It’ll be a fascinating Sunday in London for the Jacksonville Jaguars, because they don’t really have any way of knowing what the Philadelphia Eagles are going to do at the running back position.
It’s already known that the Eagles will be without Saquon Barkley, who is out with a hamstring injury, and his immediate backup Tank Bigsby, who was recently placed on injured reserve.
It’s also known that Will Shipley, Dameon Pierce and Carson Steele look to be the active RBs for Philadelphia.
But it’s anyone’s guess how the playing time breaks down.
Who’s Playing RB for Eagles Today?
The three apparent options for the Eagles are the aforementioned Will Shipley, Dameon Pierce and Carson Steele.
Shipley was the only one of the three who was on the active roster before this week.
Pierce and Steele had both been on the Eagles’ practice squad and were elevated for this game.
By their previous placement, Shipley would look like the guy ready to lead the charge, but that could also be potentially misleading.
Shipley was on the Eagles’ roster already as a passing-down option. Bigsby was more of the heavy workload guy when Barkley had to miss time.
It’s not clear that Shipley can shift into a role of getting a ton of carries. He’ll surely see ample work, particularly in the passing game, but he might not lead the Eagles in rushes.
Some analysts are expecting that Pierce will get the lion’s share of the carries. He had an impressive start to his career with the Houston Texans but has fallen off a bit since. Still, he’s more of the prototypical RB to hand the ball off to a bunch of times.
Steele is also capable of a big workload, given his nature as a bruising runner, but maybe his build will leave him more suited to short-yardage work on Sunday.
As far as the Jaguars are concerned, they’ll just have to stick to their keys defensively in the hopes of slowing down whoever is out on the field.
Will Shipley, Dameon Pierce Fantasy Outlook
Many of those concerned about the Eagles’ RB room this week probably aren’t Jaguars fans but instead fantasy football players looking to make the right lineup decision.
It’s a truly difficult call.
The reality is that Shipley’s floor should be decent, particularly in PPR formats. It’s just not clear if he’ll get the rushing touches to make a huge difference.
But speculating on Pierce to get a big rushing workload is total guesswork and far from a given.
If you have to play someone, Shipley feels safe but Pierce feels a bit more like the risk-reward choice.
Who’s Playing RB for Eagles Today vs. Jaguars? Saquon Barkley, Tank Bigsby Injured