Eagles Fantasy Football Preview: Week 14
Week 13’s crazy upset over the Patriots was a great one for the Philadelphia Eagles, but did the fantasy value of some of their players increase at all? Check out my analysis here:
QB Sam Bradford
Week 13 performance: 120 passing yards, 2 TDs (12 fantasy points)
ESPN Week 14 projection: 14 fantasy points
Bradford helped lead the Eagles to a victory over the New England Patriots, and yet he still only came away with 12 fantasy points. It was obviously the defense and special teams that helped them win the game, but the fact that Bradford still hasn’t produced to a level worthy of owning in fantasy is frustrating. He’s much better than Mark Sanchez, but continue to let him sit on the waiver wire.
Week 13 performance: 24 rushing yards (2 fantasy points)
ESPN Week 14 projection: 10.8 fantasy points
Nineteen of Murray’s yards were all on one carry, which gives you an understanding of just how ineffective he’s been. He has 11 fantasy points in the past three weeks combined. He also lost carries to the rest of the running backs on the Eagles roster against the Patriots. That was the first indication that he may be losing his spot in the rotation. He can’t be trusted in any starting lineup from now on, and if he loses his job, you might even want to consider cutting him.
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RB Ryan Mathews
Week 13 performance: DNP (0 fantasy points)
ESPN Week 14 projection: 4.1 fantasy points
Mathews missed his third straight game with a concussion on Sunday. I’m not sure why it took so long for him to go through the concussion protocol, but with how bad Murray has been and how effective Mathews has been, the Eagles must be itching to see him back on the field. He was limited in practice the past three days, so at least he’s been back on the field. He is still questionable for Sunday against the Bills.
Week 13 performance: 66 rushing yards, 34 receiving yards, punt return TD (15 fantasy points)
ESPN Week 14 projection: 5.4 fantasy points
Sproles was all over the field on Sunday, notching a season high in both carries (16) and rushing yards (66). He was the feature back from the beginning, earning a large percentage of the touches from the first drive and on. His situation will be interesting to monitor once Mathews returns, but until he does, he holds the most value of any Eagles running back. His ability to return punts for a touchdown once in a while gives him extra value.
Week 13 performance: 3 catches, 36 receiving yards, TD (9 fantasy points)
ESPN Week 14 projection: 8.2 fantasy points
Matthews had a solid fantasy day, but once again, a majority of the points came on his touchdown catch. The Eagles didn’t pass much, and actually weren’t even on offense much, in the win over the Patriots, so he didn’t have much chance to pile up targets. Either way, he’s continued his disappointing campaign. He’s a WR3.
TE Zach Ertz
Week 13 performance: 2 catches, 9 receiving yards, TD (6 fantasy points)
ESPN Week 14 projection: 6 fantasy points
Finally, Ertz scored a touchdown. However, he didn’t earn a single point due to receiving yards, actually totaling his lowest yardage output of the season at just nine. It was encouraging to see him targeted in the end zone for a touchdown, but his disappointing season has been even more painful than Matthews’ has. He still can’t be trusted as more than a TE2.
TE Brent Celek
Week 13 performance: 1 catch, 16 receiving yards (1 fantasy point)
ESPN Week 14 projection: 0.5 fantasy points
As expected, with the returns of both Bradford and Ertz, there was no chance that Celek was going to retain the value he had with Sanchez under center. He did actually have more receiving yards than Ertz did, but it was just one catch. He can safely be dropped.
Week 13 performance: 5/5 XP (5 fantasy points)
ESPN Week 14 projection: 7.9 fantasy points
Despite the Eagles’ 35 points, Sturgis didn’t attempt a single field goal in the game. I guess it’s good that he didn’t miss any extra points, but those are expected. He’s now had four straight games with six or fewer fantasy points, making it difficult to justify owning him in even 12-team leagues.
Eagles D/ST
Week 13 performance: 28 points allowed, 2 INTs, 3 TDs, 4 sacks, 1 blocked kick (24 fantasy points)
ESPN Week 14 projection: 8.2 fantasy points
The Eagles’ defense and special teams were the obvious MVPs of the game despite being projected fewer points than 30 other teams’ defenses in ESPN. They stuffed the stat sheet with all kinds of good plays, including an obvious season-high three touchdowns. They only had three touchdowns combined in the rest of the season, so this performance was huge for them. Can they keep it up? That’s tough to say, but I’m hopeful that they’re performances against the Buccaneers and Lions was just a rough patch.