The NFC East is looking for its first back-to-back division winner since the Philadelphia Eagles did so in 2003 and 2004. It’s easier said than done. The Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, and Washington Commanders are all full of change, but also full of firepower as each looks to make a playoff push. As these four teams battle it out, players from each will be racking up plenty of fantasy points along the way. There are obvious studs, but a handful of other players worth keeping an eye on from the NFC East for the 2024 fantasy football season.
Previewing the NFC East for 2024 Fantasy Football
Philadelphia Eagles
Quarterback
In three full seasons as the starting quarterback, Jalen Hurts has averaged no less than 21.0 fantasy points per game in any season. That includes averaging 26.8 points per game in 2022 and 23.1 points per game last season. Say what you will about “the Tush Push” play, but it’s part of what makes Hurts an elite fantasy football quarterback. His 13 rushing touchdowns inside the five-yard line (on 16 rush attempts) last season led the league.
Hurts obviously has the rushing upside you want in a stud fantasy football quarterback. He has at least 139 rush attempts in each of the last three regular seasons, averaging 9.8 rush attempts per game. It’s obvious the rushing upside raises Hurts’ floor, but he also has 14 games of 30.0 or more fantasy points over the last three seasons, proving he has an incredibly high ceiling any given week.
Jalen Hurts has the best group of weapons around him of any of the elite mobile quarterbacks. A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, and now, Saquon Barkley, is as good as it gets. There’s plenty of emphasis on Hurts as a runner, but he’s quietly set career highs in pass attempts, passing yards, and touchdowns in each of the last three seasons, as well. It’s hard to argue against Josh Allen as the QB1 for fantasy football, but Hurts is the best bet to dethrone him in 2024. I’m giving the green light to draft Hurts over Allen to anyone who needs it.
Running Back
The only thing stopping Saquon Barkley from finishing as the overall RB1 in 2024 fantasy football is Jalen Hurts. We know Jalen Hurts is one of the more mobile quarterbacks in the league. Specifically last season, his 16 rush attempts from inside the five-yard line were greater than running back D’Andre Swift’s 10 rush attempts from the same distance. As a result, Hurts punched in 13 of his 15 rushing touchdowns on the season from five yards in. Swift had just two of five total. It’s a big reason why Swift is just the RB26 in 2023 with just 12.5 fantasy points per game.
Removing touchdowns from the discussion, D’Andre Swift still set career highs in many areas. That includes total touches (268), rush attempts (229), rushing yards (1,049), and even games played (16). Playing behind the Philadelphia Eagles offensive line does wonders for just about any running back. Now, we have Saquon Barkley, in the discussion for best back in the league, getting an opportunity to do so after running behind a depleted and inferior New York Giants offensive line. Opening up running lanes is one thing, but even just the difference in avoiding hits before the line of scrimmage between his time in New York and Philadelphia will prove to be significant.
Not only should Barkley be a focal point of this offense, but even if he isn’t the primary force moving the chains each week, the Eagles should see plenty of time in the red zone moving the ball in other ways. I think Barkley’s presence, talent, and contract indicate he will take some of the rushing workload off of Jalen Hurts’ plate. It’s imperative Hurts remains healthy, something he seemed to struggle with last season. It is a new system under new offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. He has a history of success utilizing running backs in versatile ways, specifically both Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard in a handful of seasons with the Cowboys. I don’t care where, but Saquon Barkley should be a top-five fantasy running back on everyone’s draft board. He probably draws Round 2 draft capital which is a slam dunk pick.
Wide Receiver
There are a handful of teams with multiple wide receivers who are every week starters for fantasy football. The Philadelphia Eagles are one of them. Since pairing A.J. Brown with DeVonta Smith two seasons ago, Brown has the edge of Smith in every receiving category. Brown has back-to-back seasons of 1,400+ receiving yards as well as 194 total receptions and 18 total receiving touchdowns in the regular season. Compare that to Smith’s 176 receptions, 14 total touchdowns, and average of 1,100 yards per regular season.
