Team news: Philadelphia Eagles | Page 10

In the last 10 years, five running backs have been taken in the top 10. Four of the five (Saquon Barkley, Ezekiel Elliott, Leonard Fournette and Todd Gurley) had 229 carries or more in their rookie season. The fifth (Christian McCaffrey) had only 117 carries but added 80 catches. When teams draft backs in the top 10, like Bijan Robinson, they use them a lot.

Related players: Tyler Allgeier, Cordarrelle Patterson

The author went on to say Allgeier will still get plenty of use because the Falcons ran the ball an NFL-high 559 times last year. So even if Robinson carries the ball 250 times, there are still plenty of carries to go around. Patterson’s role is a little bit more of a mystery, the story added. He'll be third on the team in carries, according to the author, but how far back he’s going to be is a question mark. The prediction is Patterson's 144 carries from a year ago could get cut in half this season.

Another trade: Broncos traded TE Albert Okwuegbunam and a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Eagles for a 2025 sixth-round pick, per sources.

Related players: Dallas Goedert, Grant Calcaterra, Jack Stoll

Reports said the Broncos were expected to cut Albert O earlier today, but the Eagles make the trade and he'll likely eventually slot in as the team's TE2 behind Goedert.

“I mean, I feel like Daniel Jones [has] kind of been counted out the majority of his life,” Saquon Barkley told The Post this week. “He was a walk-on quarterback for Duke, and to get drafted to the New York Giants, everyone thinks he’s not going to be worth a thing, at all. I think he’s silenced all those critics.

“I don’t want to speak for DJ but he’s gonna come in every single day with the same mindset, be the leader that we need. You can see his swagger has grown a little bit more after being involved in the system, understanding the system even better.”

Barkley added everyone will see when the team is playing games. But he did mention a lack of consistency over the past several years going from Pat Shurmur to Joe Judge to Brian Daboll. Barkley added: “You get to be under a system for another year, have all the coaches basically come back, that just helps your confidence grow. When your confidence grows you get that swagger.” Meanwhile, you'll find Jones ranked 10th among our QBs this season. John Paulsen points out Jones was a top-10 fantasy quarterback in 2022 in his first season with Daboll, and that was with an injury-riddled (and suspect) receiving corps. Thus far, the Giants have added an impact tight end (Darren Waller) and re-signed both Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton.

The Eagles have given away all the signs throughout training camp where Kenneth Gainwell stands on this roster. He's the back they trust the most in late-game and pressure situations, showcasing that by not playing him in the preseason opener (along with the designated players who weren't going to play).

Philadelphia backed that up by having Gainwell on the first team of 11-on-11s during the joint practice, getting the first snaps before D'Andre Swift spelled him. Swift is the back splitting the reps with Gainwell, as the Eagles line him out wide and use his explosiveness in pass-catching.

Related players: Rashaad Penny

The story went on to say Gainwell is the lead guy, but Swift is the counter punch. They are the 1-2 combination at running back, splitting the bulk of the touches. Swift has had an excellent camp and will be in integral part of the offense, the story went on to say. There was no mention of Penny. We've already reflected this on our depth chart and it's no surprise considering Gainwell had a big role last year even with Miles Sanders on the team.

OC Mike Kafka said early in camp that it was “too early to tell” if Sauqon Barkley would be more of a receiver but “we’re practicing all kinds of things with people at every position.”

But it appears that the brain trust might be reconsidering because Barkley has been an early read on more passes — returning to a plan that was unveiled in May 2022 but scrapped before the season for reasons that Barkley declined to share on the podcast.

Related players: Matt Breida, Gary Brightwell, James Robinson, Eric Gray

The story pointed out the irony in Barkley potentially getting his wish to show that he can be a Christian McCaffrey-type dual threat is that the contract he finally agreed to — one-year, $10.1 million with an additional $909,000 in incentives — pays extra for a would-be career-high 1,350 rushing yards and for 65 receptions. But increased receptions, the story said, likely means fewer carries — making it difficult to hit both markers — to manage Barkley’s workload and keep him healthy. For fantasy purposes, an increased workload in the passing game would give a bump to Barkley's value in PPR leagues. Barkley had 91 receptions his rookie season but then 52 in 2019, 41 in 2021 and last year he had 57. He was injured most of 2020.

Much like his first two seasons, Kenneth Gainwell is the team’s featured running back during the two-minute drill.

Related Players: Rashaad Penny, D'Andre Swift

Though we've tried to make this work in fantasy before, it's very unlikely that Gainwell is going to be used enough to play outside of sneaky DFS Showdown slates. What is likely, is that Swift's role in this offense might be squeezed into a much smaller box than we think it's going to. With a healthy Penny being the early down back, Gainwell handling the two-minute drill, and Jalen Hurts running the ball instead of checking it down, you have to squint to see RB3 production for Swift.

The Giants and star RB Saquon Barkley agreed to terms on a new 1-year deal worth up to $11M, as Barkley gives himself a chance to beat the franchise tag. He gets a $2M signing bonus. Bottom line: Barkley is coming in & will be at training camp.

Related Players: Matt Breida, Eric Gray

With no holdout looming, this locks Barkley into a top-10 fantasy RB. He still remains a little questionable as a mid-first-round option but should be targeted if he's dropping much further than that.

Saquon Barkley said recently at his camp that he will not make a "definitive declaration" about what he's going to do for the 2023 season until we get to the July 17th deadline for franchise-tagged players to get a long-term extension. Per Rapoport, there is still room for a deal. Talks are "back on" for a possible extension beyond the franchise tag.

Related Players: Matt Breida, Eric Gray, Gary Brightwell

This is a positive spin after Barkley mentioned less than two weeks ago that he would consider sitting out the entirety of the 2023 season if he needs to. A long-term deal for the running back entering his sixth year seems unlikely, but there's no doubt that Barkley remains one of the most talented backs in the league when healthy.

Saquon Barkley and the New York Giants have until July 17 to come to a long-term contract, or the running back will play 2023 under the $10.1 million franchise tag.

Unless he sits out the entire season.

Barkley told reporters Sunday following his youth football camp in Jersey City that sitting out the campaign is an option he'd consider if it comes to that.

Related Players: Matt Breida, Eric Gray, Gary Brightwell

Most fantasy players will remember the disastrous results that came when Le'Veon Bell sat out a season as an aging running back and the comparisons between that situation and this are pretty stark. It's quite the negotiating ploy but sitting out a season in what could be the twilight of his career is unlikely to translate to future success on the field.

Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell have had their turns with the ball to little success, so Eric Gray may be the most interesting dart throw while we ponder Barkley's future.

The players projected at the top of the depth chart are Kadarius Toney, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Skyy Moore. But Mahomes, at this point, doesn’t know which of his teammates is the favorite to be the No. 4 receiver. Rookie Rashee Rice, a second-round pick, didn’t make any major mistakes Wednesday and caught an easy touchdown pass from backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert. Receivers Richie James and Justyn Ross were also impressive with their targets.

Related Players: John Ross

This is an interesting observation from beat writer Nate Taylor, as the current order of the KC depth chart according to Underdog ADP is; Toney, Moore, Rice, MVS, Richie James. Not only that, but Rice is going almost three entire rounds prior to Valdes-Scantling even though it seems he may be behind him in 3WR-sets.

We're still very early in the process and the rookie could very easily find the field more as the summer months move on, but MVS might need to be in higher consideration.