Jeremy Maclin: Fantasy Owners Shouldn't Give Up on Eagles' WR Yet

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Jeremy Maclin is off to a terrible start to the season, but he still has nice fantasy value and is a viable option in almost all formats. 

His last two times on the field, Week 2 vs. the Ravens and Week 4 vs. the Giants, Maclin has a combined total of two catches for 30 yards and a touchdown. 

The TD is nice and all, but fantasy owners surely expected more out of this explosive playmaker. However, there is more to the story. 

Maclin missed Week 3 while dealing with a hip injury, that—CBSSports.com's Kevin Noonan points out—has been bothering him and should have kept him out of the Ravens' game. 

That goes a long way towards explaining his one-catch outing against Baltimore.

In Week 4, Maclin was trying to get back up to game speed and into the flow of the offense, and he was doing so while largely matched up against a corner on the rise in Prince Amukamara. 

The New York Daily News' Ebenezer Samuel highlights the problems Maclin had against Amukamara with this tweet. 

"

And yes, Prince Amukamara did hold Jeremy Maclin catchless.

— Ebenezer Samuel (@ebenezersamuel) October 1, 2012"

Amukamara has been giving opposing receivers fits this year, and he is a big part of the reason why Football Outsiders has the Giants ranked sixth in the league vs. No. 2 receivers, yet 32nd vs. No. 1.

That goes a long way towards accounting for his one-catch performance in that game and the fact that he had only three targets while DeSean Jackson, who was obviously getting the No. 1 treatment in this game, received nine. 

Maclin will not always be this far behind Jackson in targets, if he is behind at all. 

All of that leaves us with is the one other game Maclin has played in: The opener against the Browns. Maclin led the Eagles in all of the following categories: He had seven catches, 96 receiving yards, a receiving touchdown and 14 targets. 

Those statistics are more in line with the kind of production that can be expected out of Maclin going forward.