The Philadelphia Eagles will face the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding WR DeVonta Smith.
Is DeVonta Smith Playing vs. the Rams?
Smith was not listed on the injury report this week. Barring any last-minute setbacks, he is on track to play this weekend.
We’ll continue to monitor the Eagles’ 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 DeVonta Smith in the Divisional Round?
I like a lot of secondary receivers this weekend. I’m talking myself into John Metchie III in Houston, will be overexposed to Jameson Williams in Detroit, and think there are some interesting angles to take in the Ravens/Bills game.
DeVonta Smith isn’t on that list.
He is coming off his lowest target rate since Week 10 (fourth-lowest of the season) and wasn’t a focal point from the jump (one target on 15 first-half routes). I could overlook a low-usage game (though, six games without a single red-zone look are concerning), but I can’t shake the “How?” behind the low target count.
Last week against the Packers, Smith earned one look on 10 pressured Jalen Hurts dropbacks (three on 13 non-pressured dropbacks), struggles that very much line up with what we saw for four months during the regular season:
- When pressured: 11.8% target route
- When not: 30% target rate
The Rams are going to need to ugly this game up and create chaos. They entered their playoff opener against the Vikings with a similar desire, and it resulted in them creating pressure on 48% of Sam Darnold dropbacks, their highest rate of the season.
They’ve excelled at creating pressure when they decide to focus on that (their four highest-pressure games this season came against the Vikings and 49ers, matchups that they clearly identified as advantageous spots), and that is what I’m projecting to be the plan as a significant underdog.
It’s A.J. Brown or nothing for me through the air for the Eagles, but it’ll be more Saquon Barkley than anything.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Divisional Round Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
DeVonta Smith’s Fantasy Points Projection in the Divisional Round
As of Sunday, Smith is projected to score 9 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 3.2 receptions for 42.1 yards and 0.3 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 Commanders' Defense
The Commanders were a below-average defense for most of the season, which their final ranking reflects. Ultimately, Washington's performance was largely fairly consistent based on their level of competition.
The Commanders had five weekly top-10 finishes in the regular season. Those performances have come against the Browns, Panthers, Bears, Titans, and the Kenny Pickett-led Eagles. Setting Philadelphia aside, the other four all rank in the bottom 10 of PFN's Offense+ metric.
While Washington forced five turnovers in their Divisional Round upset over the Lions, they still only generated a 70.7 (C-) grade. The Commanders actually allowed a season-worst 7.7 yards per play, as the Lions moved the ball at will when they weren't throwing it away.
Still, Dan Quinn's unit deserves credit for causing some of those errors from Detroit's offense. Washington generated its fourth-highest non-blitz pressure rate of the season (43.2%), well above its regular-season rate of 33.6%. Three of Jared Goff's four turnovers came when pressured, illustrating the impact the pass rush had on the outcome.
The Commanders will face another difficult test in the NFC Championship Game against the Eagles' ground game, though Philadelphia's passing game struggles could make that a more palatable matchup. If this unit can continue to generate a couple splash plays, Daniels and the offense could do the rest.
For more insight on all other team defenses, head to our PFN Defense+ Metric Analysis.
DeVonta Smith’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 WR PPR Rankings
1) A.J. Brown | PHI (vs. WAS)
2) Terry McLaurin | WAS (at PHI)
3) DeVonta Smith | PHI (vs. WAS)
4) Khalil Shakir | BUF (at KC)
5) Xavier Worthy | KC (vs. BUF)
6) Hollywood Brown | KC (vs. BUF)
7) DeAndre Hopkins | KC (vs. BUF)
8) Keon Coleman | BUF (at KC)
9) Dyami Brown | WAS (at PHI)
10) Mack Hollins | BUF (at KC)
11) Amari Cooper | BUF (at KC)
12) Curtis Samuel | BUF (at KC)
13) Olamide Zaccheaus | WAS (at PHI)
14) JuJu Smith-Schuster | KC (vs. BUF)
15) Jahan Dotson | PHI (vs. WAS)
16) Jamison Crowder | WAS (at PHI)
17) Luke McCaffrey | WAS (at PHI)
18) Justin Watson | KC (vs. BUF)
19) Johnny Wilson | PHI (vs. WAS)
20) Parris Campbell | PHI (vs. WAS)
21) Nikko Remigio | KC (vs. BUF)
22) Ainias Smith | PHI (vs. WAS)
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.