The Philadelphia Eagles will face the Washington Commanders in Week 16. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Eagles and Commanders skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 16 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Jayden Daniels, QB
Jayden Daniels has 10 top 12 finishes this season and his ability to maximize the high-leverage spots is what has my eye.
Over his past four games, Daniels is 11 of 13 with seven touchdowns when throwing inside the red zone. His athleticism and instincts can result in big plays, but if he’ s consistently dominating these situations with his ability to make quick/accurate reads, we are talking about a true week winner.
Daniels leads the league with six games this season with at least 30 pass and seven rush attempts. I suspect we’ll see plenty of him out in space in this spot against an Eagles defense that is second best at limiting WR YAC.
Jalen Hurts, QB
The Eagles opened last season with a 10-1 run, in which they averaged 2.53 points per drive and scored a touchdown on 29.4% of drives. During their current 10-game win streak, they are putting 2.60 points on the board per drive (31.2% TD rate).
In short, this team is in elite form — this time at the right time.
Jalen Hurts completed 22 of 26 passes from within the pocket last Sunday (84.6%, his best mark since going 18 of 20 against the Falcons in Week 2), a development that makes him close to unstoppable (13+ rushing scores in three straight seasons).
I’m not reading too much into Hurts’ underwhelming first game against the Commanders. That was a short rest spot where they ran the ball 40 times. I’m looking for another 25-30 passes and 8-12 rush attempts, a profile that nearly locks Hurts into top-10 production and gives him access to another top-five week at the office.
Saquon Barkley, RB
No one is complaining, but after consecutive games with both a 30+ yard rush and catch, Saquon Barkley doesn’t have a run gaining more than 25 yards or a catch picking up more than five in three straight.
Rumors were swirling last week that the MVP candidate was banged up, but Barkley refused to address the situation. There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of injury risk, but this is a player who hasn’t completed a full regular season since 2018, so make sure to keep tabs on this situation as this week progresses.
Kenneth Gainwell and Will Shipley are both worthwhile additions, with the threat of an injury at least on the radar, though the two would likely cannibalize one another should Barkley sit.
The star tailback piled up 198 scrimmage yards in the first meeting with Washington (the worst defense in the league in terms of yards allowed per contact), and as things stand right now, you’re locking him into your lineup — if we get an ownership discount, he makes for a very interesting pay up to be different RB in the DFS streets.
Brian Robinson Jr., RB
Sunday was the ninth time this season Philadelphia didn’t allow its opponent to pick up more than 30% of its third downs. I’ve got my concerns about Washington’s ability to extend drives and thus maximize the value of its RB1, but that, at some level, is nitpicking.
I’m starting Brian Robinson Jr. wherever I have him. His nine top-25 finishes this season are a strong mark on his résumé, and I liked that I saw some creativity in this offense a week ago. Early on, they schemed up something of a sprint screen to get him in space.
The pass was technically thrown backward, so you don’t get a point for the reception while the play-by-play summary just flags it as a 20-yard run, but the thought that went into just one play was encouraging.
The Eagles own the fourth-lowest TD rate to running backs, and that removes Robinson from my DFS player pool, but in re-draft situations, I’m calling his number.
A.J. Brown, WR
A first-quarter touchdown?
A touchdown dance with Jalen Hurts?
After a week full of speculation, A.J. Brown seemed pretty happy with the passing game that he criticized (8-110-1 against the Steelers). He was clearly the focal point of this game plan (six targets on Hurts’ first 10 throws); while some of that might be a squeaky-wheel situation, I don’t think it’s a bad idea to feature a borderline unguardable physical specimen.
When all was said and done, the Eagles were ultra-impressive in their 27-13 win over the Steelers, and I don’t think it’s a mistake that they took down one of the league’s best defenses by funneling 74.2% of their targets to their two top receivers.
Saquon Barkley was banged up during this game, and that certainly changed the composition of this offense to a degree, but I saw enough to consider both receivers in Philly as viable options with Brown (32% target share in the Week 11 meeting with the Commanders) returning to WR1 status.
Noah Brown, WR
We knew that there was a rib injury to track with Noah Brown, but news emerged late last week that this situation turned into a lacerated kidney, a development that landed him on injured reserve.
