NFL Week 6 Recap: Instant Fantasy Football Tips from Eagles-Giants Thursday Night Football

Philadelphia Eagles @ New York Giants

Tyrone Tracy returns: Tracy returned to action after missing the previous two weeks with a shoulder injury.

Tracy opened Week 1 as the Giants’ lead dwindled, playing 73.5% of the offensive snaps with Cam Skattebo and Devin Singletary splitting backup duties. By Week 3, Skattebo had become the top option, playing 52.2% of the snaps to Tracy’s 41.8%. Tracy suffered a shoulder injury in Week 3 and Skattebo played 71.8% of the snaps in Weeks 4 and 5. He has carried the ball 40 times for 138 yards and caught eight passes for 56 yards in that span. Tracy was listed as a limited participant in practice all week, although the Giants held a walkthrough on Tuesday and Wednesday and did not practice on Monday. He was not given an injury designation for the match.

Skattebo started and usually provided entire drives, alternating with Tracy, who also saw extended runs. Skattebo received all the short yardage and goal line work. The rookie also had a roughly 60-40 lead over Tracy on both early downs and third downs before garbage time. The Giants played with both backs on the field a few times in both halves, usually on either side of Jaxson Dart. Head coach Brian Daboll has a long history of using a backfield rotation, with one player taking about 60% of the offensive snaps, the backup 30% and the third-string option about 10%, not including his time with Saquon Barkley. The rotation in this game wasn’t far off that model and likely reflects what we can expect from the Giants moving forward.

Skattebo will remain a borderline top-20 fantasy going forward. He hasn’t broken as many big runs as expected, but he will continue to receive plenty of volume as long as the Giants don’t get blown out. Most importantly, he plans to score the majority of the team’s rushing touchdowns. Tracy could be eliminated from some 10-team leagues, as he’s unlikely to make fantasy lineups without a Skattebo injury, and stronger handcuffs are available. It’s reasonable to wait another week to see if the Giants shift the rotation and Tracy gets additional practice time, but that seems unlikely. In 12-team leagues, where most backup running backs are assigned, keeping Tracy is fine.

Giants dig the wide receiver depth chart: New York was without its two best outside wide receivers from the start of the season.

The Giants started the year with Malik Nabers and Darius Slayton as their leading receivers, with Wan’Dale Robinson joining in – similar to last season. Nabers suffered an ACL tear in week 4 and is out for the season. Last week, Robinson became a full-time receiver, while Jalin Hyatt edged Beaux Collins for the third wide receiver spot. Gunner Olszewski was the only other wide receiver on the roster, while Lil’Jordan Humphrey was a call-up to the practice squad.

This week, Humphrey jumped ahead of Hyatt, Collins and Olszewski for the second spot at wide receiver. Humphrey spent three seasons with the Saints, one with the Patriots and most recently with the Denver Broncos, where he often started and played on early downs, especially in run situations. He has surpassed 80% of offensive snaps just once in his career, with an 81.8% snap rate for the Patriots in 2022. He has surpassed 55 receiving yards just twice. He posted 55 yards in the game and played 45 of 49 snaps through the first three quarters. His snap rate only dipped below 80% because the Giants ran out the clock in the fourth quarter using single-receiver sets with Robinson.

Hyatt worked primarily as the third receiver in three wide sets. Collins served as a backup on the outside, while Olszewski supported Robinson in the slot. If Slayton returns, Humphrey could potentially take Hyatt’s spot. Hyatt doesn’t contribute on special teams, unlike Collins and Olszewski, and unless New York chooses to carry six receivers, Hyatt could be the odd man out.

Robinson remains a borderline fantasy starter. He continues to play nearly every second, leading the team in receiving yards and scoring a touchdown. Slayton could also provide fantasy value, but it’s unclear what kind of chemistry he’ll have with Jaxson Dart.

Saquon Barkley plays well despite injury: Barkley was on the injury report this week with a knee injury.

Barkley played just 72.1% of the Eagles’ offensive snaps last week, recording six carries and three receptions. While his snap stock often drops in big wins, last week’s game was a loss for Philadelphia. It was announced on Monday that a knee injury probably contributed to his reduced workload. He was listed as a non-participant in Monday’s estimated report and as restricted during Tuesday’s walkthrough. He didn’t get a game designation.

Barkley opened the game strong, breaking off a season-high 18-yard run on the first offensive play, immediately followed by a 13-yard gain. He took the next few plays off, but returned to play 26 of the next 27 offensive snaps. His playing time decreased in the fourth quarter due to the blow loss. Barkley averaged more than 4.5 yards per carry for the second straight week, after averaging 4.0 or less in each of the first four games. However, Philadelphia gave up the point while playing from behind. AJ Dillon remained the primary backup on the early downs, while Will Shipley came around on the passing downs.

The Eagles now have 10 days before their next game – likely enough time for Barkley to continue his recovery, if he wasn’t already at full strength in Week 5.

Various comments

• Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart was listed on the injury report with a hamstring injury, but was ruled out of the game and was able to start as usual.
• New York signed kicker Jude McAtamney to the 53-man roster after calling him up from the practice squad the past two weeks. Graham Gano remains on injured reserve, while Younghoe Koo remains on the practice squad.
• Eagles backup tight end Grant Calcaterra was inactive due to an oblique injury. His injury occurred early last week, with Kylen Granson taking over as the primary backup tight end and Cameron Latu moving to the third tight end spot.
• The Eagles claimed wide receiver and returner Xavier Gipson off waivers from the Giants two weeks ago. Gipson was a healthy inactive player through his first three games with Philadelphia, including this one. This left the Eagles with just four active wide receivers.

Table notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. These plays have been removed from the other three statistics.

• Objectives may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be the result of an obviously thrown pass, where the NFL could give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data does not.

• Carries are only possible on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles do not count toward the total number of carries in the game.