Philadelphia Eagles: It’s time to trade Zach Ertz (in Fantasy Football)
While Zach Ertz may still be a marquee Fantasy Football talent, savvy owners should sell high on the Philadelphia Eagles tight end ASAP.
Did you, (presumably) a Philadelphia Eagles fan, draft Zach Ertz in Fantasy Football this season – *gasp* maybe even in the first round?
I’m sorry for your loss, or should I say losses plural, as your team probably isn’t doing too well with Ertz occupying valuable real estate as high-priced tight end number 1.
Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here for the foreseeable future.
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All jokes aside, with a seven-game sample size consisting of over 419 snaps to take into account, it’s clear 2019’s iteration of Ertz isn’t the player who amassed an NFL record 116 catches for 1163 yards and eight touchdowns one season prior.
Now granted, that’s not necessarily bad news for the Eagles, as Ertz was insanely over-used last season, but it’s horrible news for owners looking to get WR2 numbers out of their tight end.
You see, so far this season, Ertz has been targeted an average of 8.4 times a day, down 16 percent from his 9.75 in 2018. While that isn’t a huge deal, Ertz has only caught 59 percent of those targets for an average of 57.7 yards a game, a noticeable downgrade from his 72.7 yards on a 74 percent catch percentage one season prior.
So not only is Ertz receiving fewer targets a game, but he’s catching an even lower percentage and earning few yards per game as a result – yikes, that’s not great.
But how could this be? It’s not like the Eagles have amassed a treasure trove of talented players to surround Ertz on the offensive end of the field, as this current, injury stifled bunch may be the worst collection of receiving talent the team has fielded since Chip Kelly called the Delaware Valley home.
Ertz just isn’t getting it done.
You’d think that because of DeSean Jackson‘s absence, Alshon Jeffery‘s injuries, Nelson Agholor‘s… I don’t even know what to say at this point, and the rest of the receiving corps’ ineffectiveness, Carson Wentz and Doug Pederson would opt to rely even harder on their tight end safety blanket to pick up yards and keep the chains moving, but so far, that just hasn’t been the case.
In 2018, Zach Ertz was the Philadelphia Eagles’ identity, but in 2019, the former Stanford Cardinal and husband of Julie is just another ineffective pass-catcher who isn’t getting it down for Wentz and company; preventing the overachieving quarterback from ranking among the league’s elite signal-callers in what should be an MVP-caliber season (more on that here).
Next. A requiem for Jalen Ramsey. dark
But what does this mean for you, the Fantasy Football owner? Easy, trade Zach Ertz; seriously, sell high while you still can. Whether you play in an eight, 10, or even 12-team league, there’s really no reason a savvy operator couldn’t find similar production on the waiver wires with a player like Darren Waller, Kyle Rudolph, or Trey Burton. Flip him for a reliable receiver, an intriguing flex, or even a quarterback to replace Patrick Mahomes, whatever you do, do it ASAP, as Ertz’s value is only going to get lower even among the most diehard Eagles fans with each passing week of 5.7 ppg.