The Philadelphia Eagles signed RB Rashaad Penny early this offseason with hopes he could help replace Miles Sanders. Can he finally put it all together for an entire season in 2023 and become a fantasy football asset?
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Rashaad Penny’s Fantasy Outlook for the 2023 NFL Season
The Eagles backfield has been one of the biggest questions throughout the NFL preseason.
The team let RB Miles Sanders leave via free agency this offseason and has held an open competition during training camp to help determine the pecking order vying for Sanders’ 279 total touches from last season.
When Penny signed a one-year deal earlier this offseason, many Penny truthers hoped this could finally be the season he could put it all together behind one of the best offensive lines and highest-scoring offenses in the league in 2023.
Unfortunately, Penny wasn’t the only talented RB the Eagles acquired this offseason. They traded for D’Andre Swift during the 2023 NFL Draft, which made projecting this backfield even more difficult.
Then throw in veteran options like Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott, and you have the recipe for a running back by committee.
Big week for the RB competition as it gets closer to cutdown day. Trey Sermon is back after dealing with an ankle injury pic.twitter.com/kcaUoUpbr3
— Chris Franklin (@cfranklinnews) August 22, 2023
Unfortunately, the backfield situation didn’t really get cleared up during training camp and preseason.
All four players have seen some carries and run time with the starters during camp, making this a tricky backfield to invest in on draft day.
Sanders finished last season as the RB15 in PPR formats, and this team scored an NFL-leading 32 rushing TDs. It is highly likely that this backfield will produce a top-25 fantasy option at the RB position, but the preseason has given us very few hints about which RB that will be.
Is Penny a Good Fantasy Pick?
You can make a case for almost any RB currently in the mix to be the leading man in this backfield.
Gainwell has the trust of the coaching staff and has seen the most carries with the starters during training camp.
Swift is objectively the most dynamic pass-catching RB of the group but has had durability issues.
And while the argument can certainly be made that Penny is the best pure ball carrier of this group — boasting a 5.7 yards-per-carry average over his career — his durability concerns are far lengthier and more concerning than Swift.
Here is a brief summary of Penny’s games missed during his NFL career:
- 2018: 2
- 2019: 6
- 2020: 13
- 2021: 7
- 2022: 12
MORE: Fantasy Football Preseason Takeaways
I have always loved Penny as a player, and I don’t enjoy citing injuries as a reason to avoid a talented athlete, but fantasy managers have never been able to trust him as a mainstay in their lineups.
At his current price, I’d much rather spend a mid-to-late round pick on Gainwell over the often-injured Penny.
- PFN Consensus: 117th overall
- ADP: 101st overall