Obviously, Smith is just as involved, but the two are ranked appropriately with Brown fitting in as a fantasy WR1 while Smith can be had as a fantasy WR2. It’s worth noting that Brown has the edge on Smith in the red zone. He has 33 red zone targets to Smith’s 18 over the last two regular seasons. That shouldn’t surprise anyone due to their difference in size.
If you don’t want to spend a late-first or early-second pick on Brown but want a piece of this passing game, then target Smith a few rounds later. It’s as simple as that. This offense is going to score a ton of points, but Saquon Barkley’s role should draw some targets away from the two stud receivers. Given the addition of Saquon Barkley, Dallas Goedert’s ability in the passing game, and his history of success running the ball, there’s very little meat on the bone for “the WR3” in Philly to produce for fantasy football purposes.
Tight End
It’s easy to think of Dallas Goedert as a viable option at tight end for fantasy football because he’s on the Philadelphia Eagles. However, Goedert doesn’t have the numbers to really back it up. His best season of fantasy football yields just 11.9 points per game in 2022. In five other seasons, Goedert has an average of 11.0 fantasy points or less per game. Looking into his own numbers, he’s averaging roughly 55 receptions and 650 receiving yards over five non-rookie seasons.
Additionally, Goedert has just 22 career receiving touchdowns in the regular season. That includes just six over the last two seasons with both A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith as key pieces of the receiving game. The bottom line is that fantasy managers should treat Goedert as a back-end TE1 at best. He’s better than most options to lock into your lineup each week, with upside on the Eagles offense, bu if you think you’re getting an elite option late in the draft by waiting for him, you’re not.
Dallas Cowboys
Quarterback
I’m going to do my best to remove my bias when discussing Dak Prescott for fantasy football. It’s not even that I’m an Eagles fan, but rather Prescott’s 7.1-point performance to open last year’s fantasy football playoffs in Week 15 after averaging 21.4 points per game in the 14 weeks prior. Prescott then averaged 20.0 points per game in Weeks 16 and 17. His Week 15 performance is solely responsible for my home league playoff loss and I’ll never get over it.
Let’s focus on the positives, though, shall we? Prescott is one of five quarterbacks to average over 20.0 fantasy points per game over the course of last season. There isn’t much change to his environment when it comes to coaching or receiving weapons between last season and the one ahead. In fact, losing Tony Pollard to free agency and bringing back 29-year-old Ezekiel Elliott as a solution to the run game probably means Dak will be airing it out even more this season.
Dak isn’t going to require a high draft pick to acquire him for the 2024 fantasy football season. There are plenty of newer, younger, more exciting names that will likely come off of the board before him. I still value him as a low-end QB1 for the 2024 fantasy football season and he should be priced as such. He is the perfect quarterback to “wait” for if your league starts getting their guys in the third, fourth, and fifth rounds. I’ll feel that much better about Dak Prescott if the Cowboys give him a contract extension before Week 1. He is entering the final year of his current deal.
Running Back
The off-season domino effect of the Dallas Cowboys running back room is one of the more bizarre stories. Dating back to last year, they cut Ezekiel Elliott just two years into a six-year/$90 million contract. Then, after getting a full season from Tony Pollard who broke his leg just nine months prior, they let him walk in free agency this spring. Surely they drafted a running back then, right?
Nope. Instead, Ezekiel Elliott is returning on just a one-year, $2 million base deal this season. He’s joining Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn, and Royce Freeman in Dallas’ 2024 backfield. This group accounts for just 112 total rush attempts from last season. That’s only from Dowdle and Vaughn combined, obviously, as Zeke and Freeman were elsewhere.
So, while it might not feel right, Ezekiel Elliott has value for the 2024 fantasy football season. If Dak Prescott and Jerry Jones are going to want anyone leading this backfield, it’s Zeke, the guy most familiar with the team and with the most experience. As of now, he’s somewhat of an afterthought for fantasy heading into his ninth NFL season. Oddly enough, he’s a sneaky addition later on in drafts because you can never have enough running backs and this is the cheapest Zeke will ever be.
