SI Fantasy's Team Preview series from high-stakes legend Shawn Childs aims to break down the Philadelphia Eagles to evaluate the offense, defense, coaches and everyone in between with a fantasy-slanted analysis.
Coaching Staff
The Philadelphia Eagles have three straight postseason appearances under head coach Doug Pederson, which includes a Super Bowl title in 2017. He pushed his career record to 38-26 while picking up four wins in six playoff chances. Over the previous three seasons, Pederson was the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs. He worked under Chiefs head coach Andy Reid for eight years in Philadelphia and Kansas City.
Even with a winning record in 2018 and 2019, Philadelphia struggled to make an impact in points scored (367 – 18th and 385 – 12th) and in yards allowed (14th) in both years. Last year, the Eagles won their final four games to steal the NFC East division title from the Cowboys.
Philly won’t have an offensive coordinator in 2020, which leaves the responsibilities divided between three options – Press Taylor (passing game coordinator), Rich Scangarello (senior offensive assistant), and Matt Burke (run game coordinator).
Jim Schwartz will run the defense for the fifth straight season after taking a year off in 2015. Over five seasons as a head coach for the Lions, he went 29-51 with one playoff berth. He has 13 years of experience as a defensive coordinator. Schwartz helped the Eagles win the Super Bowl in 2017.
Last year Philadelphia improved to 10th in yards allowed and 15th in points against (35).
Quarterbacks
Carson Wentz (RANK - ADP)
Heading into 2019, I thought Wentz had a chance to shine based on his combination of WRs and TEs. By midseason, the luster was gone after passing for only 1,567 yards (224 per game) and eight TDs over a seven-game stretch.
Despite weakness at WR (151/1684/11) due to injuries, Wentz rose from the dead to lead the Eagles to a playoff berth over his final five games (4-1) averaged over 300 yards and two TDs per contest. Wentz passed for over 300 yards in five games and posted three TDs in four starts.
His season ended quickly in the playoffs after suffering a concussion.
Philly has the best combination of TEs in the league, with a developing star at running back. Wentz needs WR Jalen Reagor to hit the ground running to push him toward the top six QBs.
Last year he was the 10th highest scoring QB (20.64) in four-point passing TD leagues. After the first run of the projections, I have Wentz on a path for 4,268 combined yards with 27 TDs and nine Ints.
Jalen Hurts (RANK - ADP)
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Running Backs
Miles Sanders (RANK - ADP)
Over the first ten games in a split role with RB Jordan Howard, Sanders gained about 69 yards per game with two TDs and 24 catches.
With Howard out of the picture, he helped the Eagles to a playoff berth with success over his next five contests (588 combined yards with four TDs and 23 catches) on 21.2 touches per game. Sanders played at the highest level in Week 15 (172 combined yards with two TDs and six catches) and Week 16 (156 combined yards with a TD and five catches).
Sanders finished 15th in RB scoring (219.8) in PPR leagues while being on the field for 53 percent of the Eagles' RB plays. At a minimum, Sanders will see a 20 percent growth in touches (229 in 2019) this year.
I have him projected for 1,500 combined yards with 12 TDs and 55 catches on 290 touches, making him a top 10 running back option in 2020.
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Wide Receivers
The Jeffery fantasy flame is fading by the turn of each calendar day. Last year he played well in two games (10/76/1 and 9/137/1), but a zero in Week 2 and six missed games led to a seven-year low in catches (43), receiving yards (490), and targets (73).
His last impact season came in 2014 (85/1133/10). Jeffery had foot surgery in December, which may lead to him starting the year on the shelf. Earlier in 2019, he battled an ankle injury.
At age 30, Jeffery looks to fading with 20 missed games over the past five seasons. A low flying dart that rarely sticks on the board for a full year. I’ll set his initial bar as 58 catches for 712 yards and five TDs.
Even with his negatives, Jeffery still looks viable as a WR5.
Jalen Reagor, DeSean Jackson & J.J. Arcega-Whiteside
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Tight Ends
No team threw more to the TE position (150/1,573/12) than Eagles in 2019.
Their success at TE was two-fold. The Eagles struggled to make plays at wide receiver (151/1684/11), and Dallas Goedert (58/607/5) is an attractive second option at TE.
Ertz finished second the league in TE targets (135) while playing through rib and back injuries late in the year and missing Week 17.
Over the last three years, he has 22 TDs in 45 games. Like Travis Kelce, Ertz had a step back in big games (9/103/1 and 12/91/1) compared to 2018 (11/94, 10/112, 10/110/1, 9/138, 14/145/2, and 12/110/2).
Based on the early ADPs (56), I expect him to be a value on draft day compared to the top two options (Travis Kelce – 22 and George Kittle – 27).
Great resume and floor, but Philly has a developing pass-catching RB, and they surely need more balls directed at the WR position to help this win total. I set his bar at 90 catches for 883 yards and six TDs.
Defense
The Eagles climbed to 3rd in rushing yards allowed (1,442 yards), which was helped by 22.1 rushing attempts per game. They allowed 4.1 yards per rush with 13 TDs and ten runs over 20 yards and three rushes over 40 yards.
Philly jumped to 19th in passing yards allowed (3,865) while allowing 7.2 yards per pass attempt. QBs tossed only 27 TDs with 11 INTs while being sacked 43 times. The Eagles did allow 15 completions over 40 yards.
DE Brandon Graham
DE Derek Barnett
DT Fletcher Cox
DT Javon Hargrave
LB Davion Taylor
LB Jatavis Brown
LB Nate Gerry
CB Darius Slay
CB Sidney Jones
S Jalen Mills
S Rodney McLeod
Free Agency, Draft, Offensive Line, Offensive Schedule & Defensive Schedule
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