Daily Fantasy Football Matchups: Philadelphia Eagles (23.25) at New York Giants (20.25)
Philadelphia Passing Game
The Eagles are coming off their bye week and looking significantly more healthy at the skill positions, which is fantastic news for Carson Wentz, who had an atrocious game against the Cowboys in week 8. His 123 yards passing were by far a season low, as were his 4.6 yards per attempt. It also marked his fifth multi-interception game of the season, but now he gets to face a Giants defense that he just torched in week 7 for over 350 yards passing and three total touchdowns. Particularly with players like Miles Sanders and Alshon Jeffery set to return (along with Jalen Reagor and Dallas Goedert, who returned before the bye), it’s easy to get excited about this Philadelphia offense that hasn’t performed up to lofty standards to this point.
The Giants continue to struggle as a defensive unit, ranking 23rd in yards allowed per attempt and below league average in Football Outsiders’ pass DVOA. Even with cornerback James Bradberry, still ranked as one of PFF’s top 10 cornerbacks in defensive rating, the Giants as a team rank 27th in PFF’s coverage grade. Washington’s Alex Smith threw for over 300 yards in backup duties a week ago against this defense. Needless to say, Wentz and company should find exploitable spots in the Giants’ secondary, and the receivers need to take advantage.
In his first action since week 1, Reagor returned to a season-high seven targets against the Cowboys, though not much ended up coming from all that usage with just 16 yards. It was an encouraging first step in reacclimating Reagor to the offense, and his average depth of target of 12.5 is a great reminder of his big-play ability. The production leader was still Travis Fulgham in week 8, however, as Fulgham enjoyed his fourth straight afternoon of 70 or more receiving yards. Since entering the starting lineup in week 4, Fulgham has participated on 100% of Eagles’ pass routes and put up 50 or more receiving yards in every single game.
It will be interesting, as Jeffrey (and eventually Zach Ertz and DeSean Jackson) re-enter the fold, if Wentz and Doug Pederson continue to scheme looks for their breakout receiver. The Awesemo projections are right in line with Fulgham’s 13th-highest salary on the main slate. They are much more bullish on Goedert than one might expect. But his salary of $4,200 is very appealing, allowing for tons of lineup differentiation at the other positions. It should be mentioned, however, he’s seen just one target since coming back into the lineup.
Editor’s Note:
Looking to hedge your daily fantasy football lineups with some prop bets? Join the future of NFL DFS by checking out OddsShopper today. Shopping for the best odds on a bet is the most efficient way to beat the books. As well, with an Awesemo+ package you get stats broken down from our daily fantasy football projections so you can get an edge on the field. Just click on the image below to start shopping!
Philadelphia Rushing Game
The Eagles will welcome back Sanders this weekend after an extended absence due to an ankle injury sustained in week 6. Before that, Sanders had been masterful, never recording fewer than 76 total yards in a game and reaching 99 yards in 80% of his starts. He currently ranks 10th in the NFL in percentage of rushes to go for 10 or more yards and sixth in true yards per carry. He’s hit 100 yards in every game in which he’s crested 20 opportunities in a game, and that’s the type of workload Sanders should see in a winnable matchup against the Giants in week 10.
New York tends to prioritize stopping the run, ranking in the top four in yards allowed per carry when looking at the entire season. But they’ve slipped as of late, ranking just 11th in that metric over the last three weeks (one of those games was against the Eagles). During that same span, the Giants rank 29th in points allowed per play, yet another positive indicator for Sanders and the Eagle’s ground attack. Boston Scott (who was used heavily as a rusher and in the passing game in the first contest between these two squads) will still be involved for four to seven opportunities of his own, likely on third downs or 2-minute situations, but Sanders remains a rock-solid play as the eight-highest-salary running back on the main slate.
New York Giants Passing Game
Week 9 was yet another middling performance from Daniel Jones and the Giants’ offense. Jones had plenty of attempts, throwing 35 times (third most in a game this season), but still only managed 204 yards and touchdown while adding next to nothing with his legs. Jones has now thrown for between 5.3 and 6.8 yards per attempt in every single game this season, shrinking his range of outcomes since he’ll need to rely on a multi-touchdown (or quality rushing) performance to reach the top 10 quarterbacks in fantasy scoring. In fact, he hasn’t finished higher than 11th among quarterbacks this season. He also hasn’t had a game with three or more total touchdowns since 2019. This is a low-floor, low-ceiling offense. Fantasy gamers: Use Jones and his receiving weapons at your own risk, especially against an Eagles secondary that ranks third in yards allowed per attempt and fourth in points per play over the last three weeks.
For those willing embrace the risk and play receivers from the Giants, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to take a look at tight end Evan Engram, who has enjoyed target totals of nine, 10 and 10 over his last three games, though it’s never resulted in more than 61 yards receiving during that span. Still, it’s an immense amount of usage at the tight end position, where fantasy gamers are typically scraping the bottom of the opportunity barrel and looking mostly for touchdowns. It’s rare that we can find tight ends outside the top five in salary that are projected for 8-10 targets, but that’s exactly what we have in Engram this week. The Eagles rank 30th in schedule-adjusted fantasy points allowed to the tight end position this season. Beyond that, and considering salary, the Awesemo projections see Sterling Shepard, who also had a double-digit target game since returning to the lineup, as the best value amongst the Giants’ big three of Shepard, Darius Slayton and Golden Tate, who returns to the lineup after a one-game disciplinary suspension. Tournament players could absolutely choose to roster Slayton as the 40th-highest-salary wideout this weekend, but his last 100-yard game came in week 5. He hasn’t crested 60 receiving yards since that point.
New York Giants Rushing Game
With Devonta Freeman (somewhat) surprisingly inactive last week, Wayne Gallman saw a season-high 16 opportunities in the Giants’ week 9 win over division-rival Washington. Gallman had 14 rushes and two targets and finished the day with a decent 77 total yards and a score, but he also ceded 10 opportunities to veteran Alfred Morris. Morris saw his most substantial workload as a member of the Giants last week, totaling 71 yards of his own. Freeman is practicing this week and is trending towards playing, but the same was true last week, which means this backfield’s value may continue to morph leading up to kickoff on Sunday. The matchup against Philadelphia isn’t particularly poor for the Giants’ running game either, as the Eagles have dipped in defensive performance over their last three games, ranking in the bottom five teams in yards allowed per carry.
It may not matter, however, if the Giants choose to split their backfield touches amongst all three of Freeman, Gallman and Morris, especially because Dion Lewis continues to get his 3-7 looks per game, primarily through the air. Though one back may ultimately emerge, this situation remains extremely difficult to suss out, and fantasy gamers wouldn’t be crazy at all if they labeled this backfield as stay-away. As things stand midweek, the Awesemo projections like Freeman most at $4,600 in salary this weekend, assuming he plays. If not, Gallman would likely make the most sense, though he’s just $100 less.
Prediction: Giants 21, Eagles 20
Jump to Another Game
Daily Fantasy Football Matchups: Early Games
Jacksonville Jaguars at Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans at Cleveland Browns
Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers
Washington Football Team at Detroit Lions
Daily Fantasy Football Matchups: Afternoon Games
Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers
Buffalo Bills at Arizona Cardinals
Denver Broncos at Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers at Miami Dolphins
San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints
Seattle Seahawks at Los Angeles Rams
Looking for more NFL DFS picks and daily fantasy football matchups content? We have loads of articles, data and more on the Awesemo NFL home page. Just click HERE.
