Fantasy football booms and busts: Saquon Barkley gets revenge as the Eagles finally deliver in Week 7

I don’t know why the Eagles can’t start on time these days. Did they get bad directions from the navigation? Was it an AM/PM problem with the alarm clock?

But while the Eagles are usually late to the party, they generally make up for it. You can’t always get what you want, but you might get what you need.

The Primary Eagles were atop the Week 7 fantasy rankings when the early window closed on Sunday. Saquon Barkley had a huge return game against the Giants (187 total yards, two touchdowns) and moved into the RB2 spot. Jalen Hurts threw just 14 passes but was the top quarterback with three touchdowns (two rushing) as of 4:25 p.m. ET. AJ Brown had to settle for just five goals, but it doesn’t take much to get in the net. He caught them all for 89 yards, including a 41-yard score. That landed him at WR5 that afternoon.

Philadelphia’s 28-3 victory over the Giants had the common bugbear – no points in the first quarter. Shockingly, the Eagles haven’t had a point in the first quarter all season. Will it take a while for Hurts to find a rhythm? Maybe play-caller Kellen Moore needs time to adjust. Of course, this is a minor quibble when the fantasy points finally arrive. But sooner or later a team will likely pay for those missed opportunities.

Barkley, Hurts and Brown also benefit from the narrowness of the Philly utility tree. Hurts generally focuses on just three players when he passes — Brown, Barkley and Sunday’s only fantasy guy, DeVonta Smith (two targets, one catch for minus yardage). Barkley left some work to Kenneth Gainwell and Will Shipley at this point, but that won’t happen if the games are closely contested. Barkley’s fantasy day would have been absurd if the Giants had actually bounced back in that game.

When you add it all up, this offense has four set-and-forget players. Barkley could go first overall if you recast him tomorrow (and yes, there’s still time for that at Yahoo). Brown would likely be a second-round pick, Smith a third-round pick, I assume. If you trust Hurts to maintain some rushing equity around the net, he’s also a good choice.

Just when it seemed like we could trust Daniel Jones, this happened in the last two weeks. The wild trend with the Giants is the home/away split – for some reason Jones plays much better away and tends to struggle at home. He finished the game with 99 passing yards and zero touchdowns before being mercifully benched – and he recorded seven sacks. To be fair, Drew Lock didn’t move the offense either – somehow he was even worse.

Tyrone Tracy had nine touches of the ball, Devin Singletary only six. They didn’t make any spectacular plays, but they also needed the downfield passing game to keep the offense on schedule. Malik Nabers failed with eight goals at 4:41:0. Wan’Dale Robinson had a representative game, nine appearances but a 6-23-0 return. Unfortunately, Darius Slayton probably doesn’t play a role here if everyone else is healthy. I wonder if a rival team would inquire about Slayton.

Other booms and busts in Week 6

Mixed record for the Lions’ fantasy assets

Not every Lions player came home in an entertaining 31-29 win at Minnesota, but there were three players who made a name for themselves. Jahmyr Gibbs stepped into a bigger rule and had 160 total yards and two scores – that’s a good 30 fantasy points and the RB1 tag at press time. Amon-Ra St. Brown also had his best game of the year, scoring all of his goals with an 8-112-1 performance. He has quietly scored in four straight games and is currently ranked No. 1 in WR rating. The eternally underrated Jared Goff completed 22 of 25 passes for 280 yards and two scores. He lost a fumble and collected four sacks, the price of doing so against a Brian Flores defense. We’ll take it anyway.

It wasn’t a clean game for Detroit’s other primary players. David Montgomery lost a fumble and battled a knee injury but returned. His touchdown streak ended and his 12 touchdowns came for a modest 70 yards. Sam LaPorta had a 25-yard catch but was only targeted one more time. He is not a prominent part of this offense at this time. Jameson Williams was also held back, only one target, one catch for negative yardage.

LaPorta is the trickiest kind of fantasy commodity, someone too good to drop but not consistent enough to trust. I know the tight end position has been a mess all fall, but his managers need to at least try to find an alternative upside.

Anthony Richardson fights in return

Before the season, some experts thought Anthony Richardson could be the fantasy QB1. In reality, he’s his own team’s second-best quarterback behind Joe Flacco, a 39-year-old veteran who presumably retired not long ago.

The Colts beat the Dolphins 16-10, they’ll take it. But Richardson still looked lost. He completed just 10 of 24 passes for a meager 129 yards, with no touchdowns. He managed a 22-yard run, but otherwise stayed on the ground and completed 14 totes for 56 yards. And with Richardson struggling, the passing game in Indianapolis was also a breeze. Michael Pittman somehow went 3-63-0 on five targets, but all other fantasy considerations in the receiver room were 15 yards or less.

Tyler Goodson needed touchdown deodorant, but 14-51-1 on the ground will play in fantasy. He didn’t see any targets. Trey Sermon was more efficient in his work (nine touches, 49 yards), but neither player will make you forget Marshall Faulk or Edgerrin James. The Colts are desperate to bring Jonathan Taylor back, especially given the difficult schedule. The next five weeks: Texans, Vikings, Bills, Jets, Lions.

note: I will do additional analysis for Week 7 later in the day.