THREE FORMER UTAH ATHLETES YOU NEED TO TRADE FOR IN FANTASY FOOTBALL

Fantasy football is in a unique stratosphere. It falls in line with religion and politics, as most everyone you know is involved and has some affiliation, but it may be best if you just avoid the topic altogether.

Some people are too passionate, some are too clueless, unfortunately either way, that doesn’t stop people from blabbering on about it.

Some could spend hours on end showing you a week-by-week breakdown of how they lost because of the Jaguars kicker, or how they won because of some scrub they picked off the fantasy waiver wire.

No one will ever admit they just follow the trends of who’s getting picked up and who’s getting dropped or that they spent 15 minutes digesting an article on what player is on the rise.

Rarely is one’s genius in fantasy football due to themselves, but individuals will never miss a chance to make it seem that way.

Even if you’re not smart, fantasy football can still make you appear that way if you know the right moves to make. Take it from me, a seasoned fantasy football veteran with a championship and a winning record over 7 years.

See how I just made myself seem more impressive than I actually am? Its easy. If you want to do it too, here are three players from the beehive state you can trade for to impress your friends.

1. JORDAN LOVE

If you’re like me, chances are high you don’t waste valuable draft capital on multiple quarterbacks. You find one guy you like and pick up some nerd off the waiver wire when your dude has his bye week. It’s a foolproof plan really. Get a good QB, use other picks on intriguing receivers and running backs.

That is, until your main quarterback suffers a season ending injury like Aaron Rodgers or Anthony Richardson, and your foolproof plan becomes foolish. If you need a QB, chances are your buddy who’s rostering Jordan Love isn’t playing him and he may be had on the cheap. Love is a far cry from a top quarterback in the NFL, but he’s serviceable in fantasy football, especially for someone who has switched between Baker Mayfield and Derek Carr within a two-week span.

The former Utah State signal caller looks like this six week's into the season:

16^th overall Quarterback

23.8 Points on average

A season high of 31 points in week 1 at Chicago

A season low of 9 points in week 5 at Las Vegas

8 Touchdowns thrown, 2 rushing

6 Interceptions

It isn’t the sexiest stat line in the world, but Love has only gotten less than 20 points one time up to this point. That’s more than can be said for Lamar Jackson. It’s the same number of games with less than 20 points as Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes.

He wont ever have the big 40 plus point games that those guys rip off, his boom ability is low, but his consistency could be key especially if you’re working the waiver wire for quarterback scraps.

2. ZACK MOSS

Very touchy subject here in regards to the former Ute and his situation in Indianapolis. Two weeks ago, anyone who had stored Zack Moss was looking like a genius. That’s a little tougher to determine at this point.

Anyone familiar with fantasy football knows that a genius move one week is a bummer move the next. Injury, depth chart struggles, matchups, nothing is constant in this world. So, when Colts star running back, Jonathan Taylor announced he would be returning in Week 5, those with Moss on the roster had to feel disappointed.

It’s been two weeks since, and Moss is still providing value if you haven’t benched him due to fear of the inevitable. If you caved to the pressure of Taylor, like me, then you missed his 49-point game the week Taylor was set to return vs Tennessee.

Even last week, when Moss and Taylor got the same number of touches, Moss still had the value with an 11-point showing. All signs seem to point towards Moss still being heavily involved in the Colts offense.

If you can get your fantasy comrades to worry about Moss being tossed out in favor of Taylor, you might be able to pry him away pretty easily.

Remember, just because Moss is technically now the 2^nd running back on the Colts depth chart, his fantasy values don’t reflect it:

4^th Overall Running Back

21.8 Average Points

Season High of 49 points Vs Tennessee

Season low of 9 VS Los Angeles Rams  

4 Rushing Touchdowns, 1 receiving

 576 total purpose yards

3. PUKA NACUA

The prior two names were guys you might be able to pry away with a bit of creativity. Puka Nacua is not that guy. His emergence is well documented and in order to get him, you may have to part with a nice piece yourself.

Maybe, just maybe, you can point out that Puka suffered his worst game from a fantasy standpoint just last week with a measly two, and that Cooper Kupp returning spells doom for Nacua managers. Good luck with that. Its worth a try.

Puka still had 7 targets in that win over Arizona, 2^nd on the team. He should be just fine. Don’t mention it to your friend though.

The BYU Cougar currently sits with these totals:

10^th Overall Wide Receiver

14 Average Points

A season high of 27 points in Indianapolis

A season low of 2 VS Arizona

2 Receiving Touchdowns

598 Receiving Yards

Remember the beauty of fantasy football. You can talk yourself into anybody at any time. If you want any of these guys, go make it happen. If you don’t, take a swing and a miss elsewhere, your destined to lose regardless.

Above all, remember to have fun and blame your loss on something other than your ability to properly manage.