Do the Eagles have the best fantasy offense in the NFC? | Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast
In the Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast, Matt Harmon and Scott Pianowski discuss the Philadelphia Eagles offense led by Jalen Hurts, and debate if it is the best offense for fantasy in the NFC.
Video Transcript
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MATT HARMON: One thing I am very, very sure about, coming out of Eagles, 24, Commanders, 8, like, I've seen enough. I think the Eagles might be-- right now, some of these other contenders in the NFC can get right. You know, like, Green Bay can get right at certain points. Tampa Bay is certainly gonna get healthier as the year goes on.
Some of these NFC West teams, like the Rams, I think, are still sort of figuring things out. So, like, this statement might not hold on balance for the rest of year. But right now, I don't think there is a more dangerous offense in the NFC and a better offense, frankly, for fantasy than the Philadelphia Eagles.
Jalen Hurts-- talk about a right answer, Scott. Like, if you drafted Jalen Hurts-- because you didn't have to spend, like, Josh Allen or even Lamar Jackson draft capital to get him, but he's been a huge right answer. And the two receivers-- I'm putting it in, too, and they have other threats beyond these guys.
But, like, AJ Brown, if you just silence the noise about, like, oh, the Eagles were dead last in targets last year and just bought in on the talent, you're way ahead right now because Brown has been awesome. He's been a right answer. DeVonta Smith, if you didn't panic about that zero-catch game in week one, he was incredible in this game. Like, his two biggest plays, the touchdown and then that deep reception, came on contested passes.
The BMI tweets-- where are those at this point with DeVonta Smith? Like, this offense-- and that's just three guys. They have other dudes in this offense. This offense looks like one of the best fantasy ecosystems, period, right now.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: I'm gonna share all your optimism. If you were given the free mortgage bet on the NFC Super Bowl representative, I think right now you would have to take Philadelphia. Their schedule is so easy, it's possible-- remember, they get the AFC South-- it's possible they could be favored the rest of the season.
A lot will depend on when they go to Dallas. Is Dak Prescott back? What version of the Cowboys are they playing then? They're gonna play the Colts on the road, and the Colts did get off the mat today with a big win over Kansas City. So we have to kind of reevaluate and at least respect the Colts on some level.
But Philly's gonna be favored over a bunch of teams, which is why I thought their defense was a great add today. They sacked Carson Wentz nine times. It felt like 29 times.
MATT HARMON: Oh, my god, yeah.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: And for a 24-8 game, this felt like 40 to 8. This felt like 40 to 2, right? They didn't get that safety in there, but it did not feel at all competitive.
And the one thing we wanted from Hurts-- great runner, great athlete. He's becoming a better passer-- is like, well, you know, what's with this one touchdown a week stuff? Can we get a little more of that through the year?
Well, what does he do today? He throws three, and he throws to all the main guys, right? He didn't throw it to Quez Watkins or anybody like that. He throws one to AJ. He throws one out to Goedert. He throws one to Smith, who, as you mentioned, not only was he terrific today, he was actually really good on Monday night.
You just can accept receiver is a boom-bust position. It's a high-variance position. And even with that established, DeVonta Smith is a extremely high-variance player, the type of routes he runs.
And you talk about teams fitting-- you talked about the fit of the different Patriots receivers and how their skills fit-- a very similar situation, except that everybody's more talented.
MATT HARMON: Yeah, this is the good version of that.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: This is the great version-- this is the great version of that. Allow myself to just want to throw up again that the Patriots could have drafted AJ Brown, but they thought N'Keal Harry was the guy, Brown and Metcalf and McLaurin, and you're sick of me saying all this stuff. Oh, Deebo Samuel is pretty fricking good, too.
But I love the way this team is constructed and how they complement each other and how they threaten you horizontally and vertically with an ascending talent at quarterback, and, oh, by the way, probably the best offensive line in football, and their pass rush was a beast today.
MATT HARMON: Yeah.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: The only thing I'm gonna say negative about the Eagles-- these are real nitpicks-- one is this game should have been more lopsided in the final score than it was. And two, they had a fourth and short where they went for it. That's good.
We talk about this every week. Like, the Colts did this recently. They had a fourth and goal. They went for it. That's good.
And they called, like, a horrible, burn-that play. I think Nyheim Hines got a direct snap. What did the Eagles do? They ran jet sweep action to Zach Pascal.
You have a million superstars on your offense. And you're just trying to outcute yourself. They'll never see it coming. The design of the play will win.
MATT HARMON: Yeah.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: Nick Sirianni, don't do that. You have Hurts. You have Miles Sanders. If you want to throw the ball, you have three dynamic playmakers who can threaten every inch of real estate on the field.
I mean, Zach Pascal deserves to be on your roster-- special teams, fourth or fifth receiver. That's fine with me. Don't give him the ball on fourth and 1. That's silly.