Just when you thought it was safe to feel good about having Dallas Goedert everywhere, with him catching 7 passes in Week 1, it's not. The Eagles starter is hurt again.
Even though the Eagles played last Thursday night, we're just now hearing that Goedert picked up a knee sprain in that game. His status for Week 2 is up in the air.
The report says it's not believed to be a long-term injury; that Goedert might even be able to play in Week 2. But those of us starting him should be lining up other options, since it seems reasonable to expect him to miss a game. It's Week 2, he has a sprained knee, why be sending him over the middle to catch short passes and take big hits.
The good news, I guess, is that unlike with George Kittle yesterday, Goedert might actually have a serviceable backup. Two potential candidates, one seeming more likely.
The Eagles added Kylen Granson in the offseason. He played a quarter of the snaps and caught 1 pass. But Grant Calcaterra played 60 percent of the time, and although he wasn't targeted, he at least produced at a nominal level when filling in for Goedert a year ago.
The below shows Calcaterra's numbers in a full-time role a year ago (more than 90 percent of the playing time in each game, with Goedert out hurt). He had 8-11 PPR points in all but one of those games.
| CALCATERRA IN FULL-TIME ROLE, 2024 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Tgt | Rec | Yds | TD | Pts |
| Cle. | 4 | 4 | 67 | 0 | 10.7 |
| at Cin. | 3 | 3 | 58 | 0 | 8.8 |
| Jac. | 5 | 5 | 30 | 0 | 8.0 |
| Car. | 3 | 3 | 16 | 1 | 10.6 |
| Pit. | 1 | 1 | 22 | 0 | 3.2 |
OK: it's not great. If you're in Standard, forget it. If you're in PPR, it's serviceable. If you're in TE-premium, it's a little more palatable.
From what I'm seeing here, some people have plenty of decent fill-in options on the waiver wire. Guys like Juwan Johnson and Hunter Henry are available in some leagues. They should be added toot sweet, if you need a Goedert (or Kittle) replacement.
But in deeper leagues, you can at least consider Calcaterra. A 3-5 catch week is reasonable, and that might be enough to salvage things if Goedert misses time.
As for Goedert, well, those who didn't draft him are nodding and saying yup. Goedert in his last five seasons has missed 5-plus games three times and 2-3 in the other two. It's a position that takes some punishment, and he took plenty of big hits the other night. If you're counting on him as your starter, time to start scouting alternatives, just in case this minor knee sprain winds up being more.
--Andy Richardson