Eagles Fantasy Football Preview: Week 9

The Philadelphia Eagles had the bye week to rest up and get healthy, but hopefully the most important development was that some of their offensive players actually wake up. Too many guys have underperformed in terms of fantasy value thus far. Here’s a fantasy preview for Eagles versus Cowboys, round two:

QB Sam Bradford

Week 7 Performance: 205 passing yards, 1 INT (6 fantasy points)
ESPN Week 9 Projection: 13 fantasy points

Bradford is really not a valuable player in terms of fantasy football this year. He has either still been rusty or just hasn’t been the god-like figure that many Eagles fans hoped he would be. The fact that his receivers are dropping passes all over the place hasn’t helped his situation either. Don’t sign Bradford, even in a tough situation, regardless of the opponent.

RB DeMarco Murray

Week 7 Performance: 18 carries, 65 rushing yards, 5 receiving yards (6 fantasy points)
ESPN Week 9 Projection: 11.4 fantasy points

Murray has gotten a ton more touches in the past three games, so that’s an obvious positive. The negative is that he’s still being outplayed by Ryan Mathews on most occasions. Whether he’s actually in danger of losing the starting job or if that’s just something that the media invented is unknown to me, but either way, the Eagles would be smart to balance it out a little more. Murray is still a good flex option, though.

RB Ryan Mathews

Week 7 Performance: 6 carries, 97 rushing yards, TD, 24 receiving yards (17 fantasy points)
ESPN Week 9 Projection: 5 fantasy points

Mathews had nearly 100 yards on the ground despite running the ball just six times against the Panthers. As I just mentioned, it’s possible that he’ll get more touches moving forward with how well he’s playing, meaning you should definitely scoop him up from the player pool if he’s for some reason still there. If you already own him, he’s a high risk, high reward flex option against the Cowboys, but the inconsistency of his touches prevents him from being a regular top 20 running back.

WR Jordan Matthews

Week 7 Performance: 3 catches, 14 receiving yards (1 fantasy point)
ESPN Week 9 Projection: 7.7 fantasy points

I’m running out of excuses for Matthews, but I’ll throw one more out there for why he struggled against the Panthers. Josh Norman is one of the top cornerbacks in the league and was doing well in coverage against the former Vanderbilt star. Matthews still had a pair of bad drops and is looking worse than at any point in his NFL career. It’s been since Week 2 since he’s recorded a touchdown or over five fantasy points. Dallas doesn’t have a spectacular cornerback crew, though, so he’s still a WR3.

WR Riley Cooper

Week 7 Performance: 0 catches, 0 receiving yards (0 fantasy points)
ESPN Week 9 Projection: 2.7 fantasy points

Week 7 was Cooper’s second week without a target and his third without a catch in just seven games. He’s had a couple good weeks due to a touchdown, but other than those two touchdown grabs he has just 100 receiving yards this year. There’s no point in owning any other Eagles wide receiver until the whole offense can get some consistency.

TE Zach Ertz

Week 7 Performance: 5 catches, 63 receiving yards (6 fantasy points)
ESPN Week 9 Projection: 6.5 fantasy points

It’s very difficult to pick who has been the most disappointing offensive player for the Eagles this year, but Ertz is definitely in the conversation. He’s still yet to score a touchdown despite being second on the team in both targets and receiving yards. He had a season-high 63 yards against the Panthers and has done well more recently, but five fantasy points a week isn’t going to cut it for most fantasy owners. He should not be owned unless you’ve been crippled by injuries at the position.

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K Caleb Sturgis

Week 7 Performance: 3/4 FG, 1/1 XP (11 fantasy points)
ESPN Week 9 Projection: 8.4 fantasy points

Sturgis has made the most out of his situation since being signed by the Eagles, other than his first week on the team (which was downright pitiful). He’s not going to light it up like some of the top kickers in the league, but he’s still been pretty solid over the last three games, averaging double digit fantasy points. If your kicker has a bye and you need someone, Sturgis is a good guy to consider.

Eagles D/ST

Week 7 Performance: 27 points allowed, 3 INTs, 1 sack (6 fantasy points)
ESPN Week 9 Projection: 6.7 fantasy points

The Eagles gave up 27 points last Sunday night and the defense still managed to walk away with six fantasy points thanks to their trio of interceptions on Cam Newton. It was the most amount of points they’ve allowed in a game all year, but the fact that they still escaped with a respectable fantasy day says a lot about their value. They were the fourth best defense going into this week and I expect them to hover around #4-8 for the rest of the year.

Next: Eagles still have strong chance of making playoffs

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