On a night when Carson Wentz outperformed Russell Wilson in fantasy, only one quarterback looked like an NFL starter, and it wasn't Carson Wentz. The Eagles' "franchise" QB somehow looked marginally better when Miles Sanders, Dallas Goedert, and Alshon Jeffery were out. In his last four games--all losses to progressively better teams--Wentz has more turnovers than touchdowns, has completed only 57% of his passes, and is averaging a paltry 5.4 yards per attempt. Yesterday's debacle against one of the league's worst past defenses should, under normal circumstances, lead to a benching.
All the talk of Jalen Hurts earning more snaps turned out to be bunk. The rookie completed his only throw and then gave way to another stalled drive by Wentz. It's an ugly situation made even uglier by the fact that Philly is only a half game behind Washington and the Giants for the NFC East lead, but is about to drop farther with matchups against Green Bay and New Orleans (and then Arizona) on deck. If Wentz continues to start, Eagle losses will continue piling up, leading to more calls for his benching.
And Philly owes Wentz a lot of money these next few years. Granted, they could cut him after next season, losing about $24 million while gaining some cap space. But to do that, they need to know what they have in Hurts, a guy they drafted (possibly a little early) in the second round. It's a messy situation that's also wreaking havoc on fantasy managers. Wentz's QB rating is about 20 points worse than last year. It's hard to trust anyone beyond Dallas Goedert.
For Seattle, Chris Carson did enough in his first game back, and just as importantly Carlos Hyde flopped despite out-touching Carson 17-10. Next week should feature a lot more Carson. Meanwhile, D.K. Metcalf accounted for 77% of Russell Wilson's passing yards, which pretty much sums up Metcalf's impact in this one.
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In other news, Will Fuller is done for the year after getting busted for PEDs. Deshaun Watson clearly takes a hit, while Brandin Cooks and Keke Coutee obviously get bumps. Coutee proved two years ago he was NFL ready, putting together three WR1/2 performances in a five-week span, and he flashed a bit last year as well. The knock on Coutee is that he can't stay healthy. He will be undervalued this coming week.
And with Las Vegas taking on the junior varsity Jets, I would be shocked if a hobbled Josh Jacobs plays--and even if he does, I wouldn't expect more than 12-14 touches. The fact is, Devontae Booker will be one of the biggest waiver adds this week. If things break right, he'll be a cheap RB1 when some of you most need it.