Fantasy football trade advice, Week 14: Buy-low, sell-high running back trade candidates

Congratulations, you made the playoffs, but are you ready? This is the final week to make moves that can turn your playoff berth into a championship. So which running backs should owners have their eye on to make a playoff run? There are some backups rushers poised to breakout late sitting on waivers. Also, some starters are coming off great Week 13 performances that can be leveraged for a good deal. Here are the final running backs to buy and sell in Week 14.

Gillislee is enjoying the benefit of being in a run-heavy offense. In Week 13, he rushed eight times for 49 yards and two touchdowns. Both touchdowns were goal-line runs, 1 yard and 3 yards, respectively. Gillislee now has four touchdowns in his last four games.

The third-year back is cleaning up for LeSean McCoy really well. He has six touchdowns so far this season, three more than his career total coming into this season. With the Bills trusting Gillislee in goal-line scenarios more, his scoring potential will steadily rise. Gillislee is a waiver grab that could be very beneficial the last two weeks of fantasy playoffs.

Current standard fantasy average: 7.6 points

Yahoo! fantasy ownership: 23 percent

Next four games: PIT, CLE, MIA, at NYJ

Rodgers took over the Bucs’ running duties midseason and crushed it before he was sidelined with injuries. Now healthy, he is back with the potential to once again take over the rushing duties in Tampa. In Week 13 he rushed seven times for 29 yards and caught one pass for 21 yards in the Bucs’ win. It was not an overly impressive performance, but he was on the field in scoring situations ahead of Doug Martin and was the primary ball carrier the final three drives of the game after Martin left the game with an apparent back issue.

The Bucs running rotation is wide open, putting Rodgers in the ideal spot to have another surge to end the season. Owners looking to shore up the running back position should grab Rodgers now. If Martin is indeed out, Rodgers has a ton of upside facing New Orleans twice to end the season.

Current standard fantasy average: 3.8 points

Yahoo! fantasy ownership: 20 percent

Next four games: NO, at DAL, at NO, CAR

This was a good week for Blount, but the numbers do not tell the full story: 55 of the seven-year veteran’s 88 rushing yards came on three rushes on the first drive. The highlight of that drive was Blount’s 43-yard touchdown run. For the remainder of the game, the Patriots relied on the short passing game and Blount was held to 33 yards.

The Patriots electing to abandon the run is a prelude of what could come for Blount. The Patriots face the top two rushing defenses in the league and have a tough road trip to Denver over the next three weeks. Week 13 could be Blount’s peak, owners should sell him now while he has some stock to deal.

Current standard fantasy average: 14.5 points

Yahoo! fantasy ownership: 97 percent

Next four games: BAL, at DEN, NYJ, at MIA

Rawls did a lot of damage early, but was a ghost in the second half. The second-year back rushed for all but three of his 106 yards and two touchdowns the first half of the win over Carolina. Rawls looked very impressive before heading to the locker room to be checked out for a concussion. He was cleared and only missed a few series, but it Rawls did not return to do much after.

Rawls’ huge performance in Week 13 looks promising, but there are some obstacles still ahead. The Seahawks head to the Frozen Tundra next week and snowy Green Bay is a much more difficult place to play. Seattle wraps their season against division rivals Los Angeles and Arizona. Owners should leverage this big performance from Rawls now and sell him at his peak.

Current standard fantasy average: 4.8 points

Yahoo! fantasy ownership: 86 percent

Next four games: at GB, LA, ARZ, at SF