Everybody Added Will Shipley. The Early-Down Work May Go To Dameon Pierce.

Friends, every season has a week like this one. The backs at the top of a depth chart go down, one healthy name is left, and the waiver wire spends its money on him. This week the name is Will Shipley.

On Friday FantasyPros posted "So you added Will Shipley..." and that evening asked "Which player are you starting in Week 5 that you know is going to disappoint you?" More than one reply answered with his name. Meanwhile the Eagles signed backs and praised one of them, and Shipley's usage describes a narrower job than his waiver claim. Let me open the hood.

What Actually Happened

Adam Schefter reported Friday that the Eagles officially ruled out Saquon Barkley (hamstring) for Sunday's Week 5 game against the Jaguars in London. Jeff McLane's game-status post has center Drew Kendall (knee) out too, and Zach Berman of The Athletic noted this "will be the first game Saquon Barkley misses due to injury since signing with the Eagles."

Tank Bigsby is on injured reserve, and as of Monday Shipley was the only healthy back on the 53-man roster, per Berman. On Wednesday Nick Sirianni, quoted by Berman, said of Dameon Pierce: "He's an NFL starting running back." That afternoon the Eagles signed Pierce to the active roster, and on Friday they added running back Carson Steele and center Jake Majors to it.

I distrust coach quotes as a matter of family policy, and nothing I read says who starts Sunday. But the only coach-speak I fully trust is the kind that uses up a roster spot.

Which Job Came Open

Nick Mensio of Rotowire wrote that Shipley has been "pigeonholed to a passing-down role this season, running a route on 53 of his 91 snaps." That is about 58 percent, by my arithmetic. Mensio thinks it "very possible" the Eagles plug Pierce into Bigsby's role "on early downs and at the goal line" and leave Shipley in his.

Colin McTamany of FTN Fantasy expects "Dameon Pierce prob leads in carries" and "Will Shipley likely runs the most routes" in Week 5. Those are two analysts' reads, and either could miss.

Every time a back goes down, he leaves a job behind: early-down and goal-line carries, or passing-down routes. Coaches usually hand it to whoever they already trust with that work, and he may be a back your league never bothered to claim. A rule you can steal: name the job that came open before you name the back who gets it.

Then check your scoring, neighbors. In PPR a catch is worth a point by itself, so the route runner keeps a floor even without carries. In non-PPR the points come from yards and touchdowns, which favors the role Mensio thinks may go to Pierce.

An injury opens a job. The waiver wire never asks which one.

The Part Nobody Put On The Waiver Claim

Going into Week 5, Sleeper ranked Jacksonville second in run defense by yards allowed, and listed the back they are playing as Will Shipley. Jimmy Kempski says three of Sunday's likely linemen, Willie Lampkin, Jake Majors and Markel Bell, "have a combined one career start, and a combined 64 career offensive snaps." I like an offensive line the way I like a used truck, with a long service record.

Fair is fair. Berman points out that Majors "Started 57 games in center at Texas" and Eliot Shorr-Parks is "actually pretty excited to see the new-look line." My father taught me to save my excitement about an offensive line until after the game. In Cleveland, that has meant saving quite a lot of it.

I read the whole post, Chief, because somebody in this partnership has to. Orrico wrote it about Pierce, and it asks: "Could he be in line for 10+ touches and goal line work?" His answer was "Potentially…" so even the man selling tickets to the Shipley show saved a seat for Pierce.

What To Do About It

1. Shipley is a PPR flex, and only if your alternatives are worse. PPR pays for the route job Mensio describes. The defense and the line are the case against.
2. Pierce is a non-PPR dart, and only for managers who need a touchdown. If Mensio is right, his points come from early downs and the goal line, straight into the run defense Sleeper ranks second.
3. Cut nobody proven to make room for either one. Ian Rapoport reported Barkley is considered "week-to-week" and the injury is "not considered to be a long-term injury." Treat any Eagles backup as a short rental, and pay rental prices: the last man on your bench.
4. Revisit Monday with the snap sheet open. Check who got the early-down and goal-line carries and how the snaps split. If Shipley got those carries on top of his routes, the job is his until Barkley returns, and I will say so here. If Pierce got them, sort the two by your scoring format.

A Quiet Note From July

In July I told you to fade Jaydon Blue at his July price, which was paying for a promotion that had not happened. He is now one of three Eagles practice-squad backs McLane listed Monday as call-up options. The Eagles promoted the other two this week, and Blue "was not elevated" per McTamany. I make no claim about why, and I take no pleasure in it. Coaches hand out jobs in their own order, and the market finds out with everybody else.