Can you get more peak fantasy football than the Eagles rout of the Lions on Sunday? The Eagles scored 44 points while their QB1, supposed RB1, and WR1 posted some of the worst fantasy performances of their careers. For the approximately four people who started him, one man who did impress was Eagles RB Boston Scott. So let’s get to it.
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Player Profile
Labeling Scott “undersized” hasn’t stopped him yet. I’m sure he’s heard it his whole life, being five feet, six inches tall. However, he’s exceptionally sturdy, weighing more than 200 pounds and putting up 21 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press at the NFL Scouting Combine.
He was drafted in the sixth round of the 2018 draft by the New Orleans Saints after playing four seasons at Louisiana Tech. He was signed off the Saints practice squad later in 2018 by Philadelphia and has been an Eagle ever since.
In three seasons, he’s run the ball 160 times for 703 yards (4.4 yards per carry) and nine touchdowns. He’s caught 52 passes for 426 yards and a touchdown.
Heading into the 2021 season, some reports indicated Scott would play a significant role in the offense, even rumblings of a possible timeshare with Miles Sanders and he.
After all, Sanders had only 87 more touches (192 to 105) than Scott in 2020. Plus, Scott had more of a role in the receiving game.
However, that was utterly upended as Scott took four offensive snaps through the season’s first six weeks. After that, his role was seized by Kenneth Gainwell, and Scott rode the bench.
So, Miles Sanders gets hurt, that means Kenneth Gainwell, the man who’s been the clear number two back all season, steps into the RB1 role, right? Wrong.
Scott led all Eagles’ backs in snaps on Sunday, taking 12 carries for 60 yards and two touchdowns. He looked decisive, steady, and elusive as a runner and solid as a pass blocker, too.
State of The Offense
As I alluded to in the introduction, the Eagles’ offense Sunday was maddening for fantasy purposes. They scored 44 points and destroyed the Lions, but Jalen Hurts, Kenneth Gainwell, and DeVonta Smith combined for fewer than 17 PPR fantasy points.
I get my job is to forecast volume, matchups, and performances, but the Eagles’ offense genuinely baffles me.
Scott looked good, but he only took nine more snaps than Gainwell, who only took four more than Jordan Howard.
Do you think that’s a muddied backfield? Wait until I tell you their leading rusher is their quarterback, they have a receiver (Jalen Reagor) who also runs the football, and their “RB1” Miles Sanders should be back in two weeks.
Scott’s Outlook
I’m not rushing to add Scott. At this point in the season, other RB handcuffs, filling voids for byes, and snagging another defense two weeks in advance of a bad matchup are more valuable ways to use your roster spots than adding Boston Scott.
In a deep league, sure, he’s worth an add because of his pass-catching ceiling and big-play ability but think carefully about who you’d be dropping.
Given how frustrating this Philadelphia offense has been for fantasy managers, it would not surprise me one bit if Sunday lit a fire under Kenneth Gainwell, and he finished next weekend’s game against the Chargers as their lead back.
Scott is a player I’ll always root for because he’s been an underdog most of his playing career, but for fantasy purposes, I’m steering clear.
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