Trade winds are blowing...

NFL trade deadline looms next week and the JSFL trade deadline follows three weeks later — who will be on the move? Even the Swami doesn't know for sure

Tirades RB2 Breece Hall might end up on a new NFL team soon if the Jets decide to cut bait.

We have reached the “Happy Halloween” edition of JSFL Today and yours truly is decked out in his best costume – I am pretending to be a good fantasy football manager.

Yeah, that will never work. As we prep for the calendar to flip to November on Saturday, we find ourselves with three absolute dogs dotting our slate of games. Only two – the Band Aids vs. Spread Beaters and the Recliners vs. the Rangers – have a betting line in single digits.

Drink heavily boys and enjoy the leftover candy, as we likely will not want to watch these games unfold. And, don’t forget to set those clocks back this Saturday night.

Two big trade deadlines are inching closer that we need to keep tabs on. The NFL trade deadline is looming at 1 p.m. PST Tuesday, Nov.r 4. Most of the trades inked so far have been for defensive help. The biggest questions circle around several offensive players.

Tirades RB Breece Hall has been rumored to be on the move. And how about WR Calvin Ridley? With QB Carson Wentz going down for the season, will the Minnesota Vikings trade for another veteran quarterback or hand over the keys to the offense to J.J. McCarthy? Will Trey Hendrickson be moved to a team looking for a pass rusher? (The 49ers? Yay! SF did deal for pass rusher – Keion White – on Tuesday night). Will WR Jakobi Meyers get moved? And will the Jacksonville Jaquars ship out WR Brian Thomas Jr. (Invaiders)?

The next big trade deadline is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as the JSFL teams gearing up for the playoffs have one last chance to land a big star heading into the money round. Three big, two-year keepers become free agents in the offseason if not traded before we dive into turkey, cranberries, gravy and pie. That trio are RB Bijan Robinson (Recliners), and WRs Justin Jefferson (Who Dey) and CeeDee Lamb (Invaiders).

Who is a Dark Horse?

While we have spent a lot of time talking (and writing) about the top five teams – the Packers, Spread Beaters, Recliners, the Gerbils and WTNE – in the first eight weeks of the season (and they are likely to advance to the money round), there are a couple of dark horse challengers lurking on the fringe of playoff contention.

I'm talking about surging Who Dey, winners of four straight, and the hapless Tirades.

For this discussion, we are looking at any team at or near .500 as the final weeks of the regular season unfold. Are either of these teams real contenders?

According to the ESPN Power Rankings, Who Dey is now ranking higher on the probability scale than the Tirades. But looking ahead, the schedule opens up for the Tirades as Ron, whether he likes to admit it or not, faces only two teams (the Packers and Gerbils) with winning records over the final 7 weeks.

Matty McCumber, on the other hand, has four teams left on his schedule with winning records (including the Packers twice).  But, if the last four weeks of production for Who Dey matters at all, it may not matter.

As fellow scribe and “fire sale” captain Ron pointed out Wednesday morning, Who Dey has been overperforming ESPN projections by a whopping 18 points, on average, over the past four weeks of this heater Matty currently is on. And, true to form, he comes into his Week 9 showdown with the Packers a double-digit underdog once more.

	Opponent, Result	Projected points	Actual points	Difference
Week 5	W, Rangers	68	84	+16
Week 6	W, Tirades	76	79	+  3
Week 7	W, Band Aids	77	102	+25
Week 8	W, Gerbils	78	106	+28
Week 9	Packers	71+	?	?

And, for those keeping track at home, we can pretty much put a fork in the postseason hopes of a trio of teams – the Band Aids, the Rangers and the Invaiders. Good luck fighting for that first pick in Las Vegas next season boys.

Week 9 Schedule

Four NFL teams – the Cleveland Browns, the New York Jets, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – are on bye this week. The Miami Dolphins host the Baltimore Ravens to start the Week 9 schedule Thursday night. The Seattle Seahawks travel to the nation’s capitol to take on the Washington Commanders on Sunday night, and the Arizona Cardinals close out the schedule by traveling to Dallas on Monday night.

