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Player Outlooks (2024)
QB Jalen Hurts: A “down” year for Hurts still saw him finish as the No. 3 overall fantasy scorer and overall QB2 in 2023, and he did it while dealing with a knee injury and amidst team turmoil with a second-half collapse that resulted in a revamping of the offensive coaching staff with Kellen Moore coming in to run things under head coach Nick Sirianni. If there is one thing we know about Moore from his time in Dallas and Los Angeles, it’s that he won’t hesitate to throw the ball, and Philadelphia has a dominant duo at wide receiver with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith (both given huge extensions this offseason), a star tight end in Dallas Goedert, and an offensive line that remains one of the league’s best despite the retirement of Jason Kelce. Look for Hurts to again be a high-end QB1 that remains a cheat code thanks to the Brotherly Shove.
QB Kenny Pickett: Pickett should be mentioned as a former first-round pick entering his third season, and the potential of Jalen Hurts—who will play through injury but is at increased risk due to his play style—going down puts him on the radar. Again, Philly won’t hesitate to throw under Kellen Moore, and Pickett flashed plenty of talent across two seasons with Pittsburgh to give him at least QB2 appeal throwing to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
RB Saquon Barkley: Barkley is one of several candidates to be the overall RB2, and his case is easy to make after he signed a three-year, $37.75-million deal in the offseason to join a stacked Philadelphia offense. Perhaps the star power at wide receiver—with A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith both capable of taking over a game—and a couple of talented backups to keep Barkley fresh will prevent him from hitting his full statistical upside in a new city; but it’s basically the exact opposite situation compared to what he had with the Giants, and it’s easy to picture Saquon ripping off signature chunk gains with more frequency as an Eagle. Durability is the wild card, but Saquon’s upside makes him worth taking in the top five.
RB Kenneth Gainwell: Summer hype for Gainwell last year didn’t pan out as the Eagles implemented D’Andre Swift as the lead back, and now he faces competition in the form of rookie Will Shipley for the No. 2 role behind Saquon Barkley. In the event of an injury, Gainwell would certainly see an increase in snaps, but don’t be surprised if Shipley were the lead back.
RB Wil Shipley: We were very high on Shipley coming out of Clemson, and he compares to Kareem Hunt with the ability to do damage not only as a runner, but also on screen passes and swings into the flats. So while a committee is to be expected if Saquon Barkley misses time, Shipley is already a top handcuff based on his talent behind Philly’s offensive line.
WR A.J. Brown: The wheels eventually came off the tracks for the entire Philadelphia team last year, so it’s easy to forget just how unstoppable Brown was from the end of September through the end of October—going for an NFL-record six consecutive games with 125+ receiving yards. Things were more uneven the rest of the way, but Brown has gone for lines of 88/1,496/11 and 106/1,456/7 in two seasons with the Eagles, and he signed a three-year, $96-million extension this offseason. There might be some lesser weeks due to the pure talent for Philly, but Brown is almost a lock to finish as an upside WR1 if healthy.
WR DeVonta Smith: Before extending A.J. Brown this offseason, the Eagles agreed to a three-year, $75-million extension with Smith to lock up what we believe is the NFL’s best wide receiver duo, and the former Heisman winner is in position to take his numbers to another level with the pass-happy Kellen Moore now orchestrating the offense. Again, Philadelphia as a team struggled to close out 2023, but Smith was red hot in the middle of the season—recording lines of 7/99/1, 3/51/1, 6/99, 7/106/1, and 6/96/1 from Week 8 through Week 13 (with a bye mixed in). The expectation in the new offense is that Smith will get a lot of work in the slot where Keenan Allen just had a career-best 95.6 receiving yards per game under Moore with the Chargers.
WR Parris Campbell: The spring retirement of DeVante Parker really opens the door for Campbell to emerge as the clear No. 3 wideout for Philadelphia, which is a role that should at least get him on the field for significant snaps. The number of targets is another question for a top-heavy attack, but Campbell has 4.31 speed and caught 63 passes just a couple of seasons ago.
WR John Ross: Ross is another veteran addition that came out of retirement to sign with the Eagles, and he apparently shined in OTAs and seems determined. The former No. 9 overall pick is a tremendous match with Jalen Hurts’ deep ball, so he’ll be a name to watch for desperate owners seeking upside in deeper leagues.
WR Ainias Smith: A fifth-round pick out of Texas A&M, Smith is an exciting player with the ball in his hands, and he’s an interesting fit with the Eagles because they already have a top punt returner in Britain Covey. From an offensive perspective, perhaps Smith will impress enough in preseason action to earn snaps at the expense of Parris Campbell.
WR Johnny Wilson: Wilson is sort of a tweener between wide receiver and tight end, but he was a wideout at Florida State, and that’s what the Eagles drafted him as. The six-foot-seven weapon saw his roster chances increase following DeVante Parker’s retirement, but we would have liked to see more physicality and better touchdown production with eight scores in four college seasons.
WR Britain Covey: As stated, Covey is one of the league’s top returners, so we would think his roster spot is safe despite the added depth; and because of the new additions, it’s more unlikely that Covey—after four catches in 2023—suddenly sees an uptick in offensive snaps.
TE Dallas Goedert: We believe the drop in production for Goedert last season—even with the second-most targets of his career (83)—can be chalked up to the dysfunction that detailed Philadelphia’s season, but is there room on the runway for him to be more than a low-end TE1 on an offense with Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, and DeVonta Smith? Although Goedert could easily get back to the 10.6 yards per target he averaged across Jalen Hurts’ first two years as the full-time starter, he turns 30 before the end of the season and relies on efficiency more than others at the position. With durability also being a concern, Goedert should be viewed as a low-end TE1 with the position getting stronger towards the top.
TE C.J. Uzomah: Things didn’t pan out for Uzomah in New York as he totaled 29 receptions for 290 yards and three scores across 27 games with the Jets, and now he’s firmly a complementary backup with the Eagles. There would be some appeal as a streamer if Dallas Goedert went down, but the offense would probably just lean more on their stars rather than putting an emphasis on Uzomah.
Other Notes
Best IDP value: LB Nakobe Dean
All the Georgia guys in the front seven—Dean, Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, and Nolan Smith Jr.—are worth investing in, and Devin White is another undervalued linebacker for Philadelphia. We’re going with Dean here, though, as he could be the leader of a transformed defense that expects to get back to being one of the NFL’s top units, and he’s been all over the place when on the field, including a 13-tackle performance in his last full game before going down in 2023.
Stat to know (via draft guide)
Miles Sanders had a per-17-game average of 1,387 total yards in four seasons with the Eagles, and D’Andre Swift had a per-17-game average of 1,342 total yards last year in Philadelphia; Saquon Barkley has a per-17-game average of 1,679 total yards in his career.