Fantasy Football Daily - 2022 Franchise Focus: Philadelphia Eagles

Episode Date: July 1, 2022

Joe Dolan (@FG_Dolan) invites The Athletic's Bo Wulf (@Bo_Wulf) to discuss the upcoming season for the Philadelphia Eagles. The Franchise Focus Podcast series is brought to you by Underdog Fantasy (@UnderdogFantasy). New users can sign up to Underdog using promo code FANTASYPTS for up to $100 in bonus cash on their first deposit. Visit fantasypoints.com/underdog for more info. The podcast series is also sponsored by Evan's Sports Cards & Collectibles (@evanscards). Follow @EvansCards on Twitter for weekly updates and card releases, Like on Facebook, and head to evanssportsnj.com for more info, including the always-updated eBay store. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fantasypoints.com and the 2022 franchise focus series is sponsored by Underdog Fantasy, the best and easiest way to play fantasy sports, with no waivers, trades, or lineup setting for season-long drafts. New users can sign up to Underdog Fantasy Fantasy, PTS, for up to $100 in bonus cash on their first deposit. That's promo code FantasyPTS. Head to FantasyPoint.com slash Underdog for more information. Now let's get to the show. It's time for the Fantasy Points podcast brought to you by FantasyPoints.com. Top level fantasy football and NFL betting analysis from every perspective and angle,

from numbers to the film room with a single goal to help you score more fantasy points. Welcome back to the franchise focus podcast here at FantasyPoint.com. And to say I'm excited about this one would be a massive understatement. I have the eminent co-host of the Birds with Friends podcast. Fantastic writer for the athletic, purveyor of puns, especially avian puns. Those of you who are Eagle fans, Bo Wolf needs no introductions. But if you're not an Eagles fan and you just simply like puns involving birds,

I really highly recommend you check out the Birds with Friend podcast with Bo Wolf and Shield Capati and Zach Berman and all the guests that they have on that wonderful podcast. But he's a good friend of mine. You can follow him on Twitter at Bo underscore Wolf. That's WULF, not Wolf like the animal, but WULF, Bo. Bo, it is so glad. I'm so glad you're joining me here on the podcast.

My name's Joe Dolan, by the way, but nobody needs to know about that. We're going to be talking Philadelphia Eagles today with my friend, Bo, bird. Let's see, Bo, this is where I, this is, I have deduced the meaning of your podcast's name. You and Sheel and Z. Burm are friends, and you're talking birds, ergo, birds with friends. That's correct. It took me a while to figure that one out. But I'm glad you're with me today.

How are you doing today? I'm doing very well. Thanks for having me. It's always good to be with another member of the Chris McPherson coaching tree. Yes. CMAQ and I are always in contact here and talking Eagles. But I thought I'd lend another voice to the podcast. We both worked for CMAQ and Dave Spadero at Philadelphia Eagles.com in the past.

And we have since moved on to well, maybe for you. And it's like the Bill Walsh coaching tree, right? It's, I mean, the tentacles that have sprouted as I mixed metaphors is really quite impressive. I got a text from Bob Kent yesterday, by the way, Bo, wishing me a happy Father's Day. And I told them, well, Bob, I'll say hi to the dogs for you. That's very nice. It was good to talk to Bob.

By the way, I will say this. Maybe my, I should probably put this in my resume or something. I did get shouted out on Birds with Friends once, and it was only because you said you were breaking up with fantasy football, essentially. Have you totally broken up with fantasy football? Are you done? No, I still have a couple. I still have a couple. Like two leagues left that I really care about. But that's down from like 11 or 12. Well, I mean, I'm in 11 or 12, but I kind of do this for a living, so I can understand. It's your job, yeah.

Yeah, and I still have to resist, by the way, at times. Like, our guy Wes Huber at fantasy points is a complete sicko. And I mean, you know the sickos meme, right? Ha, ha, ha, yes. Of course, yeah. I mean, give me a draft. I want to do the draft. I'm always down for a draft.

Yeah, it's just the management. Well, he's trying to get me in a campus to Canton League boat. And essentially what that means is you draft a full college roster, play with that, and a full NFL roster play with that. And when guys graduate from your college roster to the NFL, you essentially, they graduate with your fantasy team. And I was just like, dude, I just don't know if I have the brain capacity for this. Right.

