It’s official: Saquon Barkley’s historic season has come to an end.
With the Philadelphia Eagles having locked up the NFC’s No. 2 seed, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni decided to sit his star running back for the team’s Week 18 matchup against the New York Giants. Barkley ($8,600) will end his inaugural campaign in Philadelphia with 2,005 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns, 100 yards shy of tying Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record.
With Barkley out, fourth-year back Kenneth Gainwell ($5,600) will get most of the reps in the Eagles’ backfield. Gainwell hasn’t played much this season, given that Barkley has been such a workhorse. However, he has been fairly productive with his opportunities, taking 64 carries for 276 yards and a touchdown. For his career, Gainwell has been a pretty efficient runner, averaging 4.4 yards per carry, which would’ve ranked 20th among qualified backs this season. Given the Giants’ weak rushing defense and his relatively cheap price tag, Gainwell is an absolute must for DFS players this week.
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New York has had a relatively strong aerial defense this year, so opponents tend to run the ball frequently. Overall, opponents have amassed 2,265 yards against the Giants, the second-most in the league. They’ve also done so pretty efficiently, gaining 4.7 yards per carry, the eighth-best rate in football. New York has also allowed 18 rushing scores so far this season, tied for the ninth-most of any team. It’s no surprise, then, that the Giants have ceded the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing running backs.
Philadelphia also might be without its top two quarterbacks on Sunday, as Jalen Hurts appears unlikely to play with a concussion and backup Kenny Pickett suffered a rib injury against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 17 and is also questionable. If neither Hurts — who’d likely be resting, even if he were healthy — or Pickett can go, Tanner McKee would get the start. McKee was stellar in relief of Pickett last Sunday, completing three of his four passes for 54 yards and two touchdowns, but Sirianni had him drop back to pass on just 19% of his snaps.
Obviously, a run-heavy offensive scheme would benefit Gainwell, especially since third-string running back Will Shipley only has 50 career rushing yards and is also questionable to play. I wouldn’t expect McKee to hand it off on 81% of his snaps again, if he plays — when he entered the game, the Eagles already had a massive lead and had no incentive to throw — but Gainwell would clearly benefit from Pickett’s potential absence.
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