Hope You Weren't the Total Homer in Your Fantasy Draft

...because the Eagles' offensive weapons are officially nicked up and unpredictable at best for fantasy purposes. Brian Westbrook, while still a solid fantasy player when he's on the field, is already one of the watching-down-to-the-wire players who will often play just enough to ruin his backup's value. Same as last year... So, unless BWest is out-out, your handcuff of Lesean McCoy is a major reach of a play. 

Donovan is a good earner when he's starting, no doubt. And, usually we'll know whether or not he's out with plenty of advanced warning. Kevin Kolb showed nice value last week, but many of his big yards came when the Eagles were winging it to get back into a shootout. Against the Chiefs, Kolb is still a decent start if you're the McNabb owner. Their pass rush sucks, and the Birds will be throwing a lot as always. However, I'm assuming Michael Vick will hurt his value some, especially if he's used near the goal line, which is likely. Kolb rewarded homer risk-takers last week, but he's almost as much of a question mark for value against the Chiefs as he was this time last Saturday. 

DeSean Jackson was the only draftable Eagles receiver, in my opinion, and of course, he too is nicked up. He'll play though, but his potential may be limited by Kolb. Kevin Curtis won't play, and no one should be relying on him this year anyway. Even when healthy (and we're not sure he will be healthy in 2009), he's nowhere near consistent enough to start in most formats. If you are in a deep league, Jeremy Maclin wasn't a bad option for stashing on draft day, although I wasn't targeting him. But, when the Eagles took Maclin on draft day, I figured their confidence in Curtis was wisely waning. Fantasy drafters who took him should have done so for the same reason. With Curtis on the shelf, Maclin could contribute as soon as this week. I wouldn't start him though, at least not yet. Kulp may be the only person regularly starting Jason Avant, but that's because of The700Level's must-start-an-Eagle rule. I wouldn't expect many 7/79/1 lines though, Kulpepper. 

The most reliable Eagles fantasy contributors are, oddly enough, the lesser skilled positions of TE, K, and DEF. Brent Celek was likely one of the last TE's taken in your league, if he went at all, demonstrating the depth at that position this year. Donovan showed him some love in the second half of last season, as well as in the playoffs. Last week, his first with Kolb throwing to him, Celek went for 104 yards. I think he's a solid start in just about any matchup, and his value is on the rise.

David Akers is a kicker. I refuse to analyze that any further.

The Birds D won't get torched like it did last week for the rest of the season, and other than the points against, they still sacked Drew Brees twice and picked him off. Add in a safety, and they managed 2 points in my league. In week 1, they were the highest scoring defense in fantasy. That's about par of the course this year in fantasy D's. Some of teams that went early (probably too early) in drafts have put up very little in the way of fantasy points, while unowned defenses like Denver and the Cardinals have gone off. If you own the Eagles D, you may have the best homer pick there is for Philly this year, which is amazing considering how many question marks there are on the actual squad.  

Andy Reid offenses usually produce, even when there are injuries. Throw in the fact the Eagles are playing the Chiefs, and it's likely we'll see some good fantasy production coming from somewhere. Hard to pinpoint exactly where though.