Eagles beat writer Jeff McLane on WR Jeremy Maclin: "Fantasy-league owners, take note: Jeremy Maclin could be poised for a breakout season. I recently asked one Eagles coach to give me the name of a player that will make his first Pro Bowl this season and he said Maclin’s name without hesitation. It’s going to be difficult for the Eagles wide receiver to rack up Megatron-like numbers. For one, he isn’t as good as Calvin Johnson, and, two, the Eagles have more offensive weapons than the Lions. But Maclin has had the look this offseason of a player that is ready to take that next step. (He also has a little extra motivation in that he’s entering the fourth year of a five year contract.) Last season would have been the “next step” year if he hadn’t had the cancer scare that wiped out most of his offseason. He still put up respectable numbers – 63 catches for 859 yards and 5 TDs – but he missed almost four games because of injury – wear-and-tear injuries that might have been reduced had he had a regular camp and preseason. I saw Maclin last week and he said he was a solid 205 pounds, seven more than his listed 198."
Hamstring and shoulder injuries cost Maclin nearly four games, but he still was on pace for 78-1057-6 (WR22 numbers) despite uncharacteristic games in Week 1 (1-20), Week 10 (2-6) and Week 14 (1-13). Week 1 can be explained by his tumultuous offseason while the other two games bookended a three-game stint on the bench due to the hamstring and shoulder injuries. Throwing those three games out, Maclin was on pace for 94-1312-8, which are WR7 numbers. While his upside is not quite that high, he should be a very good fantasy WR2 that can be had at a WR3 price.
Eagles news
