The Washington Commanders will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Wild Card Weekend. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding RB Brian Robinson Jr.
Is Brian Robinson Jr. Playing vs. the Buccaneers?
Robinson is not listed on the injury report this week, so barring any setbacks, he is on track to play this weekend.
We’ll continue to monitor the Commanders’ injury report. You can also visit and bookmark our NFL Injury Tracker and Fantasy News Tracker for the latest updates.
Should You Start or Sit Brian Robinson Jr. on Wild Card Weekend?
Brian Robinson Jr. is a fine player, but he’s nothing more than a leverage play this week. He managed just 40 yards on 12 carries in Week 1 as a part of this matchup, and that was without defenses having to allocate the attention to Jayden Daniels they now prioritize.
The problem for me with Robinson is the regression of his passing-game number. Last season, he turned 218 routes into 43 targets (19.7% rate). That growth was great to see, but with 25 targets on 185 routes this year (13.5% rate), we can’t count on much help should the game script work away from the ground game.
The contrarian side of this would be you taking a pro-Washington angle. The Commanders jumped out early in Week 13 against the Titans, and their running backs finished with 35 carries for 229 yards and a pair of scores. I don’t think that’s a likely outcome, but neither do most people, and that would allow you to gain on your competition.
If you do go in this direction, I’d suggest doubling down. If Washington goes up early and controls things, you’re going to want correlated exposure. There are two ways to do this, and I think you can build two lineups to cover both bases — you either embrace the volume that this puts on the Bucs’ passing game and stack Baker Mayfield or you embrace the Tampa Bay dropback count by rostering Washington’s defense.
This is certainly a 4D chess way of approaching the slate this week, but if winning were easy, everyone would do it, right?
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Wild Card Weekend Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Brian Robinson Jr.’s Fantasy Points Projection on Wild Card Weekend
As of Sunday, Robinson is projected to score 12.3 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 16.1 rushing attempts for 64.6 yards and 0.4 touchdowns. It also includes 0.9 receptions for 20.3 yards and 0.1 touchdowns.
Check out the free PFN Fantasy Start-Sit Optimizer for the latest projections and advice for your lineups this week.
PFN Insight on the Eagles' Defense
With Jalen Hurts MIA for the second straight week, the Philadelphia Eagles held on against the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round thanks to the disruptive playmaking of their defense.
Philly generated its fourth-highest sack rate in 2024 thanks to an uncharacteristically blitz-heavy game plan. The Eagles blitzed 22% of Matthew Stafford's dropbacks, their fifth-highest rate all season. It worked spectacularly, as they generated two sacks and five pressures when blitzing the Rams, along with a 46% pressure rate.
There isn't a single statistical flaw in Philadelphia's defense, which ranks top 10 in every metric that encompasses the Defense+ grades (except for sack rate, where they're 15th). That makes them favorites to win the NFC Championship Game, even with how spectacular Jayden Daniels has been as the presumptive Offensive Rookie of the Year.
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
Brian Robinson Jr.’s Fantasy Ranking
Our Weekly Consensus PPR Rankings are below — both positional and overall. They were last updated at 11:45 PM ET on Saturday, January 25.
Conference Championship RB PPR Rankings
1) Saquon Barkley | PHI (vs. WAS)
2) James Cook | BUF (at KC)
3) Brian Robinson Jr. | WAS (at PHI)
4) Isiah Pacheco | KC (vs. BUF)
5) Kareem Hunt | KC (vs. BUF)
6) Austin Ekeler | WAS (at PHI)
7) Ray Davis | BUF (at KC)
8) Ty Johnson | BUF (at KC)
9) Samaje Perine | KC (vs. BUF)
10) Kenneth Gainwell | PHI (vs. WAS)
11) Jeremy McNichols | WAS (at PHI)
12) Will Shipley | PHI (vs. WAS)
13) Carson Steele | KC (vs. BUF)
14) Reggie Gilliam | BUF (at KC)
15) Chris Rodriguez Jr. | WAS (at PHI)
Commanders at Eagles Trends and Insights
Washington Commanders
Team: The Commanders won 23.5% of their games last season – the fourth-worst win percentage for a team that took part in a Conference Championship the following season.
QB: Jayden Daniels became the first player in NFL history with 15 rushes and 20 completions in a postseason game where he averaged 9.5 yards per pass.
QB: Daniels became the first player in NFL history with two touchdowns and 12 rush attempts without an interception in consecutive games.
Offense: Including the playoffs, there have been 15 instances in which a team starting a rookie QB score 34 points this season – the Commanders have accounted for seven of them.
Defense: How impactful has the offense been in Washington? They’ve now allowed over 2.5 points per drive nine times this season – they’ve won seven of those contests. It should be noted that their six worst point-per-drive defensive showings have all come on the road.
Fantasy: Brian Robinson ran for 77 yards and two scores on 15 carries against the Lions on Saturday night. In his previous four games, he ran for 110 yards and zero scores on 38 carries.
Betting: Do you think we'll see points in this game? Washington has covered each of the past four games that have gone over the total.
Philadelphia Eagles
Team: The Eagles lost two games in September and have lost one game since (at Washington, Week 16). In that loss, Philadelphia became the first team to score 21 points in the first quarter in a losing effort since the 2019 Texans (Divisional Round at Chiefs).
QB: Jalen Hurts is averaging 6.3 yards per pass in the postseason, down from 8.0 during the regular season.
Offense: Saquon Barkley has more rushing yards in touchdowns against the Rams this season (282) than any other player has for the season as a whole.
Defense: The Eagles have forced a turnover in 11 of their past 13 games (this coming on a streak of three turnover-less games in Weeks 6-8), including multiple in four of their past five games.
Fantasy: Hurts’ 44-yard TD on Sunday was the fourth longest by a QB inthe postseason, and he has now run for 29+ yards in 11 straight games (T-9th longest streak by a QB, the second longest streak of his career)
Betting: Since Week 10, overs are 2-0 when the Eagles play the Rams and 2-7 when Philadelphia plays any other team.