Philadelphia Eagles - Fantasy News

Eagles Super Bowl 52 Start 'Em/Sit 'Em

by Aaron Bowers

1/23/18

NFL

Philadelphia Eagles

Jay Ajayi

What a strange ride it has been for the Philadelphia Eagles! For most of the season, the Eagles looked like Super Bowl contenders led by MVP-candidate Carson Wentz. After he was lost to a torn ACL in Week 14, most people wrote Philadelphia off even though it had a stranglehold on the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

Enter: Nick Foles, a journeyman quarterback who has been benched and cut by multiple organizations since his miraculous 2013 season. Early on, Foles looked every bit as bad as fans thought he would be, but in the playoffs, Doug Pederson made Foles’ job as easy as possible by building his offense around run-pass options. Philadelphia subsequently put up 53 points in its two playoff games, including 38 against a Vikings defense that many claimed was the best in the league.

While Foles is one of the big stories of these playoffs, the Eagles' defense is the real reason they are here. They are deep and talented along the defensive line and have opportunistic playmakers on the back end. If they’re going to bring Philadelphia its first Super Bowl in team history, it will need an incredible defensive performance to slow down Tom Brady.

Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl 52 Projected Fantasy Points
Nick Foles: 16.5 PFP
Zach Ertz: 11.5 PFP
Jay Ajayi: 11.0 PFP
Alshon Jeffery: 10.5 PFP
Jake Elliott: 8.5 PFP
Nelson Agholor: 8.5 PFP
LeGarrette Blount: 7.5 PFP
Corey Clement: 5.5 PFP

Start 'Em: Jay Ajayi (11.0 PFP)
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 8.94

For Philadelphia to have any chance to bring home its first Super Bowl trophy, Jay Ajayi will need to have an excellent game. Fortunately for the Eagles, this sets up to be a great matchup for the third-year running back out of Boise State.

New England has some of the slowest linebackers in the league and has been gashed by running backs all year long. In his last two games, Ajayi has 18 touches for 98 yards and 21 touches for 99 yards, eclipsing 11.0 DFP in each game. With two weeks to rest up, we expect Ajayi to be fresh and efficient in this favorable matchup.

Start 'Em: Zach Ertz (11.5 PFP)
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 11.89

A consistent fantasy performer all season, Zach Ertz has scored more than 11.5 Dober Fantasy Points in 10 of the 15 games that he started and finished. Against Minnesota, Ertz got open again and again on run-pass option plays, catching eight passes for 93 yards. New England has good corners and a solid defensive line, but it is weak at the safety and linebacker spots. Doug Pederson will try to use his best receiver to exploit a unit that gave up a touchdown to Marcedes Lewis in the AFC Championship Game. Ertz should have a big game here, especially if Philadelphia falls behind and needs to throw the ball to keep pace.

Sit 'Em: Nick Foles (16.5 PFP)
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 4.83

In the span of two weeks, Nick Foles has gone from a goat to a hero in Philadelphia. While he’s rightfully getting a lot of the credit for getting the Eagles to the Super Bowl, his fantasy production has been a decidedly mixed bag since taking over for Carson Wentz.

In the four games he’s started and finished this season, Foles has Dober Fantasy Points totals of 25.48, 8.52, 9.84 and 26.08. Which version of Foles will show up on Super Bowl Sunday is anyone’s guess, but we’re betting that Bill Belichick will have unique schemes to keep Foles off-balance and bait him into mistakes. This might finally be the week when defenders catch Foles’ bad passes, so we recommend fading him on Dober Play Cards.

Sit 'Em: LeGarrette Blount (7.5 PFP)
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 6.54

We’re resisting the pull of the revenge game here and recommending Blount as a fade for Dober Play Cards.

The lumbering running back has fewer than nine touches in every game since Week 12 and has just 15 touches for 40 yards in two playoff games. Jay Ajayi is rightfully getting the lion’s share of the backfield work for the Eagles; he’s faster, shiftier and slipperier. Though he does get the ball often near the end zone, Blount has mostly been used as a battering ram to bludgeon teams to death when the Eagles have a lead. We’re betting Blount's streak of two straight games with a touchdown ends against his former team, making it extremely unlikely that he gets over his Projected Fantasy Points total.