2023 Philadelphia Eagles Team Preview

Jul 6th 2023

Hayden Winks

The Philadelphia Eagles are nasty, especially in fantasy football. We can draft them all on Underdog Fantasy with promo code 'UNDERBLOG' to match your first deposit up to $100. We have the biggest fantasy football tournament of all time ($15M) right now.

2022 Philadelphia Eagles Advanced Stats

This team is a juggernaut without much personnel turnover. The coaching staff maximizes the production, too, ranking 1st in 4th-down aggressiveness, 1st in neutral pace, and 7th in neutral pass rate. Jalen Hurts' skill set converts 3rd and 4th downs at an elite clip because they figured out how to properly use his size, and when they do pass, the Eagles were 7th in EPA per dropback. They win with the deep ball (2nd in 20+ yard passes) while running it down your throat when needed. I don't see a big drawback in 2023. In fact, if the defense regresses after ranking 4th in EPA allowed, then the offense will have more chances to play in neutral game scripts in the 4th quarter. That's the only reason why the Eagles were 24th in pass attempts.

2023 Philadelphia Eagles Starting Lineups

3-WR Sets (6th in snaps, 73% of snaps)

  • WR: A.J. Brown --> Tyrie Cleveland

  • WR: DeVonta Smith --> Brittan Covey

  • SLOT: Quez Watkins --> Olamide Zaccheaus

  • TE: Dallas Goedert --> Jack Stoll

2-WR Sets (23rd in snaps, 21% of snaps)

  • WR: A.J. Brown --> Quez Watkins

  • WR: DeVonta Smith --> Olamide Zaccheaus

  • SLOT TE: Dallas Goedert --> Dan Arnold

  • INLINE TE: Jack Stoll --> Grant Calcaterra

RB Usage (14th in expected half PPR)

  • GOAL LINE: Rashaad Penny --> D'Andre Swift

  • PASSING DOWN: D'Andre Swift --> Kenny Gainwell

Offensive Line (best in the NFL)

  • LT: Jordan Mailata (stud with a great voice)

  • LG: Landon Dickerson (solid returning starter)

  • C: Jason Kelce (All Pro returner)

  • RG: Cam Jurgens (2022 2nd round C)

  • RT: Lane Johnson (stud returning starter)

2023 Philadelphia Eagles Fantasy Preview

Jalen Hurts had 11 rushing TDs inside the 10-yard line. The next closest QB was at 5. The Eagles are literally pushing QB runs to the absolute limit, giving Hurts some of the highest fantasy upside of all time. Hurts was the QB1 and 11th overall player in fantasy points over replacement per game using Underdog Fantasy scoring last year, and not much has changed going into his age-25 season. The OL is back and elite. The coaching staff is aggressive. The weapons are obviously amazing. Hurts took massive leaps as a passer, yet none reached very obvious regression points (4.8 TD% and 8.0 YPA are good, not crazy). This feels like the Cam Newton prime but with an A+ environment around him. I will not let Hurts pass me if he's ever available in Round 3. ... Marcus Mariota will back up Hurts, making him a galaxy brain option in certain best ball tournaments. He'd be an upside QB1/2 in any start.

A.J. Brown was the WR7 and 18th overall player last year. As usual, Brown was an outlier in efficiency, scoring 3.9 more TDs than his usage would suggest. His 10.3 yards per target were on par his his career averages. Explosiveness is his specialness, and there's a chance this could be a career-year for targets. He averaged 9.3 half PPR points in 1st half of games, compared to just 6.0 in the 2nd half of games because of unfavorable passing game scripts. Everything is set up for an amazing age-26 season. ... DeVonta Smith is a dog. He mostly kept pace with Brown in targets (167 to 158 including playoffs), leading to a WR15 and 36th overall finish last season. Smith's production could climb for the same reasons as touted above, but it'll be difficult to pass Brown as the true alpha in this offense because Brown's average depth of target is deep (13.5 vs. 10.3) and Brown is utilized in the red zone a tad more. That said, it's possible Brown and Smith are both top-12 fantasy WRs, without going into the contingent value both possess. ... Quez Watkins will be holding off Olamide Zaccheaus ($1.1M) for the distant No. 3 job out of the slot. Watkins should run more routes because of game scripts, but there's no reason to throw to Watkins with the other options the Eagles have. His fantasy value is via contingencies mostly.

Dallas Goedert was the TE10 and 123rd overall player, taking a back seat to the top receivers in the offense. His routes also changed, dropping his aDOT from 8.1 yards downfield to just 5.9 yards downfield last year. He's not the focal point until Brown or Smith are out of the way. In redraft, I'm not paying the premium. In best ball tournaments with Hurts, I'm fine with the upside. ... Jack Stoll is his backup if that weirdly matters to you.

Nobody knows about the RB rotation yet, but here's my current theory. Rashaad Penny is in a version of the Miles Sanders role, while D'Andre Swift is fancy Kenneth Gainwell and Kenneth Gainwell remains Kenneth Gainwell. Penny's 5.7 yards per carry is the best among all RBs since 2018, and he's reportedly relatively healthy already. I personally think he's clearly the best pure rusher on the team, which is why they signed him early in free agency. The issue is a lack of commitment to him. His $500k in guarantees are a poor sign, though the Eagles don't put capital into this position ever. Swift was traded for a 2025 4th round pick (lol). Gainwell is a former 5th rounder. Boston Scott is on $1M in guarantees as core a special teamer. My boy Trey Sermon was literally free. In other words, nobody has commitment here because this is the smart-ass Eagles. We need to figure out the talent and skillset. ... Swift is explosive out in space but hasn't been a between-tackles stud, nor been trusted at the goal line. His issue is his high-value touches come via the air (48 targets vs. 4 inside the 5-yard line runs), and the Eagles were 31st in RB targets. Whoever wins the goal line role is the one to draft (see below: Sanders, Miles). That could be the 5'9/211 Swift. It's somewhat likely to be the 5'11/220 Penny. We'll be tracking this rotation in training camp.

2023 Philadelphia Eagles Fantasy ADPs

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  • WR6 A.J. Brown (8.7 overall) --> Mixing in

  • WR13 DeVonta Smith (21.0) --> Mixing in

  • QB2 Jalen Hurts (25.2) --> Buying

  • TE6 Dallas Goedert (74.4) --> Only in stacks

  • RB23 D'Andre Swift (78.1) --> Fading

  • RB38 Rashaad Penny (115.5) --> Buying

  • RB54 Kenneth Gainwell (172.0) --> Only in stacks

  • WR101 Quez Watkins (215.3) --> Only in stacks