week, likely placing him among the mid-to-high-end QB2s of the week. If either Jennings or Samuel would play, they would be must starts as WR3 and WR2 plays, respectively.

• Panthers QB Andy Dalton involved in car crash Tuesday, set to miss Week 8 vs Broncos; QB Bryce Young set to start

  • Well, it’s official: send all of your Panthers players to the bench this week. Of course, the only two players generally in consideration for starting spots in fantasy lineups were Diontae Johnson and Chuba Hubbard, but with Andy Dalton being officially ruled out for Week 8, it’ll be Bryce Young under center once again for Carolina – and that means things are about to be painful to watch. Making matters worse: the Panthers’ Week 8 opponent happens to be the Broncos, who are fresh off a complete defensive domination of the Saints and rank as bottom 3 fantasy football matchups against quarterbacks and wide receivers when it comes to fantasy points allowed per game. Johnson has been dealing with a handful of injuries over the course of the first half of the season, and his production has tailed off in recent weeks relative to the two top-10 finishes he posted in Weeks 3 and 4 (the first two games with Andy Dalton under center). His name has also appeared in trade discussions this week, as we’ve learned, and a trade out of Carolina appears to be very much on the table. With no timeline for a return from Andy Dalton, Johnson’s stock has fallen dramatically – and it may very well require a change of scenery for Johnson to salvage what’s left of his fantasy value.

Q: How high are we buying Tyreek Hill? Tua is coming back, what would a good deal look like to you?

A: The hope is that you don’t have to buy Tyreek Hill high because you bought him two weeks ago when his price was much lower. The silver lining here though if you don’t already have him is that his price still isn’t as high as it’s about to be after this matchup against the Cardinals – they’re allowing the seventh most fantasy points to WRs this year. You can also play off of the whole ‘will Tua hit the ground running’ question, but the truth is the price is going to be high especially since whoever has him has probably itching to see him get back to his usual production with Tua. That being said, I’m treating him as a high-WR1 regardless, so your trade offer is going to have to be substantial. I’d try and package up a guy like Jayden Reed / Stefon Diggs with another player at a position of need for that team (preferably off your bench) and see if they bite. But for the most part, I’m not trying to move heaven and earth at this point to get him when I could have bought him lower a few weeks ago.

Q: How should Amari Cooper be viewed moving forward?

A: I think the best viewing experience is going to be on NFL RedZone while he’s scoring touchdowns this Sunday. All jokes aside, I’m viewing Amari Cooper as a very strong WR2 with WR1 upside moving forward. He was obviously limited in his first game with the Bills, but he earned a massive 42% target rate on those routes and finished as the PPR WR14 on a 34% route participation. Ridiculously good. I’m expecting his routes to jump up again this week and at the very latest, he should be up to speed and running a full route participation by Week 9. The number of weapons in Buffalo does give me a little bit of pause, but the Bills wouldn’t have brought in Cooper if any of them were getting the job done. If you held Amari Cooper or traded for him before he was traded last week, you’ll take this every day of the week over the shitshow he was part of in Cleveland. And if he was in your lineup as your WR3 or flex play, you just got a huge upgrade to your fantasy team with Cooper landing in Buffalo.

Q: Josephkamperman asks: Is it time to move on from Brian Thomas after his good game this past week?

A: He’s second on the team in targets per route run and target share to only Evan Engram, and he’s the PPR WR8 on the season even with the Jaguars scoring 20 or fewer points in five of seven games this season. He’s overcoming his situation and actually thriving – he’s been a top-10 WR in three of the past four weeks and has had either 85 yards or a touchdown in five of his seven games this season. The schedule moving forward isn’t bad, Trevor Lawrence is looking for him, he’s producing – I don’t see any reason to move on at this point unless you’re using him to upgrade to a high-end WR1. But considering Thomas was drafted in the 9th round as the WR47 off the board this offseason, I’d be content to just roll him out in my WR3/flex spot each week and let him keep putting up WR1 numbers for me.