Eagles vs Bears Showdown DFS: EMac's Week 3 MNF Top-10

Philadelphia Eagles Overview

Dallas Goedert (knee) is out and rookie Eli Stowers (quad/hamstring) is already on the IR, thinning out the tight end corps. Tackle Fred Johnson (knee) has been ruled out and guard Landon Dickerson went on the IR with his own knee issue after the opener.

Running back Will Shipley (foot) is questionable after being limited this week in practice, though Saquon Barkley (stinger) returned to action in Week 2 and does not carry an injury designation for tonight.

Quarterback

It is a little early to panic about Jalen Hurts not having a rushing touchdown through two games as he has been solid overall with 12 totes for 62 yards. If you want to legitimately start to get nervous, it should be that his last rushing score was in Week 12 last year, which was eight games ago, counting last year’s playoff loss.

During this arbitrary period, Hurts has tossed 14 touchdowns with seven interceptions, averaging 196 passing yards, with a tick shy of 25 rushing yards per game. Essentially these are “game manager” type stats and very similar to say Bo Nix.

Clearly on a one-game slate and against a shaky defense Hurts is a priority play, though if Williams was healthy, there would be a clear alternative option. Hurts has 20+ DKFPs in four of his last 11 games, with 25+ once (30.86 @DAL).

Running Backs

Barkley is thought of as a dual-threat running back, though in his 34 regular season games with the Eagles, he has averaged 2.85 targets per tilt, with 2.1 receptions and 16.4 yards per game. Since his all-time season in 2024, he has nine total touchdowns in 18 games, averaging 68.4 rushing yards with a 4.1 per carry average. These are not sexy figures by any stretch, though again it is a great matchup on a one-game slate.

Against the Titans with Barkley ailing, it was Tank Bigsby who had a second quarter rushing touchdown and Shipley led the backfield in snap-share (51%). We have seen the offense continue to be lackluster, albeit in just two games, with new coordinator Sean Mannion having taken over this year for Kevin Patullo.

Tonight is the perfect spot for a fantasy score-fest, before the Eagles face the LA Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars. It is still worrisome that the team output has been just 24 points in each of the first two tilts vs WAS and @TEN, but as we saw with the Commanders against Seattle yesterday and the LA Chargers nearly upsetting the Bills in Buffalo, anything can happen in this chaotic sport.

Wideouts

DeVonta Smith no longer has to battle A.J. Brown for opportunities and he was stellar against Tennessee converting 13 targets into 10/117/1, with former Green Bay Packer Dontayvion Wicks proving to be a capable wingman, seeing 10 targets across the first two games with seven receptions for 147 yards and a score. They are going to be called upon to shoulder the passing attack and both are priority clicks.

Rookie Makai Lemon dealt with hamstring issues, slowing his progress on the learning curve, but he has garnered good reviews when healthy and Philadelphia make him the 20th overall selection in April after a solid career with the USC Trojans.

Marquise “Hollywood” Brown is out after logging 17 snaps last week, so that should solidify the playing time for Darius Cooper who had a touchdown and 21 yards on a trio of targets. Last year he was the WR4 while Jahan Dotson had the WR3 role on lockdown, though there were only scraps available after they “dynamic duo” got theirs.

Dotson is in Atlanta this season, so there is a chance primary punt returner Britain Covey gets a couple routes tonight, though a target would be a surprise.

Tight Ends

Good Gawd, is that … is that Zach Ertz music, what is he doing here, isn’t he retired?!?!?! No dear reader, you probably saw that Ertz was signed to the practice squad after Stowers was injured and he should be active tonight. We need to remember that it has been five years since Ertz was last with the Eagles and his 2025 season ended with tears to his right ACL and LCL in Week 14.

Johnny Mundt and E.J. Jenkins will do most of the heavy lifting tonight, though it has been Goedert who has dominated the targets for the last couple seasons for this position, with help from Grant Calcaterra (back) who landed on the IR during training camp.

Kicker and DST

The last two seasons were rough for veteran Jake Elliott as he was only 5-of-15 (33%) from 50-plus yards, with a dreadful 76.2% overall conversion rate. In the three preceding seasons to this dismal stretch, he nailed 15-of-17 (88%) from beyond 50-yards, with a 90.9% success rate, earning one Pro Bowl nod in 2021 and being named to the All-NFL Second-Team in 2023. He has made both attempts this season, with a long of 58 yards.

The team has only three sacks and no takeaways, though that should change tonight against Chicago’s backup signal-callers.

Chicago Bears Overview

Caleb Williams (hamstring) is out, though he has not been placed on the IR. Backup Tyson Bagent cleared the concussion protocol, though he will be the QB2 tonight. Defensive tackle Shemar Turner (knee) and linebacker Noah Sewell (Achilles) had their 21-day practice windows opened on Sept. 23, though both remain out tonight.

Quarterback

Case Keenum is going to start tonight, with his last game action coming in a pair of late-season starts for Houston in 2023, that saw him ceded six sacks and three interceptions. He will be turning 39-years-old in February and it is hard to envision him being anything more than replacement level at best and likely to give way to Bagent at some point.

The Bears like Bagent and signed him to a two-year, $10 million contract in August. It is a little surprising he is not getting the nod, though having just cleared the concussion protocol, he did not practice until Saturday. He was 5-of-9 for 54 yards in Week 2 when he replaced Wiliams, suffering one sack.

