Three Eagles cracked NFL.com's top 100 fantasy football players of 2017 — and they may surprise you.
Here it goes: Alshon Jeffery (No. 23), Ryan Mathews (No. 56) and Jordan Matthews (No. 77).
Carson Wentz was not ranked among the six QBs listed in the top 100, while tight end Zach Ertz was also left off the list.
It doesn't make a lot of sense to draft Mathews given his injury history (he's coming off neck surgery) and the questions about if he will have a team to play for this season, if it's not the Eagles. But on this list, Mathews is right where he should be — ranked 24 out of 40 running backs.
Think about it. Last season he rushed for 661 yards and eight touchdowns. He averaged 50.8 yards a game, which was 26 out of 42 qualified RBs in the NFL. Last season, Mathews found himself in the top 25 in rushing yards, TDs, first downs and yards per attempt.
If you are a fantasy football junkie, you wouldn't touch Mathews with any of your first five picks. Mathews is, at best, a solid backup for when your starter has a bye week.
Jeffery has been plagued by Jay Cutler (who was deemed the worst QB in the NFL by ESPN's Stephen A. Smith and the Seahawks' Michael Bennett) and two injury-riddled seasons.
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Last season, he had 821 yards and only two TDs. But look for those numbers to improve under QB Carson Wentz, who Jeffery believes is a "future MVP." Between 2013 and 2014, Jeffery averaged 1,277 yards and 8.5 TDs. Those look like the numbers we may see when Wentz is throwing him the ball.
Matthews has mirrored what Jeffery has done the last couple seasons. In three seasons, he's averaged 891 yards and 6.3 TDs, which makes him a solid pick later on (really later on) in your draft.