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This article continues our team outlook series, where we breakdown each NFL team from a fantasy football perspective. We will cover the major changes on each team in the offseason and project what the team will do in the upcoming season.
This edition of our team outlook series will focus on the Philadelphia Eagles, a team that's had a great deal of turnover at various personnel and coaching positions.
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Offseason Moves
Offseason Acquisitions: QB Carson Wentz, QB Chase Daniel, WR Dorial Green-Beckham, WR Rueben Randle, RB Wendell Smallwood
Offseason Departures: RB DeMarco Murray, WR Riley Cooper
Quarterback
After some unnecessary drama, the Philadelphia Eagles will once again turn to Sam Bradford as their starting quarterback heading into 2016. The drama came when the Eagles traded up to select Carson Wentz with the number two pick in the NFL draft. At first it seemed like Philly was going to just throw Wentz into the fire as a rookie and pay Bradford to hold a clipboard but now they remain intent on letting their star rookie sit for a year. It's a wise decision for someone who didn't play at the absolute top level in college. That being said, that doesn't necessarily mean Bradford is great news for fantasy owners. He's also not terrible news either, though.
Amazingly, Bradford had his best statistical season under head coach Chip Kelly last year. Even in missing two games, Bradford totaled 3,725 yards, the most of his career, with 19 touchdowns, his second highest total to date. I think most people set the bar way too high for Bradford in a "Chip Kelly system" while also overlooking his stat line. Technically speaking, he did kind of improve under Kelly and he did so while missing two games. Having only played a full 16 game slate twice in his career, being just two touchdowns short of a career best in two fewer games is noteworthy.
The departure of Chip Kelly shouldn't really affect Bradford one way or the other as his health is an exponentially greater concern than his on the field play. Similar to several other team's QB situations, (Denver, Houston, Washington) all you need to worry about is whether or not Bradford is good enough to get the ball to his playmakers for as long as he's on the field. My answer to that is most definitely a yes. You don't want to roster Bradford in any capacity just don't be scared off of Philadelphia's other players because the QB isn't great. Bradford is fine and I'm confident Carson Wentz can fill in in the event Bradford goes down.
Running Backs
With DeMarco Murray off to cause headaches in Tennessee, Ryan Mathews presumably has a gig all to himself. The knock on Mathews has always been his propensity to end up shattering his collarbone or injuring whatever other part of his body he feels like hurting. He's a talented back who could have great value on the border of the fifth/sixth round in fantasy drafts. If all goes well (and by well I mean his body doesn't explode like a crash test dummy) Mathews could be a useful RB2. Scoring one of those in the middle rounds is how you make the fantasy playoffs so don't be afraid to grab Mathews, even if it seems like his ADP is a little high. Besides, I would sure hope that by the time you're even considering a guy like Mathews the rest of your roster has been locked up with studs and enough safety to warrant taking a risk.
The only backs that could spoil Mathews' return to a clear-cut starter are Kenjon Barner and rookie Wendell Smallwood. This is a team that rotated both DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews last year but a new coaching staff could easily mean that they stick to one guy. I would like to think that for Mathews sake, they do limit his workload and let both Barner and Smallwood get a crack at some carries. That'll reserve Mathews' health and in turn, keep his fantasy relevance afloat.
I was originally calling this handcuff situation a done deal and handing the backup gig over to the rookie Smallwood. Instead, Smallwood has been sidelined with a quad injury, allowing for Barner to step up into the number two role. Barner should be the clear backup to Mathews once the season opens but don't be surprised if Smallwood takes over once his health improves mid-season.
Wide Receivers
Jordan Matthews is currently nursing a bone bruise in his knee but that's not the type of injury that'll threaten his availability for week one. For the most part, a bone bruise is more about pain tolerance so it's wise for the Eagles to let him rest in the pre-season. There's a misconception that Matthews was bad last year and although he wasn't exactly stellar, he was definitely useful. Matthews had four games of at least 100 yards, finished the year with eight touchdowns, and was three yards short of a 1,000 yard season. Throw in a a strong stretch to end 2015 where he racked up a six of his scores and two of his 100+ yard showings and you're looking at a receiver who could have easily gotten a fantasy playoff team over the hump toward a championship.
Looking at the upcoming season, Matthews should be viewed as a WR3/flex play with decent upside. He isn't going to vault up into the high-end WR2 tier but he can definitely produce on a weekly basis. Throw in a reasonable ADP as a seventh rounder and you've got yourself a nice fantasy piece that gives you some depth at wideout.
The addition of Dorial Green-Beckham from the Titans is very odd. They decided to give up on DGB which could either be a Titans problem or a player problem. The truth is, we won't really know what the deal is with Green-Beckham until he takes the field in Philadelphia. Ultimately, it's going to come down to him and Nelson Agholor for the number two receiver spot in Philly. Judging by the reports that Rueben Randle is out of shape and not putting enough effort into acclimating to his new team, I don't think he's going to be a factor in this offense at all. In fact, the reports that he's in danger of missing the team are definitely a valid concern.
As it currently stands, Jordan Matthews is the only Eagles receiver worth owning.
Tight End
Third year tight end was a reception machine in Philly last year, ending the season with 112 grabs for 853 yards. Sadly, his touchdowns were extremely limited to just two on the year. Still, it's hard to overlook how strongly he finished in 2015. The yardages in Ertz's last four games looked like this: 98, 78 with a touchdown, 122, and 152 yards. Similar to Jordan Matthews, Ertz turned it on during the fantasy playoffs which is a good omen for 2016. He's a solid late round TE for those of us who like to wait on the position and the beauty of that strategy is that should he struggle early, you can just drop him and scoop up whoever is hot off the waiver wire.
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