Fantasy Talk with Andy Holloway of The Fantasy Footballers
23 April 2020 Fantasy Football Interviews Philadelphia Eagles
What’s up 4th and Jawn crew!?!? It is finally Draft Day! During Draft Week, the sports journalism market is saturated with mock drafts that aren’t even close to predicting what is actually going to happen. One thing that typically dries up in the days leading up to the Draft is fantasy football content. I am a huge fantasy football fan! I played in 10 leagues last year and love playing in dynasty leagues (Shout out to Reality Sports Online!) So, because I only write about things that I would also like to consume as a fan, I decided to do a fantasy article. And who better to get fantasy football information from than Andy Holloway over at The Fantasy Footballers.
The Fantasy Footballers are a trio of hilarious friends who are also some of the top fantasy analysts in the business and host the #1 Fantasy Football Podcast. I’ve been a fan of Andy and his co-hosts, Jason Moore and Mike Wright, for quite some time now and their content is topnotch. Go join the #FootClan at thefantasyfootballers.com and subscribe to The Fantasy Footballers Podcast on whichever platform you prefer. They also have an awesome product called the Ultimate Draft Kit that you can get on their site as well, which is as close to a cheat code to win your league as you can get. Trust me. It is fantastic. Without further delay, here is my conversation with Andy Holloway.
Rick: A tried-and-true drafting rule is to put a premium on players that are on good offenses, such as the Chiefs the past couple of years. For this upcoming season (Pre-draft), how are you viewing the Philadelphia Eagles as an offensive unit?
Andy: The Eagles were beat up last year and struggled mightily to sustain consistent offensive momentum. Injuries to Lane Johnson, Jordan Howard, Alshon Jeffery, Desean Jackson, etc. stifled the fantasy potential for the bunch. It was nice seeing Miles Sanders emerge late, and Zach Ertz was a mainstay, but heading into the year it’s difficult to identify them as a locked-and-loaded top 10 offense without improving the weaponry at wideout.
Rick: Much of the Eagles community is clamoring for the team to take a Wide Receiver early in the 2020 Draft. If the Eagles were to take a Wide Receiver in the 1st round (Lamb, Ruggs, Jeudy, Jefferson) would it move them into a different tier than how you currently view them?
Andy: Yes, I believe if they took a top level wideout early in the draft we could begin to see the sleeper potential of Wentz once again and the Eagles offense in a better light. Leaning on the often-injured Jeffery and DJax is simply not the kind of situation you can have confidence in. I’m hoping they take the plunge on a long-term weapon for Wentz on the outside.
Rick: As a member of the #FootClan, I know that Carson Wentz was one of “Your Guys” last season. Carson finished as the QB9 in 2019. How are you viewing Carson as a fantasy asset going into 2020?
Andy: Wentz is a playmaker and has the ability to give you consistent fantasy production, but he won’t be awarded that value in drafts due to up and down seasons,either due to injury or production the past couple of years. He is a viable streaming option on any given week, but stability with his weapons would give him true sleeper value. He’ll be in that top 12 range again, but without consistency from the offense he won’t rise much above that.
Rick: The Eagles drafted Running Back Miles Sanders in the 2nd Round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Miles Sanders finished as the RB15 last year in .5 Point Per Reception leagues, with 818 Rushing Yards and 3 Rushing Touchdowns. He also added 50 Receptions for 503 Receiving Yards and 3 Receiving Touchdowns. How are you viewing Sanders’ value for next season?
Andy: Sanders emerged late, in part due to necessity. I view Sanders as a hyper talented back but there are concerns about Doug Pederson’s willingness to hand the ball to one back predominately. Sanders will have big games, but depending on what they do with the RB depth chart, he may not get the level of work many fantasy owners prefer (a la Saquon and CMC).
Rick: The Eagles use a ton of 12 Personnel. 43% in 2018 and 54% in 2019. Last year, if you wanted to draft Zach Ertz, you had to spend your 3rd Round Pick on him and he returned TE5 value. On the other hand, Dallas Goedert went largely undrafted and returned TE10 value. Acknowledging that you won’t be getting Goedert off the waiver wire again this season, which Eagles Tight End are you going to be more likely to draft? Why?
Andy: It’s still more likely to be Zach Ertz. Goedert is going to be hit and miss in this offense simply due to Ertz’s presence and the nature of being a secondary option at TE. It’ll be difficult for fantasy owners to pick the right games with Goedert (when he brings in the TD reception, etc). Ertz is a PPR mainstay despite the fact that they may add pieces around him. He’ll go behind Kelce and Kittle, and likely Andrews as well, so he might be more fairly valued this year.
Rick: The Eagles Wide Receiver corp was an absolute mess last year. As the roster currently stands, the main Wide Receivers are going to be Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson and JJ Arcega-Whiteside. Which of the three will most likely be on your roster and why? Do you see any of these players being a steal in drafts as it pertains to where they will be valued?
Andy: It’ll be Desean Jackson. His draft cost will be much lower, and despite the risk, a late round shot on DJax could pay off for fantasy owners in a big way. We haven’t been able to see this tandem together much, but Jackson hasn’t really lost a step and Wentz has that nifty pocket awareness that allows players like Jackson to get open deep. He’ll be a low cost, high reward option.
I truly want to thank Andy Holloway for taking the time to answer my questions. Go check out thefantasyfootballers.com, subscribe to The Fantasy Footballers podcast and grab the Ultimate Draft Kit. Also, go follow the guys on Twitter at @andyholloway / @jasonffl / @FFHitman
Everyone have fun watching the Draft tonight and as always, GO BIRDS!!
PHOTO CREDIT: THE FANTASY FOOTBALLERS // ANDY HOLLOWAY
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