The 2023-24 NFL season is coming up and for many fans that means it’s time to draft fantasy teams.
Who are some of this year’s Philadelphia Eagles fans may want to add to their squads?
WR DeVonta Smith
It’s well known around the league that AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith form an incredible duo for the Eagles. It’s pretty undisputed at this point.
Last year, both players put up over 1,000 yards, made more than 85 receptions and recorded at least seven touchdowns.
But Smith is entering just his third season in the league with more improvements coming. While Brown might have lead in touchdowns and yards last season, it was Smith that lead in receptions (boosting his value in PPR leagues).
The yards will likely still favor Brown, but the touchdowns are no sure thing, Plus Smith made more catches on less targets. While AJ Brown has been going as a top-20 player in many leagues, Smith has been dropping to around the 35 range.
For a similar player that is likely to be pretty close, Smith presents a good value target in the earlier rounds of the draft.
TE Dallas Goedert
The tight end position can be a tough one in fantasy. It seems like many times there’s Kelce and then a pack of players pretty well below him.
Sometimes there are players that challenge his value each week, however, and Goedert provides that. He may have recorded only 55 receptions (702 yards and three touchdowns), but he missed over a quarter of the season as a result of a personal foul. The uncalled facemask penalty cost him five games. Over a full season, his numbers would have put him on pace for 78 receptions (great PPR value) as well as nearly 1,000 yards.
It seems many fantasy players have forgotten this fact and not only does Goedert join the typical second wave of draftees around pick 25 (Kittle and Andrews), but he often isn’t even in the third wave. In the top 50, other selections include Hockenson and Pitts.
Goedert is being drafted around pick 60 on average – making him the sixth target off the board in many cases. If you don’t get Kelce, he could be a target that you wait out a bit and prioritize some other positions before getting him closer to the fifth to eighth round (depending upon league size).
He’s a player that appears to be well undervalued in many drafts.
RB Rashaad Penny
The Eagles are going to be a running back by committee, so that automatically hurts the running back on the roster. That said, some are under-rated options.
The biggest if of who could be the lead back of the bunch is, of course, health. Both D’Andre Swift and Rasheed Penny have dealt with injury issues several times in their short careers.
The odd thing about that is how high Swift has been getting drafted. Many times, he has been going in the top 50. Meanwhile, Penny is around for several more round, often not selected until around the 80th pick.
Between all the injuries it may be easy to forget, but Penny has been the most efficient back in the league when healthy. And that’s in Seattle, who does not have a top offensive line. There’s not better place for Penny to build his value and try to stay healthy. The Eagles offensive line will provide him the best safety available for that. They should also be able to clear the way for him to be even more effective.
Penny may be an injury concern, but when he falls this low its worth picking him up. He may have an injury pull him out of the starting lineup for a few weeks, but as long as he’s healthy there probably won’t be a more effective back out of one of the team’s top offenses.
RB Kenneth Gainwell
Gainwell is not going to be a primary running back and shouldn’t be targeted high. He will be one of only two backs returning to the committee, however. He may be the only returning player to be expected to get many snaps at the position if everyone is healthy.
The third-year back has value as a late-round stash, however. As mentioned above, both Swift and Penny have long injury histories. If one or especially both go down, Gainwell will see far more snaps than he’s seen in either of his first two seasons in the league. In the event both go down, he will be an extremely hot commodity as he’s likely to see a ton of carries.
Even without that, however, Gainwell could provide more value in the offense if the quick-out options are implemented. Gainwell has been the team’s primary pass catcher out of the backfield for two seasons. He had 23 and 33 receptions over those seasons. That number will likely rise if the team is looking more to quick outs to get rhythm as has been discussed. Plus, he’s expected to get more playing time either way.
He may have only averaged around 400 yards and five touchdowns in previous seasons, but his role is expected to increase and he could well wind up spending time as the team’s lead back. If either or both of those things happen, he’ll be a hot commodity and someone worth having stashed in a bench spot in the later rounds.
K Jake Elliott
The Eagles offense can put up points – and a lot of them.
Their ability to finish may put a bit of a limit on Elliott’s value since he’ll likely be kicking more extra points than field goals. That said, he’s been one of the most consistent kickers in the sport and he’s likely to get more opportunities at extra kicks than most other kickers.
The explosiveness of the offense makes Elliott a safer pick, so it’s not likely he will go undrafted, but for a manager who waits until the end to pick their kicker he’s an option to watch. Managers that go after their kicker early will be focused on guys like Kyle Tucker and may even opt to go for someone like Robbie Gould on the notion that San Francisco may put up a bunch of points but not finish as many drives.
That will often leave Elliott as a safe pick to get points each week in the later rounds of drafts.
