D’Andre Swift had one of his worst games of the year against the San Francisco 49ers, but that wasn’t the biggest issue for him in that game. He was forced to leave the Philadelphia Eagles’ loss to the San Francisco 49ers after taking a big hit. Is it time for fantasy football managers to consider starting Kenneth Gainwell?
Here’s the fantasy outlook for each player heading into a huge Week 14 game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Should You Start D’Andre Swift in Fantasy This Week?
Look, make no mistake about it — this season, Swift has already been a steal when it comes to fantasy football. He is still top-five in the NFL in rushing yards with 783, which is by far the best season he has had as a pro. Even though he had a bad game against the 49ers, he had averaged 78 yards on six yards per carry in the previous two games.
While there have been many positives for Swift this year, there still have been some struggles.
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One of the biggest issues is that Swift isn’t getting the ball quite like he was early in the season. In Weeks 2-9, he averaged nearly 17 carries and 76 rushing yards per game. However, in the last three games, he has carried the ball only 32 times. This isn’t a great sign as he is going up against a Dallas Cowboys team that shut him down earlier in the season.
These two teams met in Week 9, and Swift finished the game with 18 carries for 43 yards. The amount of carries was a good sign, as it is the second most carries he has had in a game this year. Only in his 28-carry, 175-yard performance in Week 2 did he see the ball more.
Dallas does rank outside the top 10 in rushing defense (12th), allowing 106.0 rush yards per game. But in the Week 9 matchup, they held the Eagles to just 3.3 yards a carry.
Right now, Swift is still the guy for the Eagles who will receive the bulk of the carries.
Should You Start Kenneth Gainwell in Fantasy This Week?
While Swift hasn’t seen the ball as much recently, it isn’t like his carries are going to Gainwell. The former Memphis Tiger has a combined 10 carries over his last five games, totaling 50 rushing yards.
If there was one thing that stood out from Gainwell last week, it was that he got 39 snaps on Sunday against the 49ers. In terms of snaps, it was the most time Gainwell has spent on the field since Week 1, and he was the starter to start the year.
Like Swift, Gainwell is also a solid receiver. He had five catches for a season-high 42 receiving last week.
The Eagles are 10-2 on the season, but Sunday’s game is huge when it comes to the playoffs. With a loss, Philadelphia could be looking at potentially being the No. 5 seed. With that in mind, it would be hard to imagine the Eagles changing up their backfield too much.
The PFN Start/Sit Optimizer and our Consensus Rankings say that Swift is the player to start. His projected 11.8 points include 29 rushing yards, three receptions, and 27 receiving yards. Swift’s projected stat line outperforms the consensus projection of Gainwell (6.2 points).
Swift is still the guy for the Eagles, but it is closer now than it has been in a while.
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