It’s worth noting Tony Pollard averaged 12.9 fantasy points per game in 2023 as the RB23 leading the backfield. I think an RB2 finish is a realistic ceiling for Zeke without the price tag. Otherwise, drafting Rico Dowdle for even cheaper and hoping he sees some lead-back work isn’t a bad strategy, as well.
Wide Receiver
Not only is CeeDee Lamb my top-ranked wide receiver for 2024 fantasy football, but he’s also my first overall ranked player at any position for 1QB 2024 fantasy football leagues. Lamb is last season’s WR2 behind only Tyreek Hill on a fantasy points-per-game basis. However, fantasy managers likely remember Lamb’s 28.0 points per game during the fantasy football playoffs including a league-winning 40.2 point performance in Week 17 during the championship.
Lamb’s 181 targets in 2023 led all players at every position. He is in a prime position to do it again with no coaching changes, Dak Prescott as his quarterback, and very little competition for targets. Additionally, the aforementioned running back scenario isn’t as good as in years past. This could demand more from Dallas in the passing game, locking in another 175 or so targets for Lamb.
Beside him on the depth chart are Brandin Cooks, Jalent Tolbert, KaVontae Turpin, and a handful of other names not worth including for fantasy football purposes. Brandin Cooks deserves to be on fantasy rosters but is more of a high-upside streamer to start the season than an every-week lineup lock. Jalen Tolbert is getting some hype already, but where was he last season? There wasn’t much competition for targets then, either, and he drew less than 40 on the season. I think it’s a good bet that tight end Jake Ferguson has the second-most targets amongst Cowboys pass catchers.
Tight End
I said what I said about Jake Ferguson at the tail end of the Cowboys’ wide receiver discussion. He is a good bet to finish second in targets amongst Dallas pass-catchers this season. Ferguson is one of just seven tight ends in 2023 to log more than 100 targets during the season. Nearly all of the others have new, significant additions to their offense. The last time we saw Jake Ferguson playing football, he caught 10 of 12 targets for 93 yards and three receiving scores in the Cowboys’ playoff loss. Ferguson, George Kittle, and Sam LaPorta are the only tight ends to have scored three touchdowns in a single game last season. If you aren’t able to land CeeDee Lamb with a top draft pick, keep Ferguson in mind rounds and rounds later for your tight end starter for fantasy football.
Washington Commanders
Quarterback
It’s not often we have a rookie quarterback with a legitimate shot at finishing as a QB1 in their first season of fantasy football. A few names like Kyler Murray, Justin Herbert, and even C.J. Stroud come to mind as of late, but nobody had such expectations of them doing so. This year, we may have not one, but two rookies capable of doing so: the Chicago Bears’ Caleb Williams and the Washington Commanders’ Jayden Daniels.
Daniels enters the NFL as the second-overall pick and as the most recent Heisman Trophy winner. His 40:4 touchdown to interception ratio at LSU last season obviously stands out. It’s the 135/1,134/10 rushing line we love to see for fantasy football, though.
Daniels should already be considered one of the best mobile quarterback options for fantasy football. Then consider he has Terry McLaurin, Jahan Dotson, Austin Ekeler, and others to throw to in the passing game. Lastly, Daniels’ first professional offensive coordinator is Kliff Kingsbury. His last role in NFL was as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals where he coached the aforementioned Kyler Murray. The pairing is perfect for Daniels to have success early on, especially in regards to playing to his strengths as a runner.
If he can learn to protect himself, he will do just fine over a full season. He is already inside my top-12, as my QB12 of preseason rankings, with plenty of potential to finish higher on a fantasy points-per-game basis.
