NFL Week 6 Recap: Immediate fantasy football takeaways from Eagles-Giants Thursday Night Football

Cam Skattebo scored three touchdowns in the New York Giants’ victory. While Tyrone Tracy Jr. was healthy for the Giants, Skattebo led the way as a runner.

Saquon Barkley starts despite injury: Barkley didn’t see his usual snap share, but he was a bright spot for the Philadelphia Eagles offense.

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Philadelphia Eagles @ New York Giants

Tyrone Tracy returns: Tracy returned to action after missing the previous two weeks with a shoulder injury.

Tracy opened Week 1 as the Giants’ lead running back, playing 73.5% of the offensive snaps, while Cam Skattebo and Devin Singletary split backup duties. By Week 3, Skattebo had emerged as the top option, logging 52.2% of the snaps to Tracy’s 41.8%. Tracy suffered a shoulder injury in Week 3, and Skattebo played 71.8% of the snaps over Weeks 4 and 5. He’s carried the ball 40 times for 138 yards and caught eight passes for 56 yards in that span. Tracy was listed as a limited participant in practice throughout the week, though the Giants held a walkthrough on Tuesday and Wednesday and didn’t practice on Monday. He was not given an injury designation for the game.

Skattebo started and typically handled entire drives, alternating with Tracy, who also saw extended series. Skattebo received all of the short-yardage and goal-line work. The rookie also held a roughly 60-40 split over Tracy on both early downs and third downs before garbage time. The Giants mixed in a few plays in both halves with both backs on the field, usually aligned on either side of Jaxson Dart. Head coach Brian Daboll has a long history of using a backfield rotation with one player handling around 60% of the offensive snaps, the backup taking 30%, and the third-string option seeing about 10%—excluding his time with Saquon Barkley. The rotation in this game wasn’t far off from that model and likely reflects what we can expect from the Giants moving forward.

Skattebo will remain a borderline top-20 fantasy running back going forward. He hasn’t broken as many big runs as expected, but he will continue to receive enough volume as long as the Giants aren’t getting blown out. Most importantly, he projects to score the majority of the team’s rushing touchdowns. Tracy can be dropped in some 10-team leagues, as he’s unlikely to crack fantasy lineups without a Skattebo injury, and there are stronger handcuff options available. It’s reasonable to wait one more week to see if the Giants shift the rotation with Tracy getting additional practice time, but that seems unlikely. In 12-team leagues, where most backup running backs are rostered, it’s fine to hold onto Tracy.

Giants dig down the wide receiver depth chart: New York was without its top two outside wide receivers from the start of the season.

The Giants started the year with Malik Nabers and Darius Slayton as their lead wide receivers, with Wan’Dale Robinson joining in the slot — similar to last season. Nabers suffered an ACL tear in Week 4, and he is out for the season. Last week, Robinson became a full-time receiver, while Jalin Hyatt had a lead over Beaux Collins for the third wide receiver spot. Gunner Olszewski was the only other wide receiver on the roster, while Lil’Jordan Humphrey was a practice squad callup.

This week, Humphrey jumped ahead of Hyatt, Collins and Olszewski for the No. 2 wide receiver spot. Humphrey spent three seasons with the Saints, one with the Patriots and most recently was with the Denver Broncos, where he often started and played on early downs, particularly in run situations. He had surpassed 80% of offensive snaps only once in his career, with an 81.8% snap rate game for the Patriots in 2022. He has surpassed 55 receiving yards only twice. He posted 55 yards in the game and played 45 of 49 snaps through the first three quarters. His snap rate dipped below 80% only because the Giants ran out the clock in the fourth quarter using one-receiver sets featuring Robinson.

Hyatt primarily worked as the third receiver in three-wide sets. Collins operated as the backup on the outside, while Olszewski backed up Robinson in the slot. When Slayton returns, Humphrey could potentially take Hyatt’s roster spot. Hyatt doesn’t contribute on special teams, unlike Collins and Olszewski, and unless New York opts to carry six receivers, Hyatt may be the odd man out.

Robinson remains a borderline fantasy starter. He continues to play nearly every snap, led the team in receiving yards and scored a touchdown. Slayton could also offer fantasy value, but it’s unclear what kind of chemistry he’ll have with Jaxson Dart.

Saquon Barkley plays well despite injury: Barkley was on the injury report this week with a knee injury.

Barkley played just 72.1% of the Eagles’ offensive snaps last week, recording six carries and three receptions. While his snap share often dips in blowout wins, last week’s game was a loss for Philadelphia. On Monday, it was revealed that a knee injury likely contributed to his reduced workload. He was listed as a non-participant on Monday’s estimated report and as limited during Tuesday’s walkthrough. He did not receive a game designation.

Barkley opened the game strong, breaking off a season-high 18-yard run on the first offensive play, followed immediately by a 13-yard gain. He took the next few plays off but returned to play 26 of the next 27 offensive snaps. His playing time dropped in the fourth quarter due to the blowout loss. Barkley averaged over 4.5 yards per carry for the second consecutive week after averaging 4.0 or fewer in each of the first four games. However, Philadelphia was forced to abandon the run while playing from behind. A.J. Dillon remained the primary early-down backup, with Will Shipley rotating in on passing downs.

The Eagles now have 10 days before their next game—likely enough time for Barkley to continue recovering, if he wasn’t already at full strength in Week 5.

Miscellaneous Notes

Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart was listed on the injury report with a hamstring injury but wasn’t given a game status and was able to start as usual.

New York signed kicker Jude McAtamney to the 53-man roster after calling him up from the practice squad the last two weeks. Graham Gano remains on injured reserve, while Younghoe Koo remains on the practice squad.

Eagles backup tight end Grant Calcaterra was inactive due to an oblique injury. His injury occurred early last week, with Kylen Granson taking over as the primary backup tight end, and Cameron Latu moving to the third tight end spot.

The Eagles claimed wide receiver and returner Xavier Gipson off waivers from the Giants two weeks ago. Gipson has been a healthy inactive for his first three games with Philadelphia, including this one. This left the Eagles with only four active wide receivers.

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

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