The Philadelphia Eagles will face the Washington Commanders in the NFC Conference Championship Game. Here’s the latest fantasy football news and advice to help you with your lineups this week and moving forward, especially regarding RB Saquon Barkley.
Is Saquon Barkley Playing vs. the Commanders?
Barkley was not listed on the injury report this week. Barring any last-minute setbacks, he will play vs. the Commanders.
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 Saquon Barkley in the NFC Conference Championship Game?
On the downside, NFL protocol is that you only get to play the same team once in the playoffs.
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.
On the plus side, this is DFS and you have every right to load up on Barkley exposure if you’d like.
Those chunk plays don’t just come against the Rams — Barkley has five 60-yard rushing touchdowns this season, an NFL record. He’s averaging 2.55 yards per carry before contact, a rate that is not only 41.7% better than his previous career best but a cool 160.2% better than a year ago with the Giants.
The Commanders may not be as forgiving as the Rams on the ground, but Barkley hasn’t exactly had issues picking them apart this season. With him proving to be weatherproof last weekend, being 24.6% more expensive than any other RB is plenty justifiable.
Regular season games with 26+ carries, 5+ YPC, and 2+ rushing TDs, 2024:
- Barkley: three
- Barkley against the Commanders: two
- All other NFL RBs: two (Jonathan Taylor and Bijan Robinson)
The question is not if rostering Barkley makes sense, but if you can build a team around him that gives you a path to the top of a tournament.
I couldn’t.
That doesn’t mean it’s wrong. But every time I tried to build a roster like that, I kept landing on the same punt plays, and that makes me think that’ll be common amongst our competition this weekend. Barkley is going to be popular – that much I feel good about. But you’ll need to be almost perfect around him should he give us another historic performance.
Instead, in building without him, we open ourselves up to some more unique lineups and we are only one point of failure (“non-stardom” might be more accurate than “failure”) from getting a massive leg up on the field.
Remember that Barkley lineups are unlikely to have the funds to pay up for A.J. Brown, thus lowering his projected ownership. You’re probably not fading the Eagles as a whole, so if you elect to look elsewhere at running back, Brown profiles as something of a correlated play from an ownership point of view.
Are you looking for start/sit advice for other players in your lineup? Read our Conference Championship Fantasy Start-Sit Advice Cheat Sheet for every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Saquon Barkley’s Fantasy Points Projection in the NFC Conference Championship Game
As of Sunday morning, Barkley is projected to score 25.3 fantasy points in PPR formats. This includes 25.6 rushing attempts for 117.3 yards and 0.7 touchdowns. It also includes 4.6 receptions for 29.9 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.
Saquon Barkley’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.
