Eagles 2021 Fantasy Football Preview

The NFL season being almost here means that fantasy football season is here!

I’m a fantasy freak. I’m consistently in five or so leagues, a mix of standard and dynasty to keep things spicy.

Every Friday this season, I’m going to bring you a column with the best fantasy advice possible so you can win your league and you’re not stuck in a Waffle House for 24 hours because you came in last place.

To kick things off, I did a full episode of From the Bleachers on BGN Radio previewing the Birds’ players for this fantasy season.

Let’s do some quick hits:

Don’t overdraft Eagles players just because you love the Eagles! We all do it. I get it. We want the players to do well because that means our fantasy teams are doing well and the Eagles are doing well. Conversely, there’s nothing more crushing than having an Eagles player stink it up on your fantasy squad while the Birds lose. It’s the true double-whammy.

Getting Jalen Hurts in round eight or nine could win you your league. In his four starts at the end of the 2020 season, Hurts averaged 23 fantasy points per game. He is a Konami QB, a quarterback whose rushing ability elevates him into the top tier of fantasy QBs. Hurts averaged 68 rushing yards per game during those four starts and that includes him not totally finishing out the team’s Week 17 game against Washington. He could hit 900 or more rushing yards this season while also tossing 20-plus touchdowns.

I’m weary of Miles Sanders. He may be getting overdrafted, especially in PPR leagues. Kenny Gainwell is an intriguing late-round pick. He may not get a ton of touches early in this season, but I would expect that around Week 6 or so he becomes an integral part of the Eagles’ offense who gets the majority of the third down snaps. I took him in the 10th round of a dynasty league earlier this week. If you’re okay with stashing him on your bench for the first month or so of the season, he should be a nice FLEX play the rest of the way.

DeVonta Smith will have a huge rookie season and be in the Offensive Rookie of the Year race, but I don’t expect him to have a Justin Jefferson-like immediate fantasy impact. Jefferson finished as WR6 as a rookie in 2020. Fantasy Pros has Smith as the consensus 41st wideout. I’d expect him to outperform that and finish somewhere in the 20s.

I’m out on the Eagles tight ends for fantasy purposes, at least right away. Zach Ertz will be here this season, which could cut into Dallas Goedert’s catches. I see Goedert consistently ranked as a top-eight-or-so tight end in fantasy and I just wonder if the production doesn’t match those expectations. Goedert is obviously a top-10 tight end in real football, but Hurts will have a ton of targets to choose from between Goedert, Ertz, Smith, Quez Watkins, Jalen Reagor and the team’s pass-catching backs. I’d be more inclined to use Goedert or Ertz in daily fantasy this season.

Make the most of your fantasy drafts, have a blast and, as always, keep bleeding green.