Our search for a WR2 next to Terry McLaurin forges on – Brown is done for the regular season and that means he can safely be dropped in all redraft formats for any warm body.
Terry McLaurin, WR
Last week, Terry McLaurin became the first Washington receiver with a double-digit touchdown season since Gary Clark (1991), and he added a second score for good measure. That gives McLaurin three multi-score efforts this season — the first three such games by a Commanders receiver this millennium.
McLaurin has been even better than you want to give him credit for. I understand if looking at his career stats send regression chills down your spine, but I’d encourage you to fight that reflex. Sure, he has two more touchdown catches this season on 92 targets than he had on 252 over the two seasons prior, but all the math changed with a new coaching staff and rookie QB.
When the facts change, we change. That should be a life lesson, but, at the very least, something that you follow for fantasy.
Tyreek Hill, Justin Jefferson, Davante Adams, Mike Evans, and Stefon Diggs. Those were the only players to join McLaurin on the list of players with 1,000 receiving yards in every season from 2020-23. Without any context, that’s an impressive list, but when you consider Washington’s team passing ranks over that stretch, McLaurin’s production feels like a minor miracle.
- 26th in touchdown rate
- 28th in yards per attempt
- 28th in passer rating
- 29th in yards per completion
You’re playing McLaurin this week. He’s earned the “matchup proof” tag at this point (miss me with the “he only earned two targets on 29 routes in the first meeting” narrative). Enjoy the ride now — McLaurin will be considerably more expensive this August than last.
DeVonta Smith, WR
Good offenses produce; great ones adapt.
DeVonta Smith is coming off his best game of the season (11-109-1 against the Steelers), and while the production is nice, I find the consistent role change as interesting as anything,
- Week 9 vs. Jaguars: 16.0 aDOT
- Week 10 at Cowboys: 13.3 aDOT
- Week 11 vs. Commanders: 8.2 aDOT
- Week 14 vs. Panthers: 6.8 aDOT
- Week 15 vs. Steelers: 5.5 aDOT
Sometimes we see a player fill a very different role for a week here or a matchup there, but this certainly seems like a conscious decision made by this coaching staff. Smith wasn’t good the first time these teams met (30.9% production under expectation), but if you believe that this team is working to introduce this new route structure, there’s reason to be optimistic.
While Jayden Reed, Deebo Samuel Sr., and DK Metcalf are seeing production trending away from them, Smith’s trajectory is more promising; that is why I’d play him over all of those receivers.
Grant Calcaterra TE
The idea behind handcuffing a running back is that, at that position, the secondary option often picks up a similar role to the injured starter. That’s rarely the case among pass catchers, as the vacated usage is usually spread out among various players.
In Philadelphia, Dallas Goedert’s loss has been Grant Calcaterra’s direct gain. The third-year man out of SMU has cleared a 91% snap share in consecutive games. In a contest that has the potential to push 50 total points, there’s the potential for him to fall into low-end TE1 PPR value.
Do I like the fact that his 60 routes over the past two games have netted just 38 yards? Of course not, but there is a role available for a player who scored on 16.5% of his collegiate receptions and is facing the defense that allows touchdowns at the fifth-highest rate in the league (25.9%).
If the Brenton Stranges and Stone Smartts of the world aren’t available, Calcaterra has the potential to save your bacon this week in a pinch.
Zach Ertz, TE
With Noah Brown and Austin Ekeler out, the Commanders will enter Week 16 with two active players that have over 300 receiving yards this season.
Think about that. Foster Moreau has 302 this season for the Saints – he’s been the TE3 in an offense that has struggled to pass the ball for the majority of this season.
Zach Ertz turned a 21.9% target share into six catches for 47 yards and a touchdown in the Week 11 meeting with these Eagles.
I’ll happily admit that there is a wide range of outcomes to consider (five games with over a dozen points and four games with under six this season) and that this matchup isn’t ideal (PHI: fourth-lowest opponent score rate). But with backup quarterbacks largely responsible for getting TEs in this range the ball (Jacksonville, Dallas, and maybe Kansas City), Ertz is as live an option as anyone outside of a clear-cut top-seven at the position.
