The Philadelphia Eagles take on the Pittsburgh Steelers today at 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS. Before setting your fantasy lineups for standard, PPR, Draft Kings, or Fan Duel leagues; here’s some Eagles players to consider.
Nelson Agholor
I know, starting Agholor is risky, but it should pay off in this game. The Steelers have struggled so far this season covering the shifty, elusive, and dynamic type of wide receivers. Believe it or not, that’s exactly what Agholor is.
Redskins wide receiver, DeSean Jackson, went off for 102 receiving yards on six catches, while being targeted ten times. versus the Steelers in week one. Bengals rookie wide receiver, Tyler Boyd, had six catches on eight targets for 78 yards. He was the Bengals most targeted wide receiver in the game and it was on his second career game in the NFL.
Agholor should be expected to get most of the looks throughout the contest solely based on the fact that he is a matchup problem for the Steelers. They proved to be capable of defending physical wide receivers, as the Steelers secondary limited Pierre Garçon and AJ Green to minimal impacts in their first two games.
Darren Sproles
Sproles is having a quiet season so far, but his breakout game could come today. The Steelers have been struggling with receiving caliber running backs, and the screen passes could come Sproles way numerous times today in order to stretch the field.
This is a favorable matchup for Sproles. No one on the Steelers defense is capable of covering the shifty elusive running back. The Eagles keys to thriving on offense today could rest solely on Agholor and Sproles production, since the Steelers have struggled with those type of caliber players. Bengals running back, Gio Bernard, caught the ball nine times on 11 targets for 100 receiving yards and a touchdown.
The Eagles might also use rookie running back, Wendell Smallwood, in the same capacity as Sproles today as well, but look for Sproles to have a noticeable impact.
Trey Burton
Another risky start, but one that is explainable is Trey Burton. Burton has stepped up in Ertz’s absence since the tight end has been missing action due to injury.
Burton caught five of his seven targets on Monday night, while also scoring a touchdown. His confidence should be through the roof going into this matchup with the Steelers, as he looks to build momentum off of his breakout game.
The Steelers have played well versus tight ends this season. They’ve limited Redskins star tight end, Jordan Reed, to seven catches for 64 receiving yards and the Bengals tight end group to six catches for 44 yards (Tyler Eifert was out with injury). The odd thing, however, is how many targets each of the tight ends are getting.
The Steelers defense has been giving up a league worst 24 targets to opposing tight ends. Given the Eagles sturdy tight end duo of Brent Celek and Burton, this bodes well for the offense heading into his matchup. Don’t be surprised if Burton scores again in his second career start.
