The Eagles are a tough team to deal with for the overvalued/undervalued/sleeper articles that I’m writing for every team this summer. The reason? They’re very usage-dense, and they have four bona fide fantasy football studs on their roster… plus… Dallas Goedert. So, I am using one of my two punts I get each you to let you know that there isn’t really a sleeper on this roster. Sure, injuries could throw Will Shipley, Kenneth Gainwell, or Johnny Wilson into a bigger role. But, I’d rather leave you a bit short of three players in this one than give you advice that I pull out of thin air. That having been said, let’s take a look at an undervalued Eagle and an overvalued Eagle in 2024 fantasy football drafts!
Undervalued: DeVonta Smith, Wide Receiver (WR23, Pick 40 Overall)
I pulled ADP for this exercise back in June, and I’ve been updating it as I’ve gone along. For some reason, DeVonta Smith (who I considered a mild value back in June) has dropped from Pick 36 to Pick 40. He’s going the wrong direction, and I am not entirely sure why. Smith finished as WR20 last season, and they added Kellen Moore at offensive coordinator to the mix, who is most certainly going to make things work better for the Eagles’ passing game. While he struggled with the Chargers last season, he put together a top six-offense in every season where Dak Prescott’s ankle never went the wrong direction. The Eagles also doubled-down on their commitment to Smith, inking him to a three-year, $75 million contract extension this offseason, to lock him up through 2028.
DeVonta Smith has been a fantasy football mainstay since joining the league. He averages 4.8 catches for 63.6 yards per game, and has increased his catch rate every year of his career, while maintaining respectable touchdown counts (5, 7, and 7 in his three seasons). WR23 feels like his floor, and should everything go to plan in Philadelphia, you have a nice pick on your hands here in 2024 fantasy football leagues.
Overvalued: Dallas Goedert, Tight End (TE11, Pick 102 Overall)
I have been a big proponent of diving into “The Blob” in years past. But, with the newest iteration of fantasy-viable tight ends there in the NFL, I am becoming a big more… fastidious with my tight end selections. I have truly struggled to find a good reason to draft Dallas Goedert in fantasy football leagues. He’s fine, he didn’t take your team down last year, but he finished as TE12 in fantasy points per game. He’s now going as TE11, and I am uncertain what his upside might be. He was the clear #3 target on the 2023 Eagles, and with this role, he finished with just four top-twelve weeks. He gripped for dear life to stay above streaming tight ends, but never really made it up to the ranks of the sleeper tight ends who passed him.
At TE12 last year, seven tight ends who went after Goedert finished ahead of him. And that, really, is my main issue with Dallas Goedert. There’s not really a reason to take him; his best-case scenario is that he is too good to drop, but not good enough to be a difference maker at the position. He was used plenty last season, ranking inside the top-14 at tight end in targets, routes, slot snaps, red zone targets, receptions, receiving yards, and yards after the catch. He had just three touchdowns, and that is a number that is unlikely to change this year, what with the Eagles now having two premiere goal line options in Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley.
There’s no reason to draft Dallas Goedert. He’s not going to do enough to be a difference maker for you, and he’s clogging your roster spots away from tight ends that have upside. He’s filler, and filler you can get on the waiver wire, not in the draft.
[Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dallas_Goedert_TD_catch.jpg, cropped under CC BY SA 2.0]
