Monday Night Football DFS Breakdown: Giants vs. Eagles

Monday night's NFC East showdown was certainly more anticipated earlier in the season, as neither team comes in with a winning record. The 5-7 Eagles are 8.5-point road favorites against the 2-10 Giants, with the game total sitting at 44.5 points on FanDuel Sportsbook. Philadelphia comes in on a three-game losing streak thanks to losses to the Patriots, Seahawks and Dolphins, but they have still been significantly better than the Giants, who are losers of eight straight and will now be turning back to Eli Manning, one of the few players in the NFL older than me. The Eagles can join the Cowboys at the top of NFC East standings with a win, and they finish the season with four straight division games (including Monday), a stretch that has them playing the Giants twice.

QUARTERBACKS

Carson Wentz ($11,800 DK, $15,500 FD) comes in off his best game of the season, throwing for 310 yards and three touchdowns despite losing to Miami. However, it broke a run of five consecutive games with just one passing touchdown, a streak that also saw him fail to throw for even 260 yards. In fact, Wentz has thrown for over 300 yards just thrice this season, and he's thrown for multiple touchdowns five times, including once since Week 6. However, he now faces a Giants defense that's allowed the seventh-most fantasy points to quarterbacks on FanDuel and eighth-most on DraftKings. Needless to say, as the starting quarterback on a heavily favored team, Wentz will be owned, and plenty will make him their captain/MVP.

And in the other corner, a familiar face that we haven't seen in a while: Eli Manning ($8,200 DK, $13,000 FD), who is starting in place of the injured Daniel Jones (ankle). Last seen in Week 2 against Buffalo, Manning doesn't exactly inspire a ton of confidence (he was benched for Jones, after all), as not only is he seen as done in terms of NFL usability, but he's also the starting quarterback for a team that's an 8.5-point home underdog. If there is a positive spin it's that he's facing an Eagles defense that's struggled against the pass when compared to their success against the run, and they just got smoked by Ryan Fitzpatrick for 365 yards and three touchdowns last week. However, that game is more of an anomaly, as they gave up multiple passing touchdowns once in the previous five games, which came back in Week 8. There's really not much to get excited about with Manning, and he's unlikely to be overly popular for those with few lineups or who don't love to take big(ish) risks.

WIDE RECEIVERS AND TIGHT ENDS

The Eagles' receiving corps has dealt with a plethora of injuries this season, but they are mostly healthy now while facing a Giants defense that's allowed the second-most fantasy points to wide receivers on DraftKings and FanDuel, though they've been statistically tough against tight ends, allowing the second-fewest fantasy points on DraftKings and third-fewest on FanDuel. You can point out that they haven't played any good tight ends, or at least any as good as what the Eagles have, and you could also point out that three of the four tight end touchdowns they allowed were against the Cowboys. Either way, Zach Ertz ($9,400 DK, $13,500) and Dallas Goedert ($4,800 DK, $9,000 FD) will be owned, as the former leads the Eagles in targets (106), receptions (70), receiving yards (736), air yards (869) and red-zone targets (13) while the latter is fourth on the team in targets (53) and receptions (37), fifth in receiving yards (355) and tied for first in receiving touchdowns (four). Goedert is obviously much cheaper than Ertz, but his lack of volume is the clear reason why.

Otherwise, Alshon Jeffery ($9,200 DK, $14,000 FD) will get plenty of attention from fantasy players, as he's certainly the Eagles' best wide receiver, though his cumulative stats aren't overly impressive because he missed three games this season due to injury while playing just six snaps in another. He returned from an ankle injury last week against the Dolphins and had a huge game, catching nine of 16 targets for 137 yards and a touchdown, the most yards and targets he's had in a game this season. Jeffery can certainly go quiet at times, though that's more because of Wentz than his own abilities. Nevertheless, the matchup against the Giants, who have allowed the third-most wide receiver touchdowns in the league, is certainly one where Jeffery's upside will be expected. No. 2 wide receiver Nelson Agholor ($5,400 DK, $8,000 FD) is officially questionable to play because of a knee injury, though he literally did not practice leading up to the game, which makes it seem like he's more unlikely to play.

An absence for Agholor would move J.J. Arcega-Whiteside ($2,000 DK, $8,000 FD) into the starting lineup, a position that will surely make him very highly owned because he's so cheap, particularly on DraftKings. He hasn't been that heavily used this season -- in fact, he's only been targeted 15 times -- but his 18.0 aDOT is encouraging enough that he won't need much volume to have an impact on a single-game fantasy slate. It's also possible that Greg Ward ($200 DK, $6,500 FD) gets more playing time, and he at least comes in with 10 targets in the past two games. Maybe more importantly, he actually played more snaps that Arcega-Whiteside last week, and his dirt-low salary on DraftKings will surely have people looking his way if he really is the no. 3 wideout. The difficulty with relying on Arcega-Whiteside and Ward is that Wentz really likes throwing to his tight ends and running backs (more on them later), so there isn't likely to be much volume to consider.

