If for some reason a franchise deliberately attempted to minimize the impact of an incredible group of skill players, the result would look a lot like the 2025 Philadelphia Eagles.
Somehow, last year’s Eagles leveraged the combined talents of Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert into a squad that ranked No. 24 in the league in total yardage and No. 19 in scoring. It was a stunning level of underachievement. An offense that had recently hung 40 points on Kansas City to win the Super Bowl quickly transformed itself into something deeply unfun, disordered and predictable.
There was simply zero chance that Kevin Patullo, last season’s offensive coordinator, could return in 2026. He was replaced in January by Sean Mannion, 34, a longtime NFL backup quarterback, previously an offensive assistant and position coach under Matt LaFleur in Green Bay. Mannion’s offense is, by all accounts, dramatically different from anything seen in recent years in Philadelphia. As Zach Berman told “The Athletic Football Show,” “This is the most radical change they have had, certainly since [Nick] Sirianni was hired.”
The Eagles are asking Hurts to essentially reinvent himself as a passer, operating under center with much greater frequency, utilizing pre-snap motion and play action, executing throws he only rarely attempted last season. Hurts has historically ignored the middle of the field at intermediate depth, but that’s expected to change in the year ahead. Saquon Barkley is consulting with peers around the league, preparing for more under-center and outside-zone run concepts. Also, if preseason action is any indication, the screen game might finally be a real part of this team’s offense, too.
It’s such a lazy football cliché — and usually a wild overstatement — to say a new coach is changing the culture of a team, but that might just be a fair assessment of the situation in Philadelphia. When we tell you Mannion is well-regarded and respected by Eagles veterans, this is what we’re talking about:
“I’ve just been blown way by that evil genius.”
Eagles fans should be VERY excited about Sean Mannion after hearing from Jordan Mailata.
(🎥: @Eagles) pic.twitter.com/CINUPR8KlU
— Anthony DiBona (@DiBonaNFL) July 30, 2026
So the vibes have been quite good. The honeymoon phase is ongoing. All things remain possible.
On Monday, Philadelphia’s top three receivers all practiced simultaneously for the first time in three weeks, an unambiguously positive development. DeVonta Smith and Makai Lemon had been sidelined by hamstring issues, but both are now back in action. In their absence, longtime fantasy tease Dontayvion Wicks generated a fair amount of buzz. If Lemon can actually remain on the field in the days and weeks ahead, he may yet have a shot at early-season fantasy relevance. Mannion was certainly gassing him up in his press session on Monday. Brown’s departure from the offense leaves 120-plus targets up for grabs, many of which should land with the rookie.
Very few NFL offenses should be classified as “too big to fail” in fantasy, but Philadelphia’s is probably one of them. This team is home to the overall QB6, RB9, WR14 and TE13. We need this Mannion thing to work. Philly has enjoyed a clear talent advantage in recent seasons. Ideally, the new OC will restore a schematic advantage as well.
Ashton Jeanty took us on a wild ride
At the exact moment some of us were entering draft rooms on Sunday evening, a disastrous update on Jeanty hit the feed:
#Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty left practice early after suffering an apparent knee injury.
During the team period, he was diving for a catch and landed awkwardly. He was helped off the field by trainers and couldn’t put any pressure on his right leg.
Entire team took a…
— Ryan McFadden (@ryanmcfadden_) August 23, 2026
I gotta say, the combination of “apparent knee injury” and “entire team said a prayer” was enough to eliminate Jeanty from my draft plans, at least for one night.
But as it turned out, the news is not so dire. Jeanty’s injury is reportedly a sprained ankle of unknown severity, not believed to be a long-term concern. Phew. We don’t yet know Jeanty’s recovery timeline, but at least his season is not at risk. If he remains sidelined into September, explosive rookie Mike Washington is the clear next-man-up. Washington was a combine standout, a size/speed freak who’s had an impressive preseason:
Mike Washington Jr. makin’ moves 💨#AZvsLV | 📺 FOX 5 pic.twitter.com/ockmJNClfy
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) August 14, 2026
As a bench stash, Washington is plenty interesting. He’s an obvious priority for Jeanty managers at the moment.
Kayshon Boutte heads to Houston
Boutte was definitely the odd man out in New England after the team added A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs in the offseason, so he needed a new NFL home in the worst way. He lands in Houston, a team that had a screaming need for receiving help after Jayden Higgins tore his ACL last week.
Physically and stylistically, Boutte doesn’t actually have much in common with the 6-foot-4 Higgins. He was, however, one of the league’s most dangerous and efficient vertical threats last season. He and Drake Maye were a dangerous pair. Boutte converted a modest 33-catch workload into 551 yards and six touchdowns. His passer-rating when targeted on deep throws was a near-perfect 153.3.
Without question, Boutte is a good get for a receiver-needy team. Whether C.J. Stroud can actually keep more than one pass catcher viable in fantasy is somewhat less clear. For now, Boutte is only of interest in deeper leagues.
Deshaun Watson named starting QB for an NFL franchise in the year 2026
For the past six years, Watson has simply not been a starting-quality NFL quarterback. His contract is of course among the worst in sports history (and also in the history of signed agreements between two or more parties). His recent comments didn’t favor the Browns fanbase, and many Cleveland fans seem viscerally repulsed by him.
Sorry about this predicament, Browns fans. The good news is that the offense is loaded with young playmakers at the skill spots. Rookie receivers KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston are both clear draft hits, likely starters in opening week. In fact, it’s not difficult to make a case for Concepcion as the top redraft rookie receiver in fantasy. He cooked the Bills in joint practices just days ago. Also, TE Harold Fannin is a star and RB Quinshon Judkins was a revelation as a rookie.
Basically, Cleveland has a turnkey offense waiting for its 2027 quarterback, who, regrettably, is still in college. We can’t reasonably expect the current version of Watson to be productive or consistently competent. Even in Superflex, he’s a terrible bench stash. Fantasy managers can only hope Watson can support one or two young receivers until Shedeur Sanders gets a look, at which point we will fret about him, too.
