There isn't much about the Eagles backfield that is certain right now. In Week of the preseason, Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott were rested, while D'Andre Swift and Rashaad Penny worked with the backups. The natural conclusion, especially coming on the heels of multiple reports that indicated Gainwell was being used as the lead back in practice, was that Gainwell was, in fact, at the top of the depth chart for the Eagles.
And then, in Week 2 against the Browns Thursday, it was Swift who sat the game out, while Gainwell, Penny, and Scott played. Does that mean Swift is at the top of the depth chart? Was that just deference to Gainwell and Scott, the incumbents who have spent the past two seasons in this offense?
Or was it just … kind of random?
I'm not saying that the Eagles RB usage this preseason has been entirely random, but I also think it would be a mistake to try to take too much out of it. Clearly, the Eagles have prioritized giving certain guys extra work, but it's not clear what that actually means. I do think it's fair to assume at this point that Swift and Gainwell are at the top of the heap a few weeks out from Week 1, but I'm not necessarily sure that Penny being the only one to play in both games actually tells us very much – mostly because, while he technically played in Thursday's game, he logged just six snaps, rushing for 17 yards on just two carries.
I think at this point, this should just be viewed as one of the most ambiguous backfields in the league. I've bumped Gainwell up a bit in my projections, but I have him, Penny, and Swift all projected for between 20% and 25% of the team's total carries. I have moved both Penny and Swift down in my rankings, but even though Penny's preseason usage might be the most concerning of the trio, I also still find myself most attracted to him in Fantasy – he is, in my opinion, by far the best rusher of the group, and remains cheap enough that I think he's a fine dice roll.
Anyone who tells you they know exactly how the Eagles running backs are going to be used this season is a lot more confident than I am. I could see a scenario where Penny is off the team by Week 1, based on how they've approached him this preseason; I could also see a scenario where he's starting by Week 2. This one is wide open, and Preseason Week 2 didn't provide too much clarity, unfortunately.
Here are some players whose Fantasy stock was negatively affected by preseason Week 2:
Bryce Young, QB, Panthers
I am by no means giving up on Young, especially not in the long run. But I'm concerned that this season is going to be a rough one for him. The Panthers offensive line struggles, especially in pass protection, have been a well-covered storyline in camp, and that continued to be an issue in Preseason Week 2. Left tackle Ickey Ekwonu allowed two QB hits in each of the first two preseason games, and Young has now been hit on four of his 12 dropbacks. Young's lack of size was a talking point in the draft process, and the Panthers know they need to keep him upright a lot more often that. I think there will probably be some pretty impressive high points for Young and this offense at times this season, but I do think this will likely be one of the least productive passing games in the league. I actually like both Adam Thielen and Jonathan Mingo as late-round targets, but it also wouldn't surprise me if this offense just didn't have any Fantasy relevant pass-catchers all season.
Najee Harris, RB, Steelers
If you're just going by the snap counts, there isn't much to be concerned about here – Harris played five of the seven snaps alongside starter Kenny Pickett, while Jaylen Warren was out there for just two. However, that's kind of misleading, because Warren ended one drive in impressive fashion by breaking a 62-yard touchdown run on his only carry. We've only seen the Steelers starters for three drives this preseason, and one of them lasted just one snap, so we're dealing with very small sample sizes here. However, Warren looked better than Harris last season, albeit in a much smaller role, reports out of camp indicate he's looked better so far, and now he's breaking big plays in the running game in the preseason. It may not matter – it may all be noise, and the Steelers may still feel very strongly about keeping Harris as their lead back. However, given that he's been pretty unimpressive in his first two seasons, it's at least possible the shine from being a first-round pick has worn off and Warren can push to make this a committee. Harris should still be the first running back taken in this backfield, obviously, but Warren's 143.90 ADP over the past two weeks makes him one of the most obvious values among the RB handcuff class.
Zamir White, RB, Raiders
White played five snaps with the first-team offense Saturday and ran just one route on them, and I'm starting to wonder if he's going to matter much for Fantasy even if Josh Jacobs' holdout extends into the regular season. White ran the ball 10 times for 40 yards and is now up to 83 yards on 23 carries – a 3.6 yards per carry average through two preseason games. It doesn't look like he's going to have much of a role in the passing game, so White needs to show some efficiency in the running game to matter for Fantasy. He's a last-round pick in Fantasy, and he's fine at that cost, but I'm starting to think even a best-case scenario for White looks a lot like Isiah Pacheco last season, who didn't have a single top-12 finish in 11 starts and had more than 14 PPR points just two times in 14 games as the starter.
