The Philadelphia Eagles are 4-0 and winning football games, but the same can’t be said for fantasy football managers who roster the team’s stars. Jalen Hurts keeps producing big weeks as he always does with his legs, but A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and even Saquon Barkley haven’t posted the campaigns hoped for with some disappointing weeks on the virtual gridiron. It begs the question — aside from Hurts, is any Eagles player an every-week starter in fantasy football?
Analysis
Saquon Barkley
The star of the Eagles’ run to hoist the Lombardi Trophy as Super Bowl LIX winners last season, Saquon Barkley smashed his first year in Philadelphia. He eclipsed the 2,000-yard mark on the ground with nearly 2,300 scrimmage yards and 15 total touchdowns, a gargantuan season by any standard. He also averaged 22.2 FPPG in PPR formats to finish as the overall RB2. With the expectation once again set sky-high on a run-first team behind a great offensive line, Barkley went in the first few picks of almost every single fantasy draft.
With four games under his belt in 2025, the results haven’t met those lofty goals. Barkley averages 15.7 FPPG, far from a bad mark. However, his RB11 production thus far doesn’t quite live up to the expectations of a top-five pick in redraft formats, and while he’s an RB1, he’s not the game-wrecker managers hoped for. Make no mistake that the Eagles are still a run-first team where Barkley can make a difference. Yes, he’s faced three very solid run defenses over the first four weeks and averages just 3.08 YPC, a mark that should increase. However, after totaling over 400 touches last season (including the playoffs), the star may prove vulnerable to the trend of overall RB1 finishers feeling lingering wear and tear on their bodies the following year.
Even if that’s the case and he fails to repeat, Barkley remains an every-week starter fantasy in all fantasy football formats. In a run-first system on a contending team that often plays with a lead, game script and talent combine to keep the star in the upper echelon of running backs.
A.J. Brown
However, the wide receivers in Philadelphia aren’t nearly as safe of plays as Barkley. The Eagles have a pass rate over expectation (PROE) of -6.6%, the fourth-lowest mark of any team. That means they’re opting to run the ball more often in situations that may typically call for a pass script, but that’s not truly a surprise given that this low-volume passing offense won a Super Bowl just last year. If it ain’t broke, why fix it?
Through four weeks, A.J. Brown posts an average of just 8.8 FPPG in PPR formats with just one game above 7.7 points. That’s a massive drop-off from last year’s average of 16.7 FPPG despite operating in a run-first offense during that campaign. What’s the difference this time around? Well, the Eagles aren’t throwing the ball deep as often now that Kevin Patullo has replaced Kellen Moore as offensive coordinator. The team’s aDOT of 7.2 falls nearly smack-dab in the middle of the pack around the league, but despite Brown’s team-high target share of 29.47% (fifth-best of any wideout), he’s not seeing downfield targets as he did last season. Instead, he’s being fed the ball in the short game and told to go to work with his ability after the catch.
It’s not that Brown can’t do that, especially since he’s one of the best after-catch talents in the NFL. The problem is that he’s not hauling in long touchdowns to bump his fantasy totals as he did last year. As long as the Eagles run such a conservative offense and play with a lead more often than now, the team’s top receiver will remain a shaky fantasy play at best — far from what managers hoped for when taking him in the early round of drafts.
DeVonta Smith
The case for, or really against, Brown’s wideout partner remains quite similar. DeVonta Smith is an otherworldly talent who deserves far more credit than he typically gets. The guy won a Heisman Trophy in college and has multiple 1,000-yard seasons to his name as a member of the Eagles. Per Reception Perception’s experts, he beat man coverage at a 95th-percentile grade last season, also logging a 76th-percentile mark against zone coverage. He racked up 833 yards and eight touchdowns in just 13 games, averaging a career-best 15.3 FPPG to finish as the overall WR27 but per-game WR17.
Now fast-forward to 2025. Smith averages 9.7 FPPG and sits at a current ranking of WR39 in PPR formats. He went in the middle rounds of fantasy drafts, but even with that draft slot he’s still underperforming relative to expectations. Again, this lack of production isn’t really the fault of the players, more so that of the scheme. However, it’ll be tougher for Smith to produce on a weekly basis with a 21.05% target share, good for 34th among wideouts. Those downfield looks are also where he truly excelled in past campaigns to post his boom weeks, and without as many of those, the outlook feels bleak. He’s likely better left on benches for now.
Dallas Goedert
Finally, we haven’t yet talked about the top tight end in Philadelphia. Dallas Goedert has almost always served as a feast-or-famine option at the game’s thinnest position, averaging double-digit fantasy points in five of his eight seasons but often relying on touchdowns to justify a spot in starting lineups. His health also remains a serious question mark since he’s yet to play more than 14 games over the last four seasons.
Goedert’s not a player to really feel excited about in fantasy football, but he’s posted sneaky good numbers thus far with an average of 13.8 FPPG. With 11.4, 10.3 and 19.7 PPR points over his three appearances, he’s a top-12 tight end and has produced for those brave enough to start him. The team’s low-ish aDOT and willingness to work via the short game helps his case, but a target share of 17.57% feels less than ideal and his production is propped up by three touchdowns. The case remains the same as always since fantasy managers are left hoping for a trip to the end zone to feel better about starting him.
