Fantasy football team preview: Philadelphia Eagles

Things continue to take shape for the Eagles after several offseason additions in free agency. Doug Pederson returns for his second season at the helm in Philly. Pederson brought the West Coast offense back to the Eagles after they spent three years in Chip Kelly’s system. A disciple of Andy Reid, Pederson ran a balanced approach last season that sat almost dead on the league average run/pass ratio. Despite playing at a somewhat slow pace, the Eagles surprisingly averaged the second-most snaps per game last season. Expect this number to regress, especially if the Eagles continue to average over 25 seconds per snap.

Quarterback

Carson Wentz enters his second professional season on the heels of a rookie campaign where he showed flashes of potential at times, but also exhibited many of the struggles of a first-year signal-caller. Wentz got off to a hot start to his pro career, tying for 12th among quarterbacks in fantasy scoring over his first four games. He cooled from there to finish 24th at the position for the season. Wentz attempted 607 passes – which is an extremely high number for a rookie – and completed a respectable 62.4 percent. With a full offseason under his belt and an upgraded set of weapons, Wentz is a strong candidate to take a step forward in Year 2. Consider him a QB2 option with upside.

Running back

The Eagles’ backfield was a bit of a mess last season. To help add some stability, Philadelphia signed LeGarrette Blount, who is coming off a massive 18 touchdowns on 299 carries last year. On paper, leaving the defending Super Bowl champion would seem like a downgrade for Blount. But he enters an ideal situation with essentially no competition for carries and gets to play behind one of the strongest offensive lines in the league. The Eagles ranked 14th in yards before contact per attempt last season, but that was with Lane Johnson suspended for most of the season. With Johnson on the field, the Eagles offensive line figures to create ample space before contact for Blount. Fantasy drafters should consider Blount an RB2 in standard scoring and an RB3 in PPR formats due to his minimal usage in the pass game.

Darren Sproles remains the Eagles’ primary passing-down back. The veteran runner enters his age-34 season, but remains surprisingly spry. Last year, he topped 60 targets for the seventh straight season and finished 24th among running backs in PPR scoring. That’s his fifth top-24 finish in the last seven years. The main problem with Sproles from a fantasy standpoint is his overall low weekly ceiling, with just four top-20 weeks last year. He’s a somewhat safe RB3 option in PPR, but those looking for upside may want to consider other options.

In addition to Blount and Sproles, the Eagles also have second-year man Wendell Smallwood and all-time FBS rushing leader Donnel Pumphrey. The rookie Pumphrey appears to have an early edge on Smallwood, but fantasy drafters should keep in mind that he’s extremely undersized and unlikely to see a significant enough workload to provide viable fantasy production in the short-term.

Wide receiver

With one of last year’s least impressive wide receiver groups, the Eagles had their work to do in the offseason. They addressed the position with the free agent signings of Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith. Jeffery was arguably the top free agent in this year’s class. He comes to Philadelphia after spending his first five seasons in Chicago. The big knock on him is durability with 11 missed games over the last two seasons. However, he’s also flashed serious fantasy potential with top-10 finishes in 2013 and 2014. Over the last four years, Jeffery has averaged 8.7 targets per game, which puts him close to “target monster” status. Provided he stays healthy, Jeffery is a good bet to lead the Eagles in targets and is worthy of WR2 consideration in all fantasy formats.

With Jeffery now in house, Jordan Matthews figures to assume the No. 2 duties and will serve as the Eagles’ primary slot receiver in three-wide sets. After finishing as a WR2 in each of his first two NFL seasons, Matthews took a step back last year and finished 44th among wideouts in PPR scoring. A major factor in his decline was the inevitable touchdown regression. He found the end zone just three times after scoring eight times in each of his first two years. Matthews saw 109 targets last year, and that number should take a hit with Jeffery on the field. He’s best viewed as a WR4/flex option.

Smith spent the last two years in fantasy purgatory, but enters 2017 still south of 30 years old. Prior to his stint in San Francisco, he was a top-30 fantasy option in all four seasons with the Ravens. He adds a field-stretching presence the Eagles have lacked over the last few seasons. As the likely No. 3 option, he isn’t likely to see enough volume for consistent fantasy production, but those who dabble in DFS will want to keep Smith in the mix as a tournament punt play. He’s a good bet for the occasional big fantasy week, though it will be very tough to predict when that week will come.

Tight end

Without looking, where did Zach Ertz finish in fantasy scoring among tight ends in PPR scoring last season? Do you have your guess? Ready for the answer? Sixth. That’s right, the fifth-year man has been a top-10 fantasy option in each of the last two seasons, yet the drafting public is letting him slip well into the late rounds of drafts. Of course, having more weapons in the passing game won’t mean more work for Ertz, but he’s also unlikely to be much less involved either. Ertz topped 800 yards in each of the last two seasons, but a lack of touchdown productivity ultimately capped his fantasy value. A slight uptick in that department this season could end up making Ertz a huge value this year. He’s worthy of strong consideration for those who prefer to wait at tight end.

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