Eagles vs. Rams: Week 5 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em - Jalen Hurts, D'Andre Swift, A.J. Brown, Devonta Smith, Kyren Williams, Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua

Welcome to our Eagles vs. Rams fantasy football start 'em, sit' em matchups analysis article for Week 5 of the 2023 NFL season.

Read our matchups analysis, player breakdowns, and lineup recommendations for the matchup and set those winning lineups. Good luck RotoBallers!

Philadelphia Eagles at Los Angeles Rams

Spread: Eagles -4.0
Implied Total: Eagles (26.75) vs. Rams (22.75)
Pace: Eagles (27th) vs. Rams (28th)
Eagles Off. DVOA: 22.3% Pass (12th), 17.9% Rush (3rd)
Rams Off. DVOA: 21.8% Pass (13th), 4.6% Rush (7th)
Eagles Def. DVOA: 9.5% Pass (17th), -40.9% Rush (1st)
Rams Def. DVOA: 12.5% Pass (21st), -0.0% Rush (24th)

Matchups We Love

Jalen Hurts (QB, PHI)

Hurts continues to play well enough for the Eagles to win, but they're really flirting with fire. After getting hammered by the Bills, Washington forced overtime against them last week. It's odd and somewhat concerning from an NFL perspective. However, for fantasy purposes, he's consistently delivered outside of Week 1.

Eagles WRs

After what was deemed a slow start to the year by his standards, A.J. Brown has been the WR1 over the past two weeks, racking up 18 catches for 306 yards and two touchdowns. He's unstoppable right now.

AJ Brown ran circles around the entire Washington defense 😵‍💫 pic.twitter.com/Bd2IyqX8e8

— PFF (@PFF) October 1, 2023

It definitely hurt DeVonta Smith in Week 3, but he finished as the WR24 against the Commanders, which is okay. It's hard to imagine Brown maintaining this level of production, so in a good matchup, they're both players to throw out there.

D'Andre Swift (RB, PHI)

Swift sits inside the top 10 in rushing yards over expected per attempt, missed tackles forced, and rush attempts per broken tackle. He's been very good since taking over the backfield. Even with a full allotment of tailbacks, he played 63% of the offensive snaps. He's the clear-cut starter, locking him into the top 15 against the Rams.

Rams WRs

The theme of superstars returning from Injured Reserve continues here with Cooper Kupp. The plan to bring him back in Week 5 seems to be on track as he practiced in full on Thursday. We'll need an official designation or lack thereof, but assuming he's out there, he has to be in your lineup for the elite ceiling.

Rams HC Sean McVay says Cooper Kupp will play Sunday for the Rams pic.twitter.com/OyArcdw5SV

— NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2023

Puka Nacua's target share will definitely take a hit, but he's not going away completely after what we've seen so far. He's still a top-24 receiver against the Eagles' young secondary. Tutu Atwell could be the one impacted the most, but the risk is lesser this week because it's unlikely Kupp will play a full allotment of snaps immediately. He's still a flex option with a top-36 upside.

UPDATE: Kupp is expected to play on Sunday barring a setback.

Matchups We Hate

None

Other Matchups

Matthew Stafford (QB, LAR)

Stafford has been extremely productive from a passing yardage perspective, the touchdowns just haven't been there. Adding in a wideout who posted 22 of them in the past one-and-a-half campaigns ought to help with that. The Eagles looked like they resolved their secondary issues for one week against the Buccaneers, but the Commanders exploited them again on Sunday. Stafford's recent play and array of weapons put him on the map as a streamer near the top 12.

Kyren Williams (RB, LAR)

Taking on the No. 1 ranked rush defense by DVOA isn't a good spot to be in, but Williams has such a strong role with an awesome workload that it's hard to fade him too much. He ranks sixth in rushing attempts (64) and third in running back targets (22). It also helps that he's found the end zone five times, but this offense will score points, keeping him in the top 15. Ronnie Rivers did get some more work, which may have been part of the plan, or it may have been because Williams was dealing with a hip injury.

Tyler Higbee (TE, LAR)

The list of players whose volume could decrease with Kupp back extends to Higbee as well. They don't necessarily overlap on the field but Stafford is more apt to look to Kupp when he's out there. Higbee is still a strong streamer given the higher over/under and passing attack.

Dallas Goedert (TE, PHI)

Things continue to get worse for Goedert, whose targets, receptions, and yards all went down in Week 4. The game script was favorable, leading to 37 passing attempts, but he was vastly out-targeted by Smith and Brown while tying Swift in targets. He's played at least 92% of the snaps every week and he's run the third-most routes among tight ends, but his targets per route run are down at 15% with a yards per route run of 0.68. It's a top-10 matchup, which is why he's still residing in this section, but he drops into the streaming range.

Notable Injuries

Cooper Kupp (hamstring)
Kyren Williams (hip)

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