A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith just got lucrative contract extensions in the offseason. In reality, Swole Batman and Skinny Batman give the Eagles the league's best 'dynamic duo' at wide receiver.
Brown is considered the No. 1 and Smith the No. 2, and that's the order they will still be taken early in 2024 fantasy football drafts. But who will be the better fantasy value pick? Let's break it down to help make the decision for you.
DOMINATE YOUR DRAFT: 2024 Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet
A.J. Brown's 2024 fantasy ranking, ADP
Brown, per Fantasy Pros consensus rankings, is the No. 6 wide receiver in half-point PPR. His average draft position is the same as a top-half WR1 in 12-team leagues. He finished as the WR11 in average scoring last season after finishing WR7 for Philadelphia in 2022.
DeVonta Smith's 2024 fantasy ranking, ADP
Smith is ranked as WR22 but has a lower ADP of WR24. Either way, that makes him a WR2 in 12-team leagues. Smith ended up as the WR21 in average scoring last season, dropping from WR16 in 2022.
2024 PPR RANKINGS
Top 250 Overall | QB | RB | WR | TE | DEF/ST | K
A.J. Brown's fantasy football outlook
Brown and Smith both had a dip in production as their quarterback Jalen Hurts and their passing game felt the effect of losing ace coordinator Shane Steichen. Hurts, also battling a knee injury and turnover issues, saw his yards per attempt drop from 8.0 to 7.2 as there was much less efficiency.
Kellen Moore's offense provides a big rebound opportunity. Hurts is used to taking a lot of sacks and hits, but that combined with his tough running in the red zone took its toll last season with a late slump.
Moore has focused on Hurts getting the ball out quickly and working the middle on slants. Brown is a great deep threat, but he also improved at being a high-volume intermediate target last season.
2024 POSITION TIERS & DRAFT STRATEGY:
QB | RB | TE | D/ST
Brown is likely to see a drop in downfield targets, but he can compensate by pushing back up his yards per reception and restoring his double-digit potential. Although he's at his best stretching the field outside, he has had a great training camp transitioning into a more versatile role. He's looking at 90 catches for 1,350 yards and 8 TDs as a reasonable floor, which would put him in the back third of WR1s. At the worst, he's a reliable top-10 WR,.
DeVonta Smith's fantasy football outlook
Smith has also had a great first camp with Moore. He's been used in the primary slot role that has led to 150-plus targets and 100-plus catches for CeeDee Lamb and Keenan Allen in the past two seasons of Moore's play-calling.
There's a good chance that Smith sets career highs in catches and yardage with something like 100 and 1,300. Given his scoring isn't projected to hit double-digits like Brown's, 6-8 TDs seems like his consistent range.
With that expected huge spike in inside usage, Smith will be schemed open often for big plays working off the attention Brown gets. There's a path to Smith also finishing as a WR1 with top-12 average scoring.
2024 FANTASY AUCTION VALUES (PPR & STANDARD)
Overall | QB | RB | WR | TE | DEF/ST | K
The Verdict: Which Eagles wide receiver is the best fantasy value draft pick?
There's not much room for Brown to improve upon his back-end first-round pick overall status, and he should finish right around where he's been. As for Smith, his own big-play ability will come through more in seeing a bump with high-leverage opportunities. Brown's returns should about match his lofty draft status. But Smith is better positioned to be that incredible draft value, from consensus WR2 to back-end WR1.
