Will Shipley Start or Sit Advice for Week 5
The Philadelphia Eagles have dropped back-to-back games to the Bears and the Rams, and in Week 5, they’ll head to London to take on the Jaguars. The offense is dealing with multiple injuries, which opens the door for other players to step up. One player with a chance at a heavy workload is running back Will Shipley, but should he be a starter in your fantasy lineups this week? Let’s take a look at what to expect from the Eagles’ backfield against the Jaguars.
Last week, Saquon Barkley (hamstring) exited after just two carries for eight yards and a two-yard catch. The superstar running back hasn’t practiced all week and isn’t likely to play this week in London. Tank Bigsby replaced Barkley and ran for 55 yards on 14 carries before leaving in the fourth quarter with an injury of his own. Earlier this week, the team announced that Bigsby needs core muscle surgery and is on injured reserve, meaning he’ll miss at least four weeks.
Without Bigsby and Barkley, Shipley is in line to start and get most of the snaps against the Jags. The team did add Dameon Pierce from their practice squad and could also opt to promote Jaydon Blue for more depth. Coach Nick Sirianni hyped Pierce on Wednesday, saying “He’s an NFL starting running back.”
It could be a timeshare situation, but Shipley did have some success in his work in Week 4, taking six carries for 23 yards. If Pierce does take playing time, it would likely be on early downs, keeping Shipley as the team’s primary pass-catching back. He had success as a pass-catcher in college at Clemson, racking up 85 receptions in three years. He also ran more routes than Bigsby last week, although neither back caught any passes.
Shipley has also shown he can excel in short-yardage situations, so he has the skill set to lock in the most critical roles for fantasy. Even if he does lose some work to Pierce, he should be a viable option this week.
The Eagles’ offensive line has been a little shaky this season, and even Barkley wasn’t going off for big games. The Jaguars are also a fairly tough matchup, allowing only one running-back touchdown so far this season. They have given up just 47.5 rushing yards per game to running backs, but they have allowed 48.25 receiving yards per game to the position.
While Jalen Hurts will always be a threat to take any short-yardage scores, Shipley has enough potential as a pass-catcher to remain a solid RB3 or FLEX play since he should be in a position to step up and take on most of the workload. While he shouldn’t be started ahead of a clear top-20 running back, he can be utilized as a stop-gap measure in his new starting role, especially in PPR leagues.
Shipley is not on the main slate on DraftKings, since he plays early on Sunday morning, but he is a strong option to consider in DraftKings single-game Showdown contests like the NFL $400K Showdown Special [$100K to 1st] (PHI vs JAX) this week. In those contests, Shipley is $8,000 in a FLEX spot or $12,000 as a Captain’s Pick. I don’t prefer him in a Captain’s spot over some of the other options on the slate, but his potential catches out of the backfield make him a good FLEX play.
