The Philadelphia Eagles will face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 15. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Eagles skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 15 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Jalen Hurts, QB
Jalen Hurts might be the closest thing we have to inevitable in fantasy sports right now. He’s averaging 8.0 yards per pass and 10.2 fantasy points per game with his legs. His fantasy managers may not even realize that Dallas Goedert is banged up or that A.J. Brown is in the midst of some struggles.
The scary part here is that there might be more room to grow than there is to regress.
Saquon Barkley, RB
Saquon Barkley’s ineptitude from the one-yard line will go down as one of the great mysteries amid a season in which his name has been in the middle of the MVP discussion.
This season, carries from the 1-yard line:
Jalen Hurts: 13
Saquon Barkley: 3This season, failures from the 1-yard line:
Jalen Hurts: 3
Saquon Barkley: 3— Kyle Soppe (@KyleSoppePFN) December 8, 2024
But we are truly nitpicking at this point. Barkley has already set the Eagles’ record for rushing yards in a season and is showing no signs of fatigue (100+ rushing yards in seven of his past eight games with the lone exception being the result of a 28-point blowout over the Cowboys)
The Eagles are hyper-focused on not repeating last season, and that should play into your favor with Barkley’s work unlikely to be capped at any point during the fantasy postseason.
A.J. Brown, WR
What was that last weekend? Four targets on 26 routes against the Panthers?
A.J. Brown has seen his expected point total decline in three straight games, and while he is trending in the wrong direction, he’s one big play away from getting on track. He’s scored just once in his past seven games, but with a deep catch in every game this season and an end-zone look in the majority of his contests, I’d recommend simply riding this cold stretch out.
As is the case with Detroit’s skill position players, Philadelphia can be a victim of its own success. This team can and has won without Brown putting up video game numbers. You have to swallow some risk to get the reward — don’t overreact, things are going to be just fine. This could be a “get right” spot, with the Steelers having allowed a touchdown on 13 of 17 red-zone trips over the past five weeks.
DeVonta Smith, WR
DeVonta Smith scored in his return to action, his fifth touchdown of the season. The scoring has been encouraging, but his air yards per game are down 24% from a season ago, and in this run-oriented offense, the lowering of his per-target upside isn’t ideal.
I’m going to like Smith more in games that are projected to be tight than potential blowouts (Week 17 vs. Cowboys) because of what it means for the game script. I have him ranked in the same tier as Marvin Harrison Jr. and Darnell Mooney for Week 15.
Dallas Goedert, TE
Dallas Goedert has been placed on injured reserve with a knee injury, and while he plays an important role in a potent offense, there’s no reason to tie up a roster spot in holding out hope for a return when first eligible in Week 17.
We saw Goedert earn looks down the stretch of last season and score in the playoff loss to the Buccaneers. I’m not against looking in this direction for playoff-oriented fantasy drafts presuming he shows us health in the final two weeks of the regular season, but for standard fantasy leaguers who were counting on Philadelphia’s tight end … welcome to the land of the tight end streamers!
Grant Calcaterra, TE
Grant Calcaterra was on the field for 91.1% of Philadelphia’s offensive snaps against the Panthers last week, a role that should be his for the next three weeks at a minimum with Dallas Goedert on injured reserve.
He’s an efficient player (20 catches on 23 targets this season with a 6.3-yard aDOT) and that creates an avenue to production, but you need to be aware that this is a thin profile due to the nature of this offense.
The Eagles own the highest rush rate over expectation this year. And with both A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith healthy (52.6% combined target share in Week 14), the risk far outweighs the reward. If I’m chasing production on the waiver wire this week, give me Chig Okonkwo (vs. CIN) or Juwan Johnson (vs.WAS) – it’s not close.