Running Back
Drafting Austin Ekeler for the 2024 fantasy football season will solely rest on his Average Draft Position come August. As of now, he’s cheap enough that I can take him for his potential upside without getting completely burned. There’s definitely a path to having Ekeler in fantasy lineups on a week-to-week basis, however, that requires putting faith in rookie Jayden Daniels. It’s not so much about faith that Daniels can play, but rather will he check the ball down to Ekeler rather than take off running on his own? That’s what gives me pause.
Then there’s Brian Robinson who I actually love as a player. He has back-to-back seasons of exactly 214 touches which I think he easily surpasses this season. I think Robinson, at 25, has more juice than Ekeler plus a proven workload in his final season at Alabam in 2021. That’s a rushing line of 271/1,343/14 over 14 games. For those who fade the running back position early, Robinson is a cheap, high-upside option I would target based on potential volume alone. The Commanders’ running backs are more appealing than the Cowboys out of the NFC East which is not something I would have thought to be saying ahead of this season.
Wide Receiver
Taylor Heinicke, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Garrett Gilbert, Carson Wentz, and Sam Howell. Those are the five quarterbacks who logged at least one start for the Washington Commanders over the last three seasons of which Terry McLaurin played a full season in each. Believe it or not, there are an additional five quarterbacks who logged a start in the two other seasons McLaurin has been in the league. That’s 10 total different starting quarterbacks over five seasons. Now consider McLaurin has four straight seasons of 1,000 or more yards.
Enter Jayden Daniels.
Daniels is arguably the best quarterback McLaurin will play with yet. How could he not be? He is fresh off of an aforementioned Heisman-worthy season. I feel like a broken record, but if there’s ever a time to draft Terry McLaurin, it’s this season. There are still some fantasy football managers hesitant to do so given his lack of production after a bit more hype than we should’ve given based on his quarterbacks. Getting McLaurin this season just barely inside the top 30 wide receivers feels like a potential league-winning pick.
Jahan Dotson is not to be forgotten, either. The Commanders’ former first-round pick doesn’t have the numbers to justify the pick just yet, but again, with Daniels, this could be the year Dotson breaks out in a big way. He’s only averaging 4.96 targets per game thus far through two seasons. In an offensive run by offensive coordinator, Kliff Kingsbury, and an expected negative game script, that number will undoubtedly come up for Dotson. He’s worth the late-round pick to see what happens when it does.
Tight End
I’m not specifically targeting a Commanders tight end in 2024 fantasy drafts. However, I am keeping an eye on rookie Ben Sinnott. Let me first address the addition of Zach Ertz in free agency. He is turning 34 years old and hasn’t played a meaningful football game since October of 2023. That’s just before mutually agreeing to part ways with the Arizona Cardinals. If someone else thinks he can have a fantasy-relevant performance here or there in 2024, let them draft Ertz.
Ben Sinnott, on the other hand, is the Commanders’ second-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. That’s after spending the second overall pick on quarterback Jayden Daniels. Sinnott is your prototypical 6’4″, 245-pound tight end who has obvious ability as a pass catcher. He enters the league after a statistical best 676 yards and six touchdowns over 12 games in his most recent season at Kansas State. A few things would have to go his way, but I could see Sinnott starting on fantasy rosters for the majority of the 2024 season, especially during the back half. He’s more of a target for dynasty formats as of now, but keep him in mind on the waiver wire for redraft leagues.
New York Giants
Quarterback
I’m not as harsh of a Daniel Jones critic as most others. When you consider the New York Giants’ receiving options since drafting Jones, their coaching and general manager changes, and above all else, their poorly constructed offensive line, it’s hard to imagine any quarterback succeeding. In six games played last season, leaving the later two with injuries, including a torn ACL, Jones was sacked 30 total times. Over a 17-game span, that put Jones on pace to be sacked 102 times. No quarterback in NFL history has been sacked more than 76 times in a single season.