Malik Davis, RB, Cowboys
I've been penciling Davis in as the No. 2 option behind Tony Pollard for much of camp, but I'm not sure that makes much sense anymore. Dowdle got the start for the Cowboys Saturday though both ended the first half with 19 snaps, per PFF.com, Dowdle was much more involved early on, playing 16 of the first 25 snaps. They both rushed eight times, with Dowdle picking up 38 yards and Davis rushing for 32, while Dowdle was more productive in the passing game, scoring a touchdown on two catches while Davis wasn't featured. The likeliest outcome here is neither ends up mattering much for Fantasy, but with rookie Deuce Vaughn impressing but still largely playing with the third-string and below options, one of Dowdle or Davis looks likely to be the first alternative here. And it sounds like Dowdle may be in the lead heading into the final week of the preseason.
Rondale Moore, WR, Cardinals
It might not seem like a surprise that Moore is only playing in three-WR sets through the first two preseason games, per PFF, but it would represent a change in how he's been used in the past. Yes, most of Moore's snaps last season came in three-WR sets, but he was still out there in two-WR or one-WR sets 27% of the time. We're dealing with small samples in the preseason, and guys like Marquise Brown and Michael Wilson will surely come off the field for breathers when the games start to count. But Moore played just nine of 15 snaps with the starters this week, and even if he primarily plays on passing downs, that kind of usage is less than ideal. He's not a player with a huge margin for error as is, and while I still have him as an end-of-draft target, he's becoming less of a priority for me.
Sterling Shepard, WR, Giants
I've seen some discussion about Shepard being worth a late-round pick given how wide open the Giants receiving room is, but I'm not sure there's much value in that proposition. He didn't see the field alongside Daniel Jones in this week's preseason action, while four different wide receivers did play with Jones. Shepard came back from a ruptured Achilles last year and now is working his way back from a torn ACL, and while he was targeted 10 times in two of the three games he played last season, I just don't think it's reasonable to expect much from him in this rebuilt receiver corps. Given that he looks to be, at best, fifth on the depth chart despite his experience makes it tough to expect much from him.
Kyle Pitts, TE, Falcons
I don't feel strongly about Pitts being a loser here, but it's worth noting some troubling signs in the, again, very small sample size we're dealing with here. Of 17 snaps with QB Desmond Ridder in the game, Pitts played just nine of them, including six of the first nine, per PFF. However, MyCole Pruitt also played nine snaps, while Jonnu Smith was out there for seven of them. There were situations where the Falcons played two or even three tight ends, and Pitts' skill set and ability to split out wide allows for that kind of schematic variation. However, Pitts still only ran a route on five of 10 pass snaps, and that just isn't nearly enough. We saw enough situations where Pitts was less than a full-time player last season – fewer than 80% of the snaps in six of eight games even before his knee injury – that I can't just write this off, especially after the addition of Smith this offseason. One factor to keep in mind, however, is that Pitts wasn't 100% when camp opened, so this could be as much about managing his reps as anything else. He has more upside than arguably any tight end in the game if the Falcons commit to making him a focal point of their offense, but there are enough questions, both about how he'll be used and how Ridder will fare as a starting QB, that I'm at least considering moving him down from TE4 – at the very least, I may move Darren Waller ahead of him.
Greg Dulcich, TE, Broncos
For the second preseason game in a row, Dulcich played behind Adam Trautman this week. THe split has been fairly predictable so far: Trautman is out there on first and second down in one-TE sets, while Dulcich is the third down and passing situations option. That doesn't mean Dulcich can't be Fantasy relevant, but it definitely complicates things. It is possible this is just Sean Payton's way of deferring to a veteran he trusts in Trautman, and Dulcich's role can grow as he earns Payton's trust. But I have a hard time justifying a late-round pick on Dulcich ahead of the likes of Tyler Higbee, Chig Okonwo, or even Sam LaPorta or Luke Musgrave right now.