If you're going to do that, that's got to be your only league. Like, that's the only thing that you're caring about. And I've got so much I've got to do. But Wes is a sicko in all the best ways. The man adores fantasy football. And he's really, really good at it. Anyway, that's a story for another day. And you subscribe to FantasyPoints.com and our college football package. And if you are a sicko like Wes Huber, he'll fill you in on everything.

But, Bo, we're here to talk birds with my friend. And we're going to, let's start it with the most obvious question. I told you it would be stuff you can answer you in your sleep. And I'm sure, I mean, this is the kind of thing that you get asked all the time. Jalen Hertz. We know the Philadelphia Eagles have two first round picks in next year. year's draft. But you do hear the rumblings that, like, internally, they're really happy with them. They know he can work harder, but you also know they want to throw the ball more.

And they came out chucking the ball last year until, for whatever reason, hurts his struggles, the fact that they had zero wide receivers outside of Devante Smith. They just weren't able to continue doing that. But from an internal perspective, the people you know, maybe just some of your intuition. What do the Eagles think about Jalen Hertz? How high do they think his ceiling can go? Well, I think that is the big question. And I would say that the line of thinking that they have internally is that they don't know how high his ceiling is, but they do feel confident that whatever his ceiling is, he is wired to be able to reach that ceiling. That's what makes them confident. But I also think this is a good example of watch what they do and not listen to what they say.

because like the obfuscation is the point of them talking so often. And yes, like Jalen Hertz is the quarterback and they say they're very excited, but they also, you know, tried to trade for Russell Wilson earlier in the off season. They tried to be involved in the Deshawn Watson sweepstakes. So I think that tells you that they are always going to be sort of quarterback curious and looking for an upgrade if there is one out there. And it's going to like it's going to depend on how he does this year. And I think that's part of why they, you know, push the chips to the middle of the table.

a little bit on offense is that this year with AJ Brown, with one of the better array of weapons in the league and with a very good offensive line, there are no excuses for Jalen Hertz this year. This is going to be the best opportunity to evaluate him to see if he can take a leap from year two to year three like he took from year one to year two. I don't know how much this stuff matters.

I think it can maybe be, sorry, that's my dryer going off, but I don't know how much this stuff matters in terms of like we talk about it a lot, doesn't matter. But this will be the first time that Jalen Hertz is playing in the same offense for the same play caller for the second year in row since he was in high school. Like, we'll see if that matters. But this is, like, that's what the undercurrent of this season is all about. Like, I think the Eagles could win the division and be, like, potentially a top two or three

seed in the NFC. But the real stakes of this season are, can Jalen Hertz grab hold of the franchise starting quarterback job for a long time to come. Why does your dryer have that kind of the noise, man? I thought your house was burning down. There's going to be one more. It gives two buzzes, so be ready for the second one. That's going to be coming in a few seconds.

All right. It's about to come. But by the way, my dryer has a nice little cute little jingle when it finishes. I have the jingle for the washer. It's a very nice jingle. Yeah, it sounds a little bit like a revolutionary war, like the kind of thing they'd be playing like at the front of the line on the. flutes, but the dryer much harsher. Yeah. Yeah, well, we'll make sure you take care of that.

Anyway, I thought it was fun that you mentioned, like, you know, the Eagles being involved as promised. Oh, there it goes. There it goes. All right. That's like 10 seconds. There's only two, though. There's only two. I know. Okay. All right, that's it. All right. Anyway, let's settle down here. Yeah, I think it was funny you mentioned the Eagles being involved with Russell Wilson because I think if there's one thing that's obvious about Howie Roseman, the dude's a big game hunter, right? Like, Howie Roseman's not going to trade for Jimmy Garoppolo because he thinks he's a marginal upgrade on Jalen Hertz. Like, it's either go big or go home with Jalen Hertz. And, you know, obviously next year they're going to have the opportunity to do that. But also, it's, to have the

