2018 Summer Sleeper: Philadelphia Eagles

Anthony Santigate Posted On August 1, 2018

In our annual 32-part Summer Sleeper series, DLF scribes identify a lightly-touted player on each NFL roster who may be worthy of your consideration. Our subjects all have varying levels of “sleeperness,” but each merits a bit of in-depth discussion here in the Premium Content section.

To help everybody along, we are going to be categorizing our sleepers under one of three headings:

Super Deep Sleepers – Players who aren’t roster-worthy in 12-team leagues, but are still worth keeping an eye on.
Deep Sleepers – An end of the roster player who is more often than not on the waiver wire in 12-team leagues.
Sleeper – A likely rostered player who makes for a good trade target. Their startup ADP puts them out of the top-175 or so.

Because we aren’t going to give you the likes of mainstream sleepers, most of these players will undoubtedly fizzle. All we are asking is for you to keep an open mind and perhaps be willing to make room for one of these players on your bench. You never know when the next Adam Thielen is going to spring up. Feel free to add your own thoughts about our choice for the designated sleeper, or nominate one of your own in the comments below.

In 2017, the Philadelphia Eagles could do no wrong.

The offense thrived with Carson Wentz running the show. Nelson Agholor and Zach Ertz had career years. Alshon Jeffery returned to the Pro-Bowl receiver he was in Chicago. The offensive line went from good to arguably the best in football. The run game, bolstered by the addition of Jay Ajayi, succeeded despite having no back reach 800 yards. And lastly, Nick Foles will never pay for a meal in Philadelphia again after his fill-in quarterback performance in the playoffs.

The Eagles will look to follow up their championship run with much of the same supporting cast. One notable departure is deep threat receiver Torrey Smith. Smith’s vertical game drew a lot of attention on the field and opened up inside receiving lanes for the likes of Ertz and Agholor. Not to mention, Smith had his best games at the right time, racking up 13 catches, 157 yards, and a touchdown in three postseason games.

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Mack Hollins, WR

Category: Deep Sleeper

Drafted in the fourth round of the 2017 draft, Hollins flashed in his rookie season. On just 22 targets, the former walk-on hauled in 16 catches for 226 yards and a touchdown. Hollins made the most of his part-time opportunities to the tune of 14 yards per catch.

He became a fan favorite very early in his Eagles career. In his four preseason games, he racked up 13 catches, 139 yards, and a touchdown. But he really became a household name in Philadelphia after his touchdown went viral, where he stiff-armed two defenders consecutively on his way to the end zone.

FIRST CATCH. TD. MACK HOLLINS. pic.twitter.com/97zzSfq56i

— Taylor Vippolis (@tvippolis) August 11, 2017

Hollins should feel comfortable making plays on few chances. The 6’4 standout did much of the same back at North Carolina. The Tar Heels were loaded on offense, boasting NFL talents Mitchell Trubisky, Eric Ebron and Ryan Switzer, among others. Lining up on the outside, Hollins’ junior year was exceptional. Teaming up with Trubisky, Hollins went off for 30 catches, 745 yards, and eight touchdowns – over 24 yards per catch. His senior season was cut short due to injury.

Per PFF, over 60 percent (1,008 of 1,667) of his collegiate receiving yards came on passes more than 20 yards downfield.

In 2018, Hollins seems to be pegged perfectly for that same deep threat role but with more chances. He will be in a camp battle with veteran Mike Wallace for the WR3 spot. Last season, that role led to 73 targets for Smith.

Athletically, he fits the outside WR prototype. Hollins ran a modest 4.53 coming out of college but like other tall receivers, Hollins’ speed is best shown when he has time to get going. According to PlayerProfiler.com, Hollins’ speed score – a combination of height, weight and 40-yard dash time – ranks in the 97th percentile for wide receivers.

Friendly reminder that Mack Hollins can run fast, Carson Wentz can throw a football far and Torrey Smith got traded. pic.twitter.com/0pbj7ZzJGe

— StatsAre4Losers (@SantigateNFL) July 30, 2018

On Hollins’ lone rookie touchdown, the safety played off him and after a subtle jab to the sideline, Hollins was gone. Wentz hit him over the top for an easy 64-yard score.

According to July DLF ADP, Hollins is currently 247th, equivalent to the 20th round of a 12-team startup draft. As far as receivers, he’s ranked 107th, between Kendrick Bourne and rookie Jordan Lasley. Personally, I will take Hollins in that range any day, in any format. He has everything I look for in a sleeper receiver: opportunity, a good offense, a good quarterback, and his own role.

In addition, head coach Doug Pederson has shown the propensity to use his team’s depth. Famously, the defensive ends rotate in and out, and as mentioned earlier, the running game was truly by committee. There’s no reason to think Hollins will not get his shot on the field.

Similar to a lot of deep ball specialists, Hollins’ real fantasy football value lies in best-ball formats. He’s a sure bet for a few big weeks in 2018 despite being fourth in the Eagles’ pecking order.

Like any true sleeper, Hollins needs something to break his way. First and foremost, he needs to prove that he’s better than Wallace this preseason. They are similar style players but Hollins is younger, faster and cheaper to the Eagles. If given a primary role – whether through improvement or injury – Hollins has great dynasty upside. He’s only 24 and is paired with the big arm and aggressive playstyle of Wentz.

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