Eagles WR DeVonta Smith delivered strong production through his first three seasons. The biggest fantasy complaint on him might have been a lack of weekly target consistency, especially since WR A.J. Brown arrived. But the Friday night opener gave encouraging signs for his usage under new OC Kellen Moore. Smith ran a career-high 70.7% of his pass snaps from the slot in the win over the Packers. That marked a big boost over his previous seasons.
A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith were both huge in the Eagles' season-opening win over the Packers. As always.
Smith brought in seven of his eight targets for 84 yards in Friday's 34-29 win over Green Bay.
Per usual, Smith operated as the clear No. 2 receiver for the Eagles. A.J. Brown was targeted 10 times and no other Philly player aside from Smith saw more than five looks in the passing game. Per Pro Football Focus's Nathan Jahnke, Smith ran 28 routes from the slot. That would go down as a career-high in slot routes by seven. This aligns with reports from training camp that suggested Smith could be used more in the slot as well. Though he isn't passing Brown in the pecking order for targets anytime soon, a slot role could make Smith a more consistent fantasy producer if he is seeing more layup targets. He will rank as a WR2 for Philly's Week 2 matchup with the Falcons.
Goedert's five looks in the passing game were good for third on the team but only accounted for 15 percent of Jalen Hurts' pass attempts. On the bright side, Goedert was the only Philly pass-catcher other than A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith to see more than two targets. It's clear that he is still the third target in this offense, but the gap between him and Philly's elite receiving duo is a chasm. Goedert will be a touchdown-dependant TE2 for his Week 2 game against Atlanta.