Eagles Week 2 Receiver Fantasy Outlook: A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, Quez Watkins
The Philadelphia Eagles look to move to 2-0 on the season when hosting the Minnesota Vikings in a Thursday night battle in Philly. Minnesota will be desperate for a win after a shocking home loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 1.
The Eagles’ passing game was pretty lackluster in their week 1 win over the New England Patriots, going for just 154 net yards. Even after that, there’s still plenty of reason to start several pass catchers from Philadelphia. Let’s break down the options and then determine which ones should be starting.
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A.J. Brown Fantasy Outlook
Brown was Philadelphia’s leader in the receiver room in week 1. He tied DeVonta Smith at 10 targets and seven catches, but went for 79 yards to Smith’s 47.
Brown picked up four first downs on his grabs, with a long catch of 23 yards. Brown was on the field for 60 offensive snaps, which was about 91% of the team’s plays.
When Minnesota and Philadelphia played in week 2 of the 2022 season, Brown caught five of eight targets for 69 yards.
Brown is ranked ninth in FantasySP’s week 2 receiver projections. He’s projected at eight targets, 5.4 catches, 71 yards and 0.3 touchdowns.
DeVonta Smith Fantasy Outlook
Smith was on the field for all but one offensive play in week 1. Of his seven catches and 47 yards, his long catch went for only 13 yards, but he scored a touchdown to put up a solid fantasy score for owners that started him. He picked up three first downs for his team.
Smith caught all seven of his targets against Minnesota in 2022, going for 80 yards.
He’s the seventh-ranked receiver for week 2, with projections of eight targets, 5.7 catches, 52 yards and 0.7 touchdowns.
Dallas Goedert Fantasy Outlook
Goedert didn’t record a catch in week 1. He was targeted just once despite playing 61 offensive snaps.
It was a disappointing start for Goedert, who recorded at least two catches in every game in 2022. One of his better games was against Minnesota, when he caught five of six targets for 82 yards.
Even after the poor week 1 showing, Goedert is the third-ranked tight end for week 2. He’s projected at five targets, 4.1 catches, 50 yards and 0.4 touchdowns.
Quez Watkins Fantasy Outlook
Watkins was the only other pass catcher that played over 20 offensive snaps in week 1. He logged 52 snaps, which was about 80% of the team’s total plays. Watkins caught both of his targets for 17 yards.
Watkins scored one of his three touchdowns in 2022 against Minnesota. He finished that game with two catches and 69 yards.
He’s projected at 1.8 receptions, 16.4 yards and 0.1 touchdowns for week 2.
Who Should I Start?
Even though none of Brown, Smith or Goedert had monster week 1 showings, I’m still very comfortable starting any of those players for week 2. They are all going to play a bunch of snaps, and it’s rare to have too many poor fantasy showings from any of them on back-to-back weeks.
With Kenneth Gainwell, the team’s leading back in week 1, dealing with a rib injury, the Eagles might focus a touch more on the passing game so that quarterback Jalen Hurts isn’t forced to run a whole lot. That would be a smart choice most weeks, but is especially on a short week. That could bode well for Brown, Smith and Goedert. Similar showings to what the trio did against Minnesota in 2022 could be pretty fair expectations again this year.
Philly did pretty much anything they wanted against Minnesota last season, with 486 total yards. The passing game was super efficient, completing 26-of-31 attempts for 333 of those yards. Minnesota addressed several defensive positions in the offseason, and held the Buccaneers to just 242 total yards in week 1, but the Eagles are a different animal and have a better chance of achieving last year’s totals than replicate what the Bucs did last week. With Minnesota needing a win to avoid an 0-2 start, I could see Thursday's game being a high-scoring affair, which just adds to the value of the Eagles' wideouts and tight ends.
Watkins, on the other hand, isn't being rostered in many leagues and shouldn’t be started. Sure, his showing against the Vikings in 2022 might have some fantasy owners looking at him as a deep sleeper for the week, but his production is simply too inconsistent to trust with a spot in your starting lineup.
