The fantasy football community has a troubled relationship with Philadelphia Eagles RB D’Andre Swift.
On one hand, he is a highly efficient player that is a threat to find pay dirt every time he touches the ball. On the other hand, his usage rate and durability issues have prevented him from reaching his sky-high fantasy ceiling.
Can the 2023 season finally be the year where he finishes as a top-10 RB? Let’s take a closer look.
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The Peculiar Case of D’Andre Swift
Swift is easily one of the most polarizing fantasy football RBs in recent memory.
He’s never truly had a “terrible” fantasy season. In his first three years in the league, he has registered fantasy finishes of RB18, RB15, and RB21 in PPR formats, which is a proven RB2 floor.
Not bad, right? Well, when you look closer, you realize Swift could’ve been RB1, if not a league-winner, on multiple occasions.
We’ll start with the fact he’s missed at least three games each of his first three seasons, which has definitely played a factor in keeping him outside of the top 12 at the position.
Outside of his durability issues, it is even more frustrating that despite Swift having a career yard-per-carry average of 4.6, he has never led his own team in carries in any season.
In 2022, Swift saw a career-low 99 carries despite averaging a career-high 5.5 YPC, while Jamaal Williams saw 163 more carries on lower efficiency (4.1 YPC) but reaped the fantasy benefits of an absurd 17 rushing TDs.
If you gave 10 of those rushing TDs to Swift last season, he would’ve finished as the RB7 in PPR formats.
What Kind of Role Can We Expect for Swift in Philadelphia?
While the hesitation to believe in Swift becoming a fantasy star in any backfield is certainly valid, there aren’t many better situations for an RB to be in than in Philadelphia.
The Eagles’ offense was phenomenal in 2022. They finished ninth in passing yards, fifth in rushing yards, first in rushing TDs, and third in points scored.
Philly boasts one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, which helped produce 32 rushing scores.
Speaking of rushing TDs, 11 of those scores belonged to Miles Sanders, who is no longer with the team.
Sanders produced an RB15 fantasy season in PPR formats by rushing for 1,269 yards on 259 carries, leaving a huge workload behind for whoever is the lead RB in Philadelphia in 2023.
Currently, the RB group consists of Swift, Rashaad Penny, Kenneth Gainwell, Boston Scott, and Trey Sermon. One could certainly make an argument that Swift is the most talented back in this group.
Some would probably argue that Penny is just as talented, if not more so, because of his skill set and first-round NFL Draft capital.
The problem with Penny is the fact he has more durability issues than Swift throughout his career.
Over the last three seasons, Penny has failed to play 6+ games in a season on two occasions.
One thing Swift does have definitively over the rest of his backfield competition is a proven pass-catching floor.
Swift has never caught fewer than 46 passes in a season. No other RB in the backfield has caught more than 33 passes in a season — Penny has never caught 10 passes in a single year.
D’Andre Swift is smooth out of the backfield. pic.twitter.com/E1nbZhWiPg
— Dave Zangaro (@DZangaroNBCS) August 4, 2023
Of all the RBs currently on the roster, Swift appears to have the inside track to the pass-catching role, easily making him the best RB to invest in on draft day out of this backfield.
Could D’Andre Swift Be a Top-10 RB for Fantasy Football in 2023?
Allow me to paint a picture for you. If Swift maintains his pass-catching floor and sees an uptick in carries as the leading man in this backfield, which would put him somewhere between 200-225 total touches, a top-10 finish at the RB position is well within the range of outcomes.
You should also consider this possibility…
As I mentioned before, Sanders finished as the RB15 in PPR formats last year with 279 total touches. Swift finished as the RB21 with 132 fewer touches.
If Swift sees the same type of workload Sanders got last year in this very backfield, he has top-five potential at the position, which gives you league-winning type upside.
Of course, Swift has to stay on the field and fight off Penny, who is a very talented runner when he is healthy, in order to see the type of work Sanders got last year.
Even with Jalen Hurts vulturing double-digit TDs in this offense, if it all comes together for Swift this season, then he certainly has the potential to be a top-10 RB in 2023.