These two teams have delivered plenty of fantasy football points this season and are looking to keep the good times rolling. The Philadelphia Eagles‘ fantasy preview takes a look at their struggling tight end, while the Los Angeles Rams‘ fantasy outlook centers around the receiver room.
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Philadelphia Eagles at Los Angeles Rams
- Spread: Eagles -4
- Total: 50.5
- Eagles implied points: 27.3
- Rams implied points: 23.3
Quarterbacks
Jalen Hurts: For the first time this season, Hurts through multiple touchdown passes in Week 4. He has completed at least two-thirds of his passes in three of four games and has carried the rock 40 times already. He is nothing short of an elite option, and with the Rams ranking 21st in points allowed per play, there’s no reason to expect anything but high-end production in this spot.
Matthew Stafford: Until we get word that Cooper Kupp is at full strength, it’ll take a perfect matchup for me to consider starting statue Stafford. This simply isn’t that. The Eagles are as good as any team in the league at generating pressure without blitzing, and they are a top-five time-of-possession team. Stafford is completing nearly 26 passes per game, but in this matchup, he’s safely outside of my top 15 at the position.
Running Backs
D’Andre Swift: The Swift that matters to us has been electric since taking control of this backfield, posting back-to-back-to-back top-15 finishes and holding a 45-27 snap edge over Kenneth Gainwell last week. This is no longer a committee, and with the Rams ranked 24th in yards per carry allowed, the good times should keep rolling.
Swift set a season-high with four receptions against the Commanders in Week 4, and if he can build on that success, he won’t just be a top-10 RB for me this week; he’ll hold that honor for the remainder of the season.
Kenneth Gainwell: Week 1’s explosion feels like forever ago, but Gainwell (six touches for 21 yards) is nothing more than an accent piece on this offense that doesn’t hold a fantasy-friendly role. It is worth noting that 70.4% of his Week 4 snaps saw him run a route (Swift: 44.4%), creating the hope that he can carve out a role that is viable in case of a PPR emergency, but that’s about the extent of his potential moving forward.
Kyren Williams: You’ll see some of the best players in the game fail to have three multi-TD games this season, something Williams has done before the leaves start changing colors. As productive as 127 yards and two scores are, I was more encouraged long-term by something that a casual box score watcher may not be aware of.
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Williams actually came off the field in Week 4 and retained the elite workload. That’s gold! His 72% snap share last week, if sustained, gives him a chance to retain low-end RB1 fantasy value for the entirety of the season.
He was playing north of 90% in the two weeks prior, and due to the violence of this game, that is simply difficult to do for 17 straight games. Williams is a top-15 RB for me this week and until otherwise noted.
Wide Receivers
A.J. Brown: Consecutive massive weeks after a sluggish start to 2023 for Brown, dismissing any thoughts that he had been supplanted as the WR1 in Philly. He’s averaging nearly 11 targets per game, and if that continues for the next three months, there won’t be five receivers that score more fantasy points. The dud games happen to almost everyone; use Brown as a reminder to not overreact when discussing an elite talent.
DeVonta Smith: Smith’s target count is on par with his career average, and a near repeat of last season (1,200 yards and seven touchdowns) is a good bet. His game-breaking speed has only resulted in one top-15 finish this season, but more are sure to come, and he should be valued as a strong WR2 every week.
Cooper Kupp: The All-Pro has returned to practice with the hope of returning sooner rather than later. Will he show rust when he returns? It’s very possible, but that’s not going to drop him outside of my top 20 at the position, and that means you are starting him the second he returns.
Obviously, this is a tough matchup, but my guess is that his floor and ceiling are both more appealing than those of the WR2/Flex options you currently have penciled in. If he plays, you’re playing him, and we can evaluate his health after his debut is made. Make sure to check out the PFN Fantasy YouTube channel on Sunday morning for the latest in terms of where he falls in the ranks.
Puka Nacua: The rookie is on pace for 166 catches this season, and his first career touchdown was a game-winner in overtime against the Colts last weekend. It’s hard to ask for a better first month of a season, though things are going to get complicated sooner than later.
Can he earn targets next to Kupp? At the moment, that’s an inexact science. Not only do we not know how Nacua will adjust, but we don’t have a firm grasp on the rehab of Kupp. We’ve seen half a dozen offenses boast a pair of viable receivers over the past year, and that could certainly be the case here.
If Kupp is active, Nacua will rank as a low-end WR2/high-end Flex for me. Should Kupp’s return be delayed, Nacua’s status as a top-15 receiver will live on for another week.
Tutu Atwell: I’m not confident that this offense can support a trio of pass catchers, and Atwell would be my odd man out in the return of Kupp (outside of my top 35). While holding the WR2 role, Atwell has a pair of top 15s, but he also has two weekly finishes outside of the top 30.
There’s risk in his profile with or without Kupp, making a target magnet like that a potential knockout blow for Atwell’s status as a weekly option.
Tight Ends
Dallas Goedert: If Hurts isn’t clicking on all levels as a passer, Goedert is nothing more than a streaming option. Per the Week 5 Cheat Sheet, he has been TE28 or worse in three of four weeks this season, and that’s just flat-out terrible. I’m treating him and Darren Waller in a similar vein: They are both struggling in a big way, and it’s concerning, but both are better than your replacement options.
I wish I could paint a more optimistic picture for you. The fact of the matter is that my confidence in Goedert (TE7) is more a product of the offense in which he plays than anything he has shown me through four games.
Tyler Higbee: Find me one person who has been satisfied with the returns of Higbee. Good luck. He has yet to score and is pacing for 64 catches. That really isn’t impressive, nor is it the type of projection you’d target.
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Would you believe me that he has been a top-12 TE in three of four games? That tells you all you need to know about the position. Targets coming off his plate by way of a Kupp return is concerning, but, in theory, this offense could be in scoring position slightly more often as well.
Higbee is my TE11 this week and a fine option who probably won’t kill you — that’s not a bad outlook at this position once you venture away from the elite.
Should You Start DeVonta Smith or Deebo Samuel?
I understand that it has been the AJ Brown show of late in Philadelphia, but Smith owns enough one-play upside to make him my pick over a receiver in Samuel, who I still worry about in terms of efficiency with Brock Purdy under center.
He is a special player with the ball in his hands, but he’s less than 100% healthy (ribs), and we’ve seen it over a nine-start sample now where Purdy just has a better connection with Brandon Aiyuk through the air.
That’s not to say I’m benching Samuel, but I do prefer the efficient targets of Smith over him this week.
Should You Start Puka Nacua or Courtland Sutton?
I have Sutton higher at the moment, with both checking in as low-end WR2s for me in Week 5. He has developed a nice connection with Russell Wilson as Jerry Jeudy gets up to speed, and if Sauce Gardner ends up on Jeudy more often than not this week, I believe Sutton’s success can continue.
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Nacua has been nothing short of special through the first month, but I want to see what Cooper Kupp being involved means to his role. If that doesn’t happen this week, these two will flip in my rankings due to the safe volume that comes with Nacua. But if Kupp is active and with Stafford at less than 100%, there is downside in his profile that we haven’t seen thus far.