Earlier today, August 22nd, Jahan Dotson was traded from the Washington Commanders to their division rival, the Philadelphia Eagles, in exchange for some draft picks. What is the impact of the Jahan Dotson trade on him and other players?
A rare in-division trade: Washington is sending former first-round pick Jahan Dotson and a fifth-round pick to the Eagles in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick and two seventh-round picks, per sources. pic.twitter.com/ieDX8EvH0s
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 22, 2024
How Does the Jahan Dotson Trade Affect Fantasy Football for the Washington Commanders and Philadelphia Eagles?
Fantasy Impact on Jahan Dotson
Jahan Dotson was the WR2 on the Commanders and the second-best target on the team for rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. He was behind Terry McLaurin while ahead of Dyami Brown and Luke McCaffrey. He was in line for a decent target share. However, the Commanders have a new coaching staff for this season, and they did not seem to be big fans of Dotson. Dotson was not the right fit for them, so they traded him away to the Eagles.
Dotson is in a worse position on his new team. He is the WR3 on the depth chart behind A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. He should be ahead of the other receivers on the team, such as Parris Campbell and Johnny Wilson. However, he is probably behind Dallas Goedert on the pecking order, which makes Dotson the fourth-best target on the team. His fantasy stock takes a big hit going from the second to the fourth target.
Fantasy Impact on Washington Commanders
This is a surprising move for the Commanders as they lost their second-best pass catcher. Terry McLaurin is now in line for a massive target share. His fantasy stock is up. Dyami Brown and rookie Luke McCaffrey are now in competition for the WR2 spot on the team. Brown only has 29 career catches in three seasons, and McCaffrey is a rookie, so both players must prove themselves. Both of these players now have some late-round upside value in fantasy drafts.
Tight end Zach Ertz might be the biggest benefit of the trade. He is now the second-best target on the team behind McLaurin, and his target share should increase. He now becomes a valid streamer option with top-ten potential. Rookie tight end Ben Sinnott’s stock is also up. The Commanders could run more two tight end sets with Dotson gone, giving Sinnott more playing time. Sinnott is already a sneaky late-round fantasy pick who becomes even better.
Rookie quarterback Daniels takes a little bit of a hit as he loses one of his better pass catchers. This should not be a huge impact, but he now has to trust two inexperienced wide receivers, McCaffrey and Brown. We saw how this negatively impacted Patrick Mahomes last year as his receivers struggled to catch the ball.
Fantasy Impact on Philadelphia Eagles
Brown and Smith stay as the top two pass catchers on the team, and their target shares should not decrease by that much, if at all. Goedert’s value will probably drop the most, as Dotson will take some targets away from him. Other wide receivers, Parris Campbell, Johnny Wilson, and Ainias Smith, now have a harder path to becoming fantasy-relevant this season as they are all stuck behind Brown, Smith, and Dotson.
Jalen Hurts now has another solid pass catcher to throw to, but because he is already a top-three fantasy quarterback, there will be no changes to his fantasy ranking.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Jahan Dotson trade has a big impact on him as he takes a huge hit going from WR2 on the Commanders to WR3 and fourth-best target on the Eagles. He will need an injury from either A.J. Brown or Smith to get a consistent target share. McCaffrey and Dyami Brown are now late-round sleeper picks with lots of upside, while tight ends Ertz and Sinnott’s value increases too. A.J. Brown and Smith have no change, but Goedert’s stock decreases a little bit. It isn’t every day the Commanders and Eagles make an in-division trade, and this one has fantasy football impacts all over.
Main Photo: [Paul Rutherford] – USA Today Sports
