The Eagles were given some great news earlier this week. Dallas Goedert is eligible to play this weekend after previously being placed on the COVID-19/reserve list. This comes days after trading away Zach Ertz, which will naturally push Goedert into the spotlight. Previous games might lead you to believe that this offense isn’t exactly going to enable the South Dakota State product to thrive, but that may all change on Sunday afternoon.
With Ertz now out of the picture, Goedert should really cement his spot as TE1. The 6’5, 265 lbs pass catcher has actually played in more snaps than Ertz in every game this season, but the stats don’t necessarily reflect it. Zach Ertz has actually been targeted 12 times more than the new TE1 and has 3 more receptions, but Goedert has 27 more receiving yards. With Hurts struggling to make things happen over the middle, there’s a real need now for Goedert be the change…and the good news is that this weekend provides the perfect opportunity to get the ball rolling.
According to Jacob Gibbs of CBS Fantasy, Dallas Goedert ranks 4th among all NFL TE’s when it comes to yard per route run rate since the start of 2020.
So while Goedert might not be setting the field on fire statistically, he’s certainly ripping up the turf on his routes.
The Las Vegas Raiders have been pretty bad when facing tight ends this season, with opposing offenses targetting their bigger bodies more than they do against 30 other teams. Over the past three weeks, they’ve conceded 265 yards and 4 touchdowns. Not great.
Along with conceding 4 touchdowns to the position on the year (tied 2nd most), they have surrendered 407 yards, showing just how bad the recent run of form has been. This, partnered with a defense that leans on zone packages even more than Philadelphia’s should open up plenty of pockets for Dallas Goedert to bully his way into.
Goedert has played better against zonal defenses in the past and his yards per route compared to when he plays zone defenses is drastically different. There’s 0.63 yards per route extra that he’s able to find (since 2020) , per Gibbs, when facing zonal looks.
Jalen Hurts has been criticized for his lack of attention to the middle of the field over the past week and this feels like the perfect storm to take advantage of. If Sirianni is able to scheme up some basic slant concepts over the middle for his tight end to run, there’s a much greater chance of success here than there is against most other teams.
Are we about to witness the start of the Dallas Goedert TE1 era?
Mandatory Photo Credit: Icon Sportswire
