Overall Fantasy Impact: Average
Offensive Outlook: The Eagles had little trouble moving the ball last season, but getting it in the end zone was another matter entirely.
Lacking a bruising goal-line runner or a consistent possession receiver in the red zone, Philly finished 17th in the league in points despite a 6th-place finish in total offense.
There weren’t a lot of changes made on the offensive side of the ball in the offseason, so any improvement will have to come from within.
Outside of dynamic, muti-purpose runner Brian Westbrook, the Eagles could have a hard time filling up the fantasy stat sheet, especially in such a rugged division.
QUARTERBACKS: Donovan McNabb managed decent numbers last season (3,324 yards and 19 TDs), but there are too many negatives all around for him to be considered a top-notch fantasy starter. He’s only 31 but there’s a lot of mileage in his rear-view, he faces his perennial problem of lacking a legitimate star receiver, and he has Kevin Kolb lurking on the sidelines just waiting for a chance. With only one season of more than 20 TD passes out of his last six, the upside just isn’t there anymore for McNabb. He’d be a great No.2 fantasy guy to use in certain matchups.
Kolb would be intriguing if he gets the opportunity to play, but that likely won’t happen yet unless McNabb gets hurt. It’s unlikely Andy Reid will make a QB switch mid-season unless the wheels really fall off the wagon.
RUNNING BACKS: Coming off career highs in rushing yards, receiving yards, and total TDs, fantasy players have to be wondering what Westbrook could possibly do for an encore. The guy will be 29 at the start of the season, but wear-and-tear shouldn’t be an issue because the Eagles used him so sparingly at the start of his career. And injury concerns are fading since he missed just one game in each of the past two years. The boost he gives as a receiver is unparalleled (he led all running backs in receptions and yards by a wide margin in 2007), and he has ascended to the point where he should be considered a fantasy first-rounder this year.
His back-ups provide little value. Correll Buckhalter would get the call if Westbrook should get hurt, but look for Tony Hunt to take Buckhalter’s goal-line touches away this year. Meanwhile Lorenzo Booker was brought in from Miami to give Westbrook an occasional break on third down. Don’t look at any of these guys until the draft’s closing rounds.
WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS: Kevin Curtis 1,110-yard season was boosted by a monster game in Week 3 in Detroit in which he caught 3 TDs, half of his season’s total. Still, he managed 5 catches in 10 of 16 games, which goes against the image of him as an all-or-nothing guy. His numbers might go down this season if Reggie Brown can build a little on the momentum he picked up at the end of last year. Brown got off to an awful start with just 8 catches in the first four games after being a popular fantasy pick, but he rebounded to catch 55 passes for 699 yards in the last 12 games with 4 scores. Those aren’t earth-shattering numbers, but he and Curtis produced about the same in that time span. Look for both of them to get around 900 yards with 5 or 6 scores apiece, making them ideal third fantasy receivers. Projecting anything higher is a stretch.
Greg Lewis, Hank Baskett, and Jason Avant have all had plenty of chances at playing time but have produced results too inconsistent for them to be worthy of a draft pick. Second-round draft pick DeSean Jackson has talent, but his ‘08 contributions will likely be restricted to the return game.
L.J. Smith was derailed by injuries after two solid years in a row. He’ll have to get healthy to have fantasy value. If he’s not, the Eagles will turn to a committee of Matt Schobel, Brett Celek, and Kris Wilson, none of whom need to be on your radar.