The Giants have also dealt with a number of injuries to pass catchers this season, and while they will once again be without top tight end Evan Engram (foot), they will have their regular wide receivers, namely Sterling Shepard ($7,200 DK, $10,500 FD), Golden Tate ($8,000 DK, $11,500 FD) and Darius Slayton ($6,800 DK, $10,000 FD). There have been only two games this season when all three played, none of which were with Manning under center, so we don't have any kind of track record on how they'll do together in this situation. Shepard is likely to get a decent amount of work, though Tate should be popular out of the slot because Manning likes to check down often. Of the three, Slayton has the highest aDOT (13.0), though Manning hasn't shown a propensity for throwing down field for... a while. Tate and Shepard seem like they should get most of the targets, along with tight end Kaden Smith ($2,200 DK, $8,500 FD), who has stepped up well in place of Engram in the past two games, getting targeted 14 times, more than anyone but Shepard and Slayton (Tate only played once).

There are a number of longer-shot options who may get some more looks because they have familiarity with Manning while playing on the second team with him. If that's the case, we can bump up the already minuscule projection for guys like Cody Core ($200 DK, $5,000 FD) and Da'Mari Scott ($200 DK, unlisted FD), though realistically they may only play 10 snaps combined.

There's a volume argument to be made for captaining one of the Giants' receivers, as they figure to be trailing most of the game and needing to catch up, and that likely makes Shepard and Tate captain/MVP considerations. It's not a lot to go on, and given that they're significant underdogs, Jeffrey is probably the more fruitful path because he's the top guy on the big favorite against a team that really struggles with wide receivers.

RUNNING BACKS

Then again, the most popular pass catcher for the Giants might be running back Saquon Barkley ($10,600 DK, $13,500 FD), who continues to be priced highly despite a dismal season, failing to rush for more than 85 yards since Week 2 and scoring just three rushing touchdowns all year (he missed three games due to injury). He is still looking for his first game with 20 carries, and he trails Engram, Slayton and Tate in targets. The big positive with Barkley is that we know he's going to get the running back touches, as Wayne Gallman ($1,000 DK, $5,000 FD) has barely played while Barkley was healthy, and his volume is significantly higher than third-stringer Javorius Allen's ($200 DK, $5,000 FD). Additionally, Barkley's best two games this season, and his excellent 2018 rookie season, all came with Manning as the starting quarterback, so there's definitely reason to think he could break out Monday, even against an Eagles defense that's allowed the ninth-fewest fantasy points to running backs on DraftKings and FanDuel. Even if the Giants fall behind, which is fully expected, Barkley figures to lead them in snaps and be heavily involved in the rushing and passing game. In fact, he is certainly a viable captain/MVP choice, as he could have a big game and the Giants could still get slaughtered.

The Eagles' backfield situation isn't as clear cut, though it will be easier if Jordan Howard ($6,400 DK, $12,000 FD) is ruled out because of a shoulder injury. Howard, who missed the last three games because of a shoulder injury, is officially questionable to play, though he reportedly hasn't even been cleared for contact as of Saturday's practice, so it's tough to see him being active Monday. If he does sit, the backfield will once again belong to Miles Sanders ($8,600 DK, $13,000 FD), who had 17 carries for 83 yards and caught all five targets for 22 receiving yards and a touchdown last week against Miami. While the Eagles have Jay Ajayi ($1,600 DK, $5,500 FD) and Boston Scott ($200 DK, $5,000 FD) available, there's been nothing in the past two games to make us think they will take more away from Sanders. The Giants have actually been decent against running backs this season, and while they've allowed just one rushing touchdown in the past five games, they also allowed 17 running back receptions in the past two, and Sanders has shown he can definitely contribute in that part of the game. For fantasy players who don't want to rely on whether we get the good Wentz or the bad Wentz, Sanders should get plenty of touches to make him a very viable captain/MVP option.

KICKERS

With the Giants sitting as big underdogs, Aldrick Rosas ($3,800 DK, $9,000 FD) could be one of their key floor players if they can't get the ball in the end zone (their 18.0 implied points certainly doesn't project for lots of touchdowns). He hasn't been the most accurate kicker this season, but Rosas is still good enough to start, and with a relatively low total, he's a reasonable play in cash games. Meanwhile, the Eagles' Jake Elliott ($4,000 DK, $9,500 FD) should have more opportunities, though that really hasn't been the case much this season, as he's gotten a single field-goal opportunity in seven games, and he had zero in another. Nevertheless, the Eagles are expected to put points on the board, making his $200 salary difference from Rosas definitely warranted.

DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS

Despite just three games with more than seven fantasy points, the Eagles defense ($5,800 DK) is really priced up because of Manning, who has been an absolute turnover machine in recent years. The increase in salary could push ownership down, though with the expectation that Manning turns the ball over a few times, the Eagles defense cold be a popular captain choice, as the touchdown upside, which kickers don't have, makes them very relevant. On the other hand, the Giants defense ($2,800) has generally been atrocious, with all three of their games with more than eight fantasy points including very-difficult-to-project defensive touchdowns. It's tough to justify using them given their underdog status, though those with many lineups will surely have them in their player pool if only because of the highly variant nature of turnovers and turnovers that lead to touchdowns, not to mention special teams scores.