2014 Review

Nick Foles. Gone. LeSean McCoy. Gone. Jeremy Maclin. Gone. It's really hard to do a fantasy review when all the key cogs from a season ago are now playing on others teams. So, how about we just skip this section? Plan. 

Veteran Additions

Here's where it gets interesting. Sam Bradford will be called on to replace Foles under center. Bradford, who hasn't suited up since Week 8 of the 2013 season, has much more weapons around him than when he was playing with the St. Louis Rams. With fellow new additions DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews as well as whole plethora of young receivers, Bradford's in a great position to succeed. In his last full season back in 2012, Bradford was surprisingly impactful from a fantasy perspective. He threw for over 3,700 yards with 21 touchdowns compared to 13 interceptions, making him the 16th-ranked fantasy quarterback. 

It's really going to be interesting to see how Murray performs. Some have called his record-breaking 2014 campaign with the Dallas Cowboys a fluke. After all, he did put up nearly 800 more total yards than any of his previous seasons. This belief is magnified by the fact that Murray had been injury prone prior to 2014 and was running behind one of the most-dominating offensive lines in the NFL. Both of those concerns seem to be surface based. Murray led all NFL running backs with 392 rushing attempts last season. He's also going to be running behind what was the best run-blocking offensive line in the NFL last year. Short of Chip Kelly putting Murray on a pitch count with Mathews taking some of the attempts, the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year should put up tremendous numbers. 

Speaking of Mathews, he was one of the most frustrating fantasy players as the primary ball carrier with the San Diego Chargers over the past five seasons. Missing over a quarter of the team's games during that span, Mathews put up less than 800 yards three times. In the two other seasons, the former first-round pick compiled over 3,000 total yards and 13 touchdowns—finishing as a RB1 option both times. Considering Philadelphia invested a five-year, $40 million contract on Murray, there is little chance that Mathews will get enough touches to make an impact from a fantasy perspective. 

NFL Draft

Nelson Agholor is the only offensive player Philadelphia picked up in the 2015 NFL draft. And the first-round pick from USC is going to play a major role out of the gate. In fact, there's a chance he will replace Jeremy Maclin as the team's starter. With Jordan Matthews entrenched in as Philadelphia's No. 1 receiver, the competition for that second spot is between Agholor and veteran Riley Cooper. 

Jimmy Kempski of the Philly Voice had an interesting observation regarding the rookie immediately prior to the start of camp last week: 

"I also expect Nelson Agholor to start Week 1, and produce immediately. He just looks like the real deal to me."

That seems to be the common theme from those close to the situation in Philadelphia. If so, there's no real reason to believe that Agholor won't produce at a high level out of the gate. Something to the tune of 60-plus receptions for 800 yards could be in the cards. 

Potential Breakout Player

One of the young players to watch around the fantasy football world is second-year receiver Jordan Matthews, who showed flashes of brilliance as a rookie last season. The former second-round pick from Vanderbilt put up 67 receptions for 872 yards and eight scores. This enabled him to finish the season as the 24th-ranked fantasy receiver. Interestingly, Matthews caught over 65 percent of the 103 passes thrown in his direction. With the latter number expected to increase significantly, there's no reason to believe Matthews can't put up 80-plus receptions for well over 1,000 yards and double-digit scores. That makes him an obvious WR1 option in 2015. 

Potential Disappointment

Considering no one is expecting much from him, it's a reach to call Riley Cooper a potential disappointment. However, it's hard to rule out anyone in Chip Kelly's fast-paced offense. By the pure volume of opportunities, starters will make a fantasy impact. With Cooper, it's a little less cut and dry. Potentially set to lose his starting job to a rookie, it's highly unlikely that he will receive the 95 targets he saw last year. More than that, Cooper's production was downright dreadful towards the latter part of the year. He caught just 24 of the 42 passes thrown in his direction in the team's final eight games. Even if he reaches those marks over the course of an entire season, Cooper isn't even a rosterable option.