assets to keep your ear to the floor and understand what's going on. We just saw that with A.J. Brown. But, you know, you look at the Eagles and, yeah, oh, they can trade up in the draft next year. Well, what if Lamar Jackson's pissed off? What if Kyler Murray's piss off? What if Kyler he's pissed off, right? Like, these are the type of things that Howard Roseman likes to keep, keep some money in his wallet, so to speak, so he can always pursue something that is unexpected. Yeah, and he has said before that, like,

the thing that keeps him up at night is not, like, you know, past mistakes they've made or, like, who are they going to draft? What keeps him up is, is there something that's going on in the league that he doesn't know about? Like, is there someone available who he doesn't realize is available? So he's always trying to be as involved as possible in everything. And that's why they're trying to have Russell Wilson conversations. But I think you're right that for me, it seems a little bit more likely that if they're going to move on from Jalen Hertz next year,

it would be a veteran as opposed to a rookie. Because for one, like if there is a great rookie quarterback, the team's at the top of the draft. Like, you know, it doesn't matter that the Eagles have two first round picks and an extra second. and like they're going to take the quarterback, right? Like there's no amount of equity that you could, that you would give up in order to not take a quarterback if there's a quarterback. And the Eagles, by the way, are way better than the other teams that have like the two first round picks next year, right?

Right. Right. Most likely they're not going to, yeah. And there's five teams with two first round picks next year. Right. And so, yeah, like I don't expect that the Eagles are going to be a top like eight, you know, pick, nor is the Saints pick most likely that they have. And then the second thing is, you know, part of the A.J. Brown acquisition is like now you look at the Eagles, you've got A.J. Brown, who's 25. You've got Devante Smith, who's, I think, 23. You've got Dallas Goddard, who's 27. Like, that trio is really impressive. This is all of a sudden, an intriguing situation for a veteran quarterback if somebody like Kyler Murray or Lamar Jackson is looking to get out. So that, that to me seems like a little bit more likely than the rookie quarterback. But obviously, you know, who knows? We're, we're

trying to protect the future. And now let's get to the AJ Brown thing because just as it was last year, the best outcome for the Eagles isn't Russell Wilson coming available or, you know, this coming all season, Lamar Jackson coming available. The best outcome for the Eagles is Jalen Hertz establishes himself as the guy. They have two first round picks next year to supplement the roster around him. And that AJ Brown trade gives him the opportunity to do so. And now I want to just ask what the observations that you had OTAs, what little you might have seen of A.J. Brown on the field, knowing what Nick Siriani's offense is, how do you think he fits? And, you know, what kind of numbers do you think we can see him put up? Yeah, it's a good question. And this is another one of those

things where, like, I don't know how much it matters, but A.J. Brown is such a different type of receiver than Devante Smith, such a different body type, such a different skill set. And like, in my mind, it's like, well, you know, if you could. clone Devante Smith, wouldn't you be happy just having two of those guys? Like, do they need to have disparate skill sets? But they do. And one of the things that we heard last summer about, you know, Nick Siriani's offense, one of the things that he really wanted to emphasize was yards after catch.

And this offense was bad at that last year. I think bottom eight in the league. And so A.J. Brown, like, you know, it's him and Debo Samuel, right? The two best guys yards after the catch in the NFL. And so that's definitely going to be something that he brings to the table. in terms of like numbers, I just, I feel like this is going to be a frustrating offense for, for fantasy owners because it seems like it's going to be so week to week. Like in their mind, what they can do is adjust their game plan based on, you know, whatever the defense is throwing at them, right? So they could be the offense they were down the stretch last year where they're, you know, as run heavy as any offense in the league and just running the ball down your throat.

And the number is advantage that Jalen Hurts gives you in the running game is going to be hard to stop. And if defense is load up for that, well, then all of a sudden you can spread things out. You've got A.J. Brown, Devante Smith, Dallas Goddard, and Kwez Watkins. Like, that's as good a top four as there is in the league. So it seems to me like, you know, AJ Brown is not going to be as dependable as he was with the Titans in terms of you know he's going to be the number one target week in and week out. But I'm sure he's going to have those monster weeks. So in terms of like raw numbers, I'm sure that he's expecting to top 1,000 yards and probably be their number one red zone target, get, you know, seven, eight touchdowns, but it's hard for me to know when that stuff is going to come.

