It’s already Week 11 of the NFL season, and trade deadlines are fast approaching. Time to get those lineups as stacked as possible, and it’s time to start cashing in on that depth you have on your bench. With the final round of bye weeks coming it will become almost useless to have high quality players just riding the pine of your fantasy roster. Why not put them to better use?

For instance, in the league where I’m performing the best, I have players such as Torrey Smith, Stevan Ridley, Marcel Reece and Golden Tate sitting the bench. Every once in a while I’ll flex one of them. I’m looking to bundle any combination of those players and a starter or two to bring in a higher quality player such as a Demaryius Thomas.

Of course it depends on the other owner and what his expectations are, but I hope to have Thomas in the lineup by the weekend. This would shore up my WR2 slot with a bit more consistency. This is a slot where I’ve had Dwayne Bowe all season, and he just scares me a little too much to leave him there for a championship push.

But that’s just one of the guys I’m targeting. Here are some of the others:

“Buy Low” Candidates

Quarterback Carson Palmer

If you were caught in the path of the quarterback concussion storm this week, you may be scrambling to find yourself another passer. Carson Palmer just may be your guy. If someone else has him, it’s likely Palmer is that team’s second option. I like Palmer for a lot of reasons. First of all, he is playing against the Saints this week. That alone should make him a target to acquire. Outside of that, he has a decent schedule coming that includes Cleveland and Kansas City. With Darren McFadden out, he will be passing, passing and passing.

Running Back Daniel Thomas

This is quite a “buy low”, but hear me out. His schedule is moderate over the upcoming weeks, but this week he will be playing against Buffalo. After that, Miami plays against Seattle, New England, San Francisco and Jacksonville. Very up and down matchups ahead. He has been taking over some of the primary duties from Reggie Bush and has been shown to be quite the pass catcher. Don’t expect too much from him, but he could be a nice addition to your flex spot in the days ahead regardless.

Running Back LeSean McCoy

The biggest hurdle in acquiring him at the appropriate value will be his big name alone. Other than that, McCoy so far has been a bit of a disappointment for being a consensus top-3 draft pick. I believe that with Vick going down, the best thing Philly can do for rookie Nick Foles is to simply have him feed the ball to Shady a whole lot more than they have. Hand offs and quick passes to McCoy will likely be a big part of the game plan going forward. And, of course, increased chances comes increased production.

Wide Receiver Reggie Wayne

The Reggie Wayne owner in your league may be getting disappointed with him since he only has one touchdown over the last 5 weeks. Other than that, he’s still catching 7 to 8 passes per game and tallying up 90-something yards receiving too. With his weak schedule coming up, I do believe the touchdowns will come.

“Sell High” Candidates

Running Back Adrian Peterson

He has been running out of his mind. So why sell him? One word: Schedule.

The rest of the way, “All Day” is going to see some of the league’s top defenses, including two meetings with the Bears within a three week span. He still may perform rather well, but I personally believe, at his current value, you could bring in a handful of quality players to shore up multiple positions on your roster.

Running Back Stevan Ridley

For me, it’s the matchups he has coming in the thick of fantasy playoffs that makes me want to sell him. In weeks 14 and 15, Ridley will be seeing Houston and San Francisco. I wish I could sell him closer to those weeks, but more than likely it’s far past your trade deadline. Use his next two weeks of appealing matchups to bring in someone with a much nicer schedule ahead in some of the most important weeks of the entire fake football season. Maybe even someone like … (swallowing my pride) … Chris Johnson, who in those very same weeks, will see the Jets and Colts. It all depends on how your team matches up with another for a trade.

Quarterback Robert Griffin III

He lit the fantasy world on fire earlier this year, but he’s since come back down to Earth. This could be a case where you could still sell high because of the name and what he has done this season. The fact is that in his last 4 weeks, he has gone up and down from below 200 yards passing to just over 200 yards passing. Defenses may be getting more of an idea of how to slow him down. I believe you could use him to secure any weaknesses left at wide receiver or running back.

And that does it for my Week 11 candidates. Maybe this is the last week you have a chance to trade, or maybe you have another week or two. Regardless, you should always be finding a way to improve.

Hit me up on twitter to see if my acquisition of Demaryius Thomas becomes successful and to ask me about any offers you guys are either sending or receiving.

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