Fantasy Football players will be heavily invested in the Philadelphia Eagles offense as drafts wrap up over Labor Day Weekend.
Jalen Hurts. A.J. Brown. DeVonta Smith. Saquon Barkley. Dallas Goedert. The Eagles have high-end talent at every major skill position, and you won’t be seeing names like Brown, Barkley or Hurts available past the first three rounds of fantasy drafts.
The Eagles have some nice sleeper candidates as well. Rookie Will Shipley enters Week 1 as the team’s third running back behind Kenneth Gainwell, but his skill set was almost handpicked for new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore’s offense. Shipley’s path to meaningful touches could begin to crystalize midway through the season.
Goedert is another interesting fantasy prospect. The tight end is typically featured in Moore’s scheme, thanks to an influx of motion and play-action, and a nagging oblique injury could slide the Eagles’ starting tight end into sleeper territory in drafts. He’s currently the No. 12 tight end off the board in PPR leagues.
Dan Graziano, Senior NFL national reporter for ESPN, sees major breakout potential for a player who should be gettable in the fourth or fifth round of 12-team fantasy drafts this weekend.
Graziano predicts Smith — not No. 1 receiver Brown — will lead the Eagles in receiving during the 2024 season. Here is Graziano’s take:
Smith looks amazing," or something to that effect, was what I was hearing whenever I talked to anyone about Eagles training camp over the past month. Remember that the Eagles extended Smith's contract this offseason before they extended Brown. That doesn't mean you should overlook Brown, as this should be one of the best wide receiver duos in the entire league and new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore is liable to move them and newly acquired Jahan Dotson around the formation to find mismatches. But Smith has elevated something about his game each season in the eyes of the Eagles, who drafted him 10th overall in 2021, and he could be poised for a massive breakout -- possibly even surpassing Brown as the team's No. 1 wideout.
Brown was definitely the go-to option for Hurts in 2023. He averaged 9.29 targets to Smith’s 7.0, and finished the season first on the Eagles in catches (106) and yards (1,456). Brown did, however, share the team lead with Smith in touchdown receptions (7), and Smith’s 81 receptions for 1,066 yards certainly leaves room for a 2024 breakout.
Fantasy players who miss out on Brown in Round 1 of drafts could find a potential gem later on in Smith, who’s seen 100-plus targets in each of his three NFL seasons and could be the ultimate X-factor in Moore’s offense thanks to his ability to line up anywhere.
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