• Ja’Lynn Polk doesn’t start: For the second straight week, Polk was the backup Z wide receiver behind K.J. Osborn.
• DeMario Douglas only played in the slot: Douglas was often playing in 12 personnel last season despite his size, but that doesn’t look like it will be the case this season under a new coaching staff.
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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
PFF's fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2024.
Philadelphia Eagles @ New England Patriots
Concerns for the top Patriots wide receivers: Both DeMario Douglas and Ja’Lynn Polk had concerning usage in this game.
The Patriots started the game with K.J. Osborn and Tyquan Thornton on the outside and DeMario Douglas in the slot. Douglas played in 10 of the Patriots’ first 15 snaps after missing last week’s game due to injury, but he only played in three-receiver sets. Considering four different wide receivers played in 12 personnel on those first three drives, that’s a good indication they don’t plan on playing Douglas much in 12 personnel this season.
In the eight games where Douglas played in at least 50% of his team's offensive snaps last season, Douglas played 98% of 11 personnel snaps and 63% of 12 personnel snaps. Typically, 5-foot-8 wide receivers don’t play much in 12 personnel, so we can expect a noteworthy reduction in Douglas' snaps this season.
For the second straight game, first-round rookie Ja’Lynn Polk was K.J. Osborn's backup at Z receiver. There was speculation Osborn would be the X receiver, but that appears to be Tyquan Thornton, Jalen Reagor, or potentially even Kendrick Bourne. Polk only played two snaps with the starters on the Patriots' third drive before staying in with the backups on the fourth drive.
It is also interesting that in 11 personnel with the backups, he continues to play in the slot. Ideally, he would play almost exclusively at the Z receiver spot to give him the best chance to take Osborn’s job. The best-case scenario for fantasy managers is Polk starting at Z receiver while Douglas plays all of the snaps in 11 personnel, but we might also have a worst-case scenario where Polk doesn’t start and is taking away snaps from both Osborn and Douglas for part of the season.
Rhamondre Stevenson leads the Patriots backfield: He and Antonio Gibson played, but it’s hard to read much into the rotation.
Stevenson played all three snaps on the first drive and the first five snaps on the second drive, where he ran four times. Gibson took over for the rest of the drive. On the third drive, Stevenson played the first two snaps and Gibson played on third-and-seven.
It’s possible the Patriots weren’t using any kind of rotation by situation and just took Stevenson out after too many snaps. There was only one play of third-and-long and Gibson was on the field, but the Patriots weren’t consistently in third-and-long enough to read into that one play. Gibson continued to play one drive with the backups before the Patriots went further down the depth chart.
We may continue to see this as a two-thirds Stevenson, one-third Gibson split, but it’s also possible Gibson will play in more clear passing situations.
Kenneth Gainwell remains the backup running back: Gainwell played every snap for the Eagles on the first two drives.
Gainwell played 10 snaps, running three times for eight yards while receiving four targets that led to three receptions and 10 yards. Fourth-round rookie Will Shipley took over on the third drive. This is the same rotation the Eagles used last week.
The Eagles have consistently rotated running backs by drive rather than by situation throughout this preseason and in previous years. This means if Saquon Barkley were to get hurt, this doesn’t indicate how snaps would be distributed between Gainwell and Shipley, just that Gainwell is ahead on the depth chart.
It’s also possible Shipley surpasses Gainwell at some point in time, but for now, Gainwell is the handcuff, and his spot on the Eagles roster appears secure.
Miscellaneous Notes
- Patriots wide receiver Kendrick Bourne remains on the physically unable-to-perform list.
- Lead tight end Hunter Henry also missed his second-straight preseason game due to injury, but he should be fine for the regular season.
- The Eagles generally played starters on defense but rested them on offense, including starting quarterback Jalen Hurts, running back Saquon Barkley, wide receivers A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Parris Campbell, and tight end Dallas Goedert.
- Sixth-round rookie wide receiver Johnny Wilson is currently fourth on the depth chart but is currently in concussion protocol.
- Tight ends Grant Calcaterra and Albert Okwuegbunam Jr. are both dealing with injuries and didn’t play in this game. Calcaterra is Goedert's handcuff while Okwuegbunam and C.J. Uzomah are competing for the primary run block job.
- Second-year receiver Joseph Ngata was seventh on the depth chart. He played his first snaps early in the first quarter last week. Converted tight end Jacob Harris didn’t play until the middle of the second quarter. This week, Harris started over Ngata. Neither may make the 53-man roster, but at least one will probably make the practice squad.
Table Notes
- Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
- Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
- Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.
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