We know the Eagles want to throw the ball more. That's the entire focus of their offseason. You know, you go get A.J. Brown. But when J.L. Hertz is your quarterback, the run game has to be foundational. It has to be a huge part of what you do. They were the best run team in football a season ago. That's obviously not going to change. I mean, you've got a great offensive line that essentially is too deep right now, which they've done a good job building. But for Fantasy Bo, Jalen Hertz, everybody's excited about him, everybody's excited about A.J. Brown. But the running backs, even though they did nothing this offseason, they've done less than nothing. They didn't even bring Jordan Howard back as of yet.

The running back- Key word as of yet, yes, I think that's right. Yeah, as of yet. And then he can. But, I mean, the running backs are just not getting drafted. You broke up with fantasy football, at least in a big way, a little bit earlier a couple years ago. However, fantasy players now are breaking up with Miles Sanders. They want nothing to do with them. The guys like an eighth round pick, Kenny Gainwell's available 100 plus picks into a draft. But ultimately, this is still going to be a good running football team, right? Like, what am I missing here?

Yeah, absolutely. And I think the Eagles are probably a little bit frustrated with Miles Sanders, too. You know, he has had trouble staying healthy, and he is not like the most dependable running back. He is certainly their most explosive running back. Like he led the group. I think that this is a case of where the numbers tell the accurate story. Like Miles Sanders led the running backs last year in yards per carry. But if you look at success rate, he was dead last.

And that's because he is not like willing to do the Jordan Howard thing and hit the hole decisively take, you know, four, five, six yards and get ready to go for the next down. He's going to dance around a little bit, look for a big play. And I don't know if that's, I don't know if that's best. for this offense, for what they want. Kenny Gainwell, I think, is interesting. I think we think of him as having something of a bit of a disappointing year, but, you know, he did have like 253 receiving yards,

almost 300 rushing yards. Now one of those came in a garbage time game in Week 17. But I think there's a chance that he takes a bit of a leap and could be maybe a little bit more dependable than Miles Sanders. You talked about Jordan Howard. I wouldn't be surprised if they resign him at some point. And right now Kennedy Brooks, the undrafted guy from Oklahoma, is the only big back they have. And they gave him a pretty handsome guarantee in terms of his undrafted contract.

And then there's Boston Scott who is always still there and available. I think it's going to be probably frustrating as it has been. Now, Miles Sanders is entering a contract year. So if you think that gives him a bump, then maybe he's more willing to play through things and take his game to a slightly different level. But my expectation is that this is probably Miles Sanders last year with the Eagles, barring like some kind of franchise tag thing. I don't think they're planning to sign him to a long-term deal.

I thought it was funny that you mentioned Kenny Gainwell being talked about as if he had a disappointing season. Now, the fact that you nailed his receiving yards exactly, Bo, probably is going to make this moot. But I just want to ask the question just for posterity so fantasy players can hear this. Bo, do you know how many touchdowns Kenny Gainwell scored last year? I do only because I looked at it like earlier today, but I was surprised. I mean, well, Miles Center's at zero, right? And so for Kenny Gainwell, I'll let you give the answer, but it is more than I certainly expected.

He scored six touchdowns last year, like five rushing and one receiving. And like, it's kind of weird. Like, I don't know if I remember a play he made. Like, it's just one of those things where like, I don't know. So I'm kind of like in on Gainwell a little bit. Like, right, Miles Sanders is in a contract year. Maybe Gainwell is just the guy. Maybe the light goes on in his second year.

But knowing that this team is going to run the phone. And if you want to talk yourself into that, you can remember that Gainwell didn't play in 2020, right? Because he took that year off for COVID. So maybe there was a little bit of rust for him to shake off. He was a younger player. So, yeah, I can see that. From Yazoo City, Mississippi, by the way, same as Fletcher Cox. That's right.