Game of the Week

WTNE (5-3) vs. Gerbils (5-3), Gerbils favored by 25: The game of the week on the schedule in Week 9 is the battle between two 5-3 teams hanging right on the edge of playoff contention. The Gerbils currently hold the fourth seed in the playoff roulette and Jordan Garcia’s WTNE is right on Chuck Nelson’s heels. The winner of this game likely has the edge as the countdown continues. Jordan still has some waiver-wire work to do to figure out who will be starting at RB2 with Quinshon Judkins of Cleveland on a bye. Jordan likely will have to part ways with injured Joe Mixon as his only other current active RB on the roster is Saquon Barkley (also on a bye this week). The RB possibilities currently are not enticing. That leaves Chuck’s Gerbils with positional advantages at nearly every spot – QB Patrick Mahomes, both RBs in Jahmyr Gibbs and Jaylen Warren, WR 1 Davante Adams, flex WR Michael Pittman Jr. and the Detroit Lions defense. Swami says take the Gerbils and 10.

Best of the Rest

Packers (6-2) vs. Who Dey (4-4), Packers favored by 38: Matty’s four-game win streak likely comes to end this week but it has been exciting to see the rally Who Dey has mustered after a frustrating 0-4 start. Based on the overperformance in the last month (an average of 18 points, see table of statistics above), this scenario puts Matty back within 20 points of the margin for getting whupped. Unless Matty can find some more magic in this lineup, the Packers are favored at every position across the board. The first step for Matty is finding a tight end to sub for Tampa’s Cade Otton (he is not playing this week, and Matty’s backup, Harold Fanin Jr., is on a similar bye). The reason this game is in the featured position is the long-awaited return Thursday of Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson. And, what a return it might be against the struggling (until last week) Miami defense. Jeff also gets the edge at both RBs (De’Von Achane Thursday and Christian McCaffrey, yay 9ers!!), both WRs (George Pickens and Travis Hunter), tight end Sam LaPorta, flex (RB James Cook III), the Colts defense and kicker Brandon Aubrey. Swami says take the Pack and 15.

Recliners (5-3) vs. Rangers (2-6), Recliners favored by 3: With the waiver wire grab by John of Tyrone Tracy Jr. (projected for 11 points in his replacement of injured RB Cam Scattaboo), this one moved from a potential blowout to now a single-digit coin flip. The Rangers come in with positional advantages at QB with Josh Allen, both RBs (Josh Jacobs and Kimani Vidal) and Tracy at flex. The Recliners are favored at both WRs (DK Metcalf and Jaylen Waddle), tight end Trey McBride and the Rams defense. Not mentioned was RB Bijan Robinson who had an absolute stinker last week against Miami. We expect one of the best backs in the league to bounce back and with a vengeance. Swami says take the Recliners and 3.

Band Aids (1-7) vs. Spread Beaters (6-2), Beaters favored by 6: The only other tight game projected on the schedule is this one as Matt Pringle’s team comes in with positional advantages at four of the nine starting spots. Pringle gets the edge at QB with Jaxon Dart, RB2 D’Andre Swift, WR1 Amon-Ra St. Brown and tight end George Kittle. Bob Garcia gets a positional edge at RB1 with a resurging Derrick Henry. The other four starting spots are all toss ‘em picks. It would be poetic justice for King Henry to roll once more and delay the postseason party being planned by the Spread Beaters. The Swami believes the Spread Beaters will find a way to eke out a 1-point win.

Dog of the Week

Tirades (3-5) vs. Invaiders (3-5), Tirades favored by 13: Not even mom and dad would want to watch this one. I certainly don’t, and I don’t think Ron wants to watch it either. But, someone has to. And we are here to bring you the magic and pageantry of this crap fest. The Tirades, happy to unload their stars, are still favored at nearly every position in this one. They get the edge at QB with Danny Dimes, both RBs (Jonathan Taylor and newly acquired Kareem Hunt), WR1 (Ja’Marr Chase), the Jacksonville Jaguars defense and kicker Harrison Butker. The key to this one will be which team underperforms (sucks) most. Swami says avert your eyes and take the Tirades and 10.