DeVonta Smith
vs Travis Etienne

“Smith could remain sidelined another week or two, and with Saquon Barkley and Tank Bigsby injured, the Eagles are in danger of imploding. Add in Lane Johnson’s retirement and Jalen Hurts ‘ inability to feed his receivers, and I just don’t see a path where DeVonta can pay off at these prices. I’d be willing to swap DeVonta for Coker straight up, but you can likely get a FLEX-worthy play on top of Coker, based on market prices.” – Jim Moorman ( Dynasty Football Factory )”

“The passing volume simply isn’t there with Jalen Hurts under center; Smith would need to post some otherworldly per-route efficiency numbers to even sniff a top-12 wide receiver finish this season. Count me out.”

“Over two games this season, Smith has 38.9% of the team's targets against Cover 1, averaging 2.74 yards per route run.”

“DeVonta Smith ‘ s 36% target share is the 5th highest among all WRs so far.”

“DeVonta Smith was expected to shift into a feature role following Philadelphia’s decision to deal A.J. Brown to New England, but it appears that the Eagles missed the memo. Quarterback Jalen Hurts hardly threw passes all afternoon, completing just 14 passes for 203 yards, primarily deep strikes to Dallas Goedert and Dontayvion Wicks .”

“Smith ranks as Andy’s WR9 in a matchup against the Commanders, who ranked last in yards allowed per game last season.”

“the Bengals hints that DeVonta Smith will play significant slot snaps, too, which probably bodes well for Smith’s fantasy value.”

“01 | DeVonta Smith | WR, Philadelphia Eagles DeVonta Smith ‘s Athletic Profile Last season, DeVonta Smith finished just outside of WR2 range with an underwhelming 11.9 FPPG.”

“Ladd McConkey and DeVonta Smith were also considered. 4.11: Jaylen Waddle (WR – DEN) Jaylen Waddle is being overlooked as he enters his first year with the Broncos.”

“However, Smith was outstanding when seeing enough volume, averaging 19.3 fantasy points per game in the seven contests where he had seven or more targets, scoring 20 or more in nearly a third of those outings.”

“Smith is a perfect WR pairing with Nabers, bringing a player fantasy managers should feel good about not only being the top target on their team, but one who has proven he can carry the load as a top-12 WR for fantasy.”

“Etienne has posted a respectable 11.8% explosive run rate and 18% missed tackle rate. Etienne could be an RB2 with a bad matchup this week, but he’s best viewed as a risky flex at this point until his usage improves. The Raiders have allowed the tenth-lowest explosive run rate, the seventh-lowest rushing success rate, and the fourth-lowest missed tackle rate.”

“Kamara is clearly the more involved receiver (6 targets to Etienne’s 2); Etienne is the marginally more efficient runner (3.1 vs. 1.7 YPC). First-half usage: Kamara handled the bulk of it — 5 carries for 10 yards across Q1-Q2 (all of Q2’s carries were his) vs. just 2 carries for 9 yards for Etienne (both in Q1, on the opening drive).”

“As long as this offense funnels heavily through Chris Olave , Etienne looks like a completely non-useful fantasy asset who is utterly dependent on TD efficiency to crack your starting lineup. Conclusion: Sell Travis Etienne Jr . if you still can. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Cleveland Browns Denzel Boston (93%) It is time to officially sound the breakout alarm for rookie second-rounder Denzel Boston .”

“I noted on the Friday DFS Pod that I thought Travis Etienne was a really interesting leverage play as he was essentially the only Saints player not getting steamed up this week. Once Alvin Kamara was ruled out (Knee), I thought Etienne became an even better play given that we could project a bump in his pass catching role. Again, the result didn’t go my way here with Shough passing stacks getting that insane come-from-behind pass volume, but I was really happy with my ownership read, getting him at just 12% in this contest.”

“It’s easily Travis Etienne for me, and I’m struggling to understand why we’re still getting him at RB17. Etienne was the RB6 in points per game in 2023 and RB12 last season, and his career 13.2 PPG is essentially identical to Kenneth Walker ‘s 13.3.”

“” – Adam Dove ( The Fantasy Couriers ) Travis Etienne Jr. (RB – NO) “ Travis Etienne is sitting around RB18 in Half-PPR ECR after finishing as the RB13 in points per game last season and putting up 1,399 total yards.”

“He signed a massive deal with the Saints this offseason after rushing 260 times for 1,107 yards and seven touchdowns last season, while also catching 36 passes for 292 yards and six more scores. Etienne will get plenty of action in the passing game and will be the team’s undisputed No. 1 RB.”

“Travis Etienne Jr. bounced back in a big way last season, amassing 1,100 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns for the Jaguars. He's headed into arguably an even better situation in New Orleans, at least in terms of backfield competition. Etienne posted an RB10 overall finish in 2025 with a 65.1% snap share. If that climbs up closer to the 75% range in New Orleans (which feels realistic given the depth chart), I don't see why he can't hit 1,500 rushing yards.”

“The Saints signed Travis Etienne to headline their backfield, but among 43 running backs with at least 150 touches last season, Etienne was 27th in yards per carry (4.3) and 33rd in percentage of rushes that went for zero or negative yards.”

“Etienne is too good a talent for the Saints to put him in a legitimate time share of any kind. Kellen Moore's offense has been capable of producing big fantasy numbers for running backs as well.”

“Travis Etienne is a free agent in 2026 (signed with the New Orleans Saints). They did draft two RBs in last year's draft, likely knowing they could lose ETN on the open market.”