We’re here to talk fantasy football and I think Daniel Jones is an extremely low-risk option with a potentially high reward. Again, without any notable names for Jones to throw to, his career passing numbers are extremely underwhelming. However, the 2024 receiving group is arguably Jones’ best simply with the addition of sixth-overall pick Malik Nabers. He joins last year’s third-round pick Jalin Hyatt and the year prior’s second-round pick Wan’Dale Robinson as Jones’ top-three options. Darius Slayton, who has led the Giants’ wide receivers in targets in three of the last four seasons, should also maintain a sizable role.
Jones’ fantasy value relies on his rushing ability. After a Week 9 season-ending ACL tear, it’s fair to question how effective he can be. In 2022, in Jones’ first season with Brian Daboll as his head coach, he rushed 120 times. That’s the fourth-most rush attempts by a quarterback that season and with Saquon Barkley on the roster. Jones isn’t a quarterback to target in 1QB leagues, but could end up being a streamer off of the waiver wire. He’s a sneaky, late-round pick in Superflex and Best Ball formats.
Running Back
It’s impossible to replace Saquon Barkley in the New York Giants run game. If you’re going to make the most of it, though, why not reunite a player with his former coach? That’s exactly what bringing in Devin Singletary does with Brian Daboll as his head coach. Daboll is Singletary’s former offensive coordinator from their shared time with the Buffalo Bills. Singletary is coming off of his best statistical season in Houston logging over 200 carries for the first time in his career.
Competition for touches with Singletary in the Giants’ backfield is between Eric Gray, Tyrone Tracy Jr., and Jashaun Corbin. They are all in either their rookie or second NFL season with a combined 18 carries between them. You’re not going to get big applause or flowers for drafting Devin Singletary, but he could find himself as an every-week starter based on volume alone. In his final season with Daboll in Buffalo, Singeltary did lead the team in red zone attempts (38) even over Josh Allen himself. For the 2024 fantasy football season, he’s a volumed-based RB2 who could have a game here or there where he punches in multiple scores and finds himself as a top-10 back for the week.
Wide Receiver
It’s been a while, but the New York Giants wide receivers are worth talking about again. There hasn’t been a Giants wide receiver with more than 100 targets in a single season since 2018 when Odell Beckham Jr. and Sterling Shepard both did. Now, it feels like a healthy season from sixth overall pick Malik Nabers is a lock for at least 120, if not more. Nabers is big, fast, and with back-to-back 1,000+ yard seasons as LSU including last year’s 89/1,569/14 receiving line. There are probably going to be a few rookie wide receivers taken in your 2024 fantasy drafts. Nabers should probably come off of the board second, but I’d be willing to bet he slides because of the uncertainty of the Giants quarterback position.
I’m also interested in Wan’Dale Robinson and Jalin Hyatt in multiple fantasy formats this year. These two as well as Nabers are all players taken in the third round or higher over the Giants’ last three drafts. Hyatt does have 4.4 [40-yard dash] speed and could emerge as a more polished downfield, boom-or-bust threat for New York as soon as this season. On the contrary, Robinson is more possession-based and a good late-round target for PPR leagues. Lastly, there’s Darius Slayton, I’m not sure what his playing time will look like. He’s led the Giants in targets in three of the last four seasons.
Tight End
As of now, Darren Waller is still a New York Giant. His retirement paperwork isn’t on file, but his music career has everyone talking, mostly for the wrong reasons, but I digress. Even if Waller remains with the Giants, the injury history is too much to overlook. Fantasy managers are still licking their wounds after drafting him high last year and getting just 12 touch-and-go games with just one receiving touchdown. Waller has just 28 total starts over his last three NFL seasons.
Daniel Bellinger is next up on the depth chart, but I doubt he will emerge as a weekly starter for fantasy football at this point. The Giants are clearly focused on the rebranding of their wide receiver room, especially with the addition of Malik Nabers. Bellinger is the same age as the Giants’ 2024 fourth-round pick, Theo Johnson. He is a capable pass catcher, but again, likely still buried behind the Giants wide receivers. That said, neither Bellinger or Johnson are on the fantasy radar until either one shows us they should be. That could take a few seasons.