UPDATE: A.J. Brown has officially been ruled out for this week’s matchup between the Eagles and the Giants. He should not be used in any fantasy football lineups.
The Philadelphia Eagles will be taking on the New York Giants this week but could be doing so without star wide receiver A.J. Brown. The three-time Pro Bowler has missed the past three days of practice due to a hamstring injury. While he will have gone a while week without practicing, Nick Sirianni has not ruled Brown out of this week’s matchup yet.
His status seems legitimately up in the air for this NFC East divisional battle and will be worth monitoring leading up to kickoff. But if Brown is to play in Week 8, should he still be in consideration for your fantasy football lineups?
A.J. Brown Week 8 Fantasy Football Outlook:
There have been some significant ups-and-downs for A.J. Brown this season even before the hamstring issue. Through the opening seven games, he has pulled in just 29 of his 51 targets for 395 yards and three touchdowns. Brown is coming off three consecutive seasons with 1,000+ receiving yards and had 1,400+ receiving yards in both seasons with the Eagles that he has played all 17 games. It is going to take some statistical improvement to reach these metrics this season in the second half of the year.
From a fantasy football perspective, his 13.2 fantasy football points per game based on DraftKings scoring ranks 31st among wide receivers. It also trails his wide receiver counterpart in DeVonta Smith who has 38 receptions for 504 yards and two touchdowns on the year. This ranks 17th among wide receivers in fantasy production on DraftKings scoring at 15.2 points per game.
This will be the second time this season that the Eagles and Giants have faced off. New York pulled off a stunning 34-17 upset over the defending champions in Jaxson Dart’s third NFL start. Brown pulled in six receptions on nine targets for 80 yards. This comes out to 14.0 fantasy points on DraftKings scoring. Brown is, however, coming off his best performance of the season last week. During the Eagles’ matchup with the Vikings he had 121 receiving yards and two touchdowns, or 31.1 fantasy points, before the hamstring issues popped up.
Looking at the matchup overall, New York has a real buzz about them for the first time in several seasons. They are 2-5 on the year, but 2-2 since Dart took over at quarterback. The Giants have a strong defensive front but rank 26th in passing yards allowed, 10th in passing touchdowns allowed, and 13th in net yards per pass attempt.
It has been a turbulent season for Brown that has not been short on headlines. He has not been on the same page with Jalen Hurts for the majority of the season and the hamstring injury only compounds the level of concern. While any talks of trades should pretty much be shut down given the dead cap hit that comes with his contract, Brown has not been shy to stir the pot and voice his frustrations. It also is worth noting that the Eagles will be on their bye week following this Giants matchup. There is a world where this makes Brown and the Eagles more likely to push it with the extended rest incoming. But given the aspirations to repeat as Super Bowl champions and the final push for the season after the bye week, don’t be shocked if Philadelphia is cautious in their approach.
There will be a point this season where Brown and Hurts get back on the same page and return to the conversation for one of the most dangerous quarterback and wide receiver duo. But the two have been a tad off on their timing all season and the hamstring concern does not help this outlook. Keep your eye on the injury report, but expect the Eagles to stretch out his outlook leading up to the game in an effort to surpriser the Giants. If Brown is truly healthy and ready he will be out there and ready to perform. But given the subpar production on the season and the big picture expectations of this Eagles team, it may be best to temper short-term expectations and seek for other options at the wide receiver position. You could do far worse than being stuck with Brown, but don’t expect him to return to the top wide receiver conversations just yet.