Running Backs

D’Andre Swift made his lone Pro Bowl in his only season with Philadelphia, the year before the team brought in Barkley. He also has his second 1,000 rushing season last year and he is solid in the passing game. The Ben Johnson led Bears have an excellent run blocking scheme and the injury to Williams will rachet up the pressure for the team to continue progressing via this avenue.

Second-year back Kyle Monangai missed some time in the offseason and training camp, though he has looked good through two weeks, averaging 7.4 yards on his 20 carries with a long of 61 yards. He popped up on the radar for the fantasy world in Week 9 last year, rushing for 176 yards on 26 totes @CIN when Swift was injured. This pair each reached the century mark in the opener and they also accomplished this feat last year in Philadelphia.

Expect this pair to be prioritized tonight as the Bears look to steal a victory in front of their faithful fans.

Wide Receivers

Kalif Raymond leads the team with 14 targets, though he was back down to earth with five in the last game. Luther Burden III has been mostly quiet, with a 66% route-share in line with Raymond, while Rome Odunze is slightly ahead at 70%. Burden is doing a lot of work via slot routes, which have him as the most appealing of this trio considering the quarterback situation. Odunze continues to manage a foot issue, which sounds like it is going to be a go-forward challenge that has good days and bad.

It will be interesting to see how effective Keenum is after having been only an observer the last couple of seasons. He was with the Bears last year as well, after two seasons with Houston, which was his third stint for the Texans.

Each of this trio is in play, though it is hard to prognosticate with any certainty what may transpire. Let personal preference and risk tolerance be your ultimate guide.

Tight End

Colston Loveland has a hefty 73% route participation rate, having been on the field for nearly 87% of the offensive action. Still five targets, resulting in one 3-yard catch is massively disappointing considering how crucial he was down the stretch and into the postseason. Better days simply have to be ahead, though that doesn’t mean the turnaround will be tonight.

Cole Kmet has four targets and third-round rookie Sam Roush from Stanford has three. It is hard to know how the absence of Williams will impact this position, though it is important to remember that backups and young quarterbacks often lean on their tight ends since they tend to be the biggest and closest targets.

Kicker and DST

Cairo Santos continues chugging along in his 13ths NFL season, though he has never received any awards or accolades, that is some serious longevity and he has an 88.4% success rate on field goals in his 100 games for the Bears.

Hurts usually gives up a couple of sacks, though his low and very conservative passing approach tends to limit interceptions as evidenced by his 13 in the last 33 regular season games.

NFL DFS Week 3 MNF Showdown: Top-10

1. Jalen Hurts: It has been a while since his last massive fantasy performance.
2. DeVonta Smith: Enticing workload, particularly under the full-PPR scoring format on DraftKings.
3. D’Andre Swift: Capable in all facets of the game and expectations are that he will be the focal point for the baseline offense.
4. Dontayvion Wicks: Core play on DraftKings ($4,400), solid secondary click on FanDuel ($7,600).
5. Saquon Barkley: More of a boom-bust player at this salary, 10 or fewer fantasy points in five of his last 10 games. Both teams could very well elect to focus on the run game, the Eagles because they love to play conservatively, the Bears because they may not want to expose their defense, when the offense is without their dynamic quarterback. Barkley is a viable MVP option as a two-touchdown game is in his realm of outcomes.
6. Kyle Monangai: Can be played with Swift, likely corralling most of the touches for a more muted offense that what we saw the first two games.
7. Cairo Santos: Steady veteran and we need salary relief to focus on the top-four.
8. Luther Burden III: Dynamic, just has not gotten the ball much. Could get some specifically schemed looks tonight to help out the back quarterbacks.
9. Philadelphia DST: Hard to be in a better situation against a rusty or a green quarterback.
10. Kalif Raymond: Salary is a thing and that is why he gets the edge over Loveland and Odunze. It would be a different dynamic if Williams were at the helm.
11. NFL DFS Week 3 MNF Showdown: And the Rest

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Secondary Targets

• Case Keenum and Tyson Bagent: If Bagent were starting and had not been in the concussion protocol, he would swap rankings with Santos above. I would be surprised if Keenum makes it a full game, but that does not mean a switch is made early enough to make Bagent a viable option. The safest way is to play neither, the logical way is to hope Keenum lasts most of the game and gets 10-12 fantasy points and the wild card move is to roll with Bagent. Of course this will be the assessment plenty of gamers reach as well, so even a first half change in quarterbacks with a good runout for Bagent of 10-12 fantasy points is really not much of a differentiator.
• Rome Odunze: Has not set himself apart from his teammates, let alone looked worthy of being the ninth-overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft.
• Colston Loveland: He will escape the doldrums at some point. He was too good in college and from the midway point last season to be a flash in the pan.
• Tank Bigsby: Shared the role with Shipley when Barkley went down, even though he did find pay dirt. Shares kickoff return duties with Shipley.

Lottery Tickets

• Will Shipley: Hard to envision more than 3-4 opportunities in tonight’s matchup unless things get squirrely.
• Makai Lemon: Let’s see what the kid can do!
• Darius Cooper: Best left to those building 10+ lineups.
• Cole Kmet: Will at least be on the field and got a nice bag from Chicago, the year before Loveland was drafted.
• Johnny Mundt and Zach Ertz: Same story for the 20+ lineup crowd.
• Sam Roush and E.J. Jenkins: TE3s for their respective teams.
• Zavion Thomas, Jahdae Walker, Britain Covey and Rochon Johnson: Mostly special teamers and deep back-ups. Little need to look to this motley crew for anything tonight.

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