Yeah. Anyway, yes, yes. The sprawling metropolis that is Yazoo city. So anyway, I think I went through the exercise. Sorry to cut you off. I think I went through the exercise a week ago of seeing who was the Eagles' leading point score fantasy-wise in terms of receiving week in and week out. And Gainwell was the leader on the entire Eagles team, I think two or three times, probably in part because of some of those receptions. But that was just as a receiver out of the backfield, not even.

factoring in his running in those games. So I think he does bring some upside. Yeah, for sure. And like I said, I want to be in the business of like looking at what a team does well and if there's something exploitable for fantasy for that. Like the, look, the Eagles are going to throw the ball more barring Jalen Hertz falling completely on his face. And if he does, they'll go to Gardner Minchu. But I mean, that would have to be a Wensian level 20-20, like collapse for Jalen Hertz. But I mean, ultimately they're going to run the football well, whether it's hurts, whether it's Minchu, whoever they put out there. And this is an exploitable situation here because Sanders Gamewell, I mean, Boston Scott's free,

but Sanders and Gamewell are pretty cheap in and of themselves. So certainly something that I'm looking to exploit. Now, Beau, before we wrap this up, I told you we keep it to under 20 minutes. You and I shot the shit a little bit, so I expected to do that. But I don't mean to put you on the spot here, but I'm finishing all of these interviews on the franchise focus podcast series by asking the beatwriter, one guy who might surprise, might not be on the tip of the tongue of fantasy players,

even if the Eagle fans who listen to Birds with Friends know what you're going to say, somebody for fantasy players who might be able to contribute in a way that would be a little bit unexpected. Who's your guy for the Eagles? Yeah, to me, it's Cuez Watkins. And you talk about looking at numbers that surprised you from last year. How many receiving yards do you think Cuez Watkins had last year? I would say like 470. That would be my guess off the top of my head. 647.

Wow. Yeah, 647. We did a draft on Birds with Friends last week about like NFC East rosters. And Zach Berman, my co-host, took Kenny Gallaudet over Quez Watkins. And I, it's like, I know he's got more name recognition, but Kenny Gallaudet had like 400 receiving yards last year, played 14 games. Now we had like a 90-yard reception. Maybe that buoys it a little bit. And now you get to hear the washing jingle in the background.

But Quez Watkins, I think he brings like the most dynamic speed element that they have in this offense. I think if you're if you're a best ball player, I think Kwez Watkins is going to be like a usable player for you several weeks. He's the biggest play threat they have. And you just like think about it in terms of, you know, describing A.J. Brown as like a force multiplier, right? Like, defenses are going to look at AJ Brown. They're going to look at Devante Smith. They're going to look at Dallas Goddard. It's not like they can really give resources to worrying about Kwez Watkins down the field.

And I think he's a really good player. And for him to be their number four option in the passing game, I think that's going to lead to several big plays. Yeah, I remember the 91-yard reception for Kwez Watkins because if I'm not mistaken, the Eagles didn't score on that drive, even a field goal. Correct, yeah. It was like one of the longest receptions. in NFL history that did not lead to points. Yeah, unbelievable.

Also, I will say this about Quez Watkins, Bo. I know we have to get some Jersey aesthetics in here on the podcast. I don't know how big a jersey number guy you are. Maybe not as big as Jimmy Kempski. But Questwarkins, are we talking Eagles font? Their jersey font, it's terrible. The 16 and the 18, the 6 and the 8 looks too similar. Oh, it is.

But I will say this, though, massive number downgrade from Kwez Watkins' rookie season. I don't know what it is about the new generation, but 80 is a much better wide receiver number than 16. I'm with you. I'm with you. Nobody wears 80 anymore. It's a good number. It's a good wide receiver number.

Get it out there. Cuez Watkins, you should switch back, my man. Anyway, great job by Bo Wolf. You can follow him on Twitter at Bo underscore Wolf. Make sure you listen to Birds with Friends. If you have any interest in the Philadelphia Eagles at all, or, again, just avian dinosaurs. If you have any interest in that,

just turn into Birds with Friends because it will tickle your fancy. Bo. much, my friend. It was good talking to you, and maybe we'll have you back in the near future. Thank you very much, Joe. Have a good summer. You too, my friend. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Fantasy Points podcast. Remember to subscribe, rate, and review on your favorite platform, and come join the roster at Fantasypoints.com.