Eagles Beat: Sorting out the team's backfield

May 19, 2015

Philly.com's Zach Berman on the Eagles' new running backs:

Last season was the first time DeMarco Murray played 16 games, and he had 392 carries. That was the most by any running back since Larry Johnson in 2006. Johnson never had another 1,000-yard season.

Don’t expect Murray to near that carry total this season. He will no doubt be the featured running back, but coach Chip Kelly wants carries to be shared. That’s where Ryan Mathews comes in.

Mathews appeared at first to be the consolation prize to missing out on Gore, but the Eagles still signed him. The former first-round pick is a talented rusher who has twice topped 1,000 yards, but injuries have also been an ongoing issue. He had a career-low 330 yards last season while playing on six games. I wouldn't count on him carrying the ball more than 220 times like he did in his 1,000-yard season (unless Murray gets injured), but he can find a sweet spot in the mid-100s.

Fantasy Impact:

We currently project Mathews for 132 carries for 561 yards, which jibes with the numbers that Berman had in mind. We project Murray for 285 carries (for 1,279 yards), which is a far cry from the 392 totes he saw last season. Berman went on to say that the team "needs to get" Darren Sproles more involved, but that may be tough since the team replaced LeSean McCoy with two new running backs.

yesterday

Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson officially Out for Week 12

Adam Schefter

yesterday · 4:12 PM EST

Cowboys list TE Jake Ferguson as out for Sunday’s game vs. Washington due to his concussion.

Related Players: Luke Schoonmaker

Fantasy Impact:

This puts Schoonmaker more or less in TE streaming consideration, but there are far better options this week, which puts him low on the totem pole.

Eagles WR DeVonta Smith officially Out for Week 12

Mike Garafolo

yesterday · 4:04 PM EST

Eagles ruled out WR DeVonta Smith (hamstring) for Sunday against the Rams.

Related Players: A.J. Brown, Jahan Dotson, Johnny Wilson, Dallas Goedert

Fantasy Impact:

It's a bit of a crapshoot as to who the "WR2" on the offense will be, but now that he's ruled out, Brown and Goedert should get a nice boost to their bottom line. That would lock Goedert into a no-doubt TE1 role in Week 12.