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When is DeVonta Smith coming back? Will DeVonta Smith play again this season? Read about DeVonta Smith's return date and injury updates for 2026.
2026 was supposed to be the season that DeVonta Smith emerged as an unquestioned WR1 in both real life and fantasy football. The Eagles traded away A.J. Brown and added a new offensive coordinator, Sean Mannion, who hoped to elevate the passing attack after a down season in 2025.
Unfortunately, things have not gone as planned. The offensive line suffered turnovers. Jalen Hurts continued to turn down throws to the middle of the field before being shut down with a blood clot issue. And most importantly, DeVonta Smith has been limited with a hamstring injury the entire year.
When will DeVonta Smith return? What will his fantasy production look like when he does? Let’s dive in.
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DeVonta Smith Injury Update for Fantasy Football
DeVonta Smith has missed five games so far this season due to a recurring hamstring injury. The issues for him began in training camp, when an initial injury sidelined him for multiple weeks.
Smith was ultimately able to return in time for Week 1, showing little to no rust over the first three weeks of the season despite playing in a new offense. Unfortunately, his first setback occurred after Week 3 and cost him two games.
The veteran receiver returned in Week 6, putting up an impressive seven receptions on 14 targets for 75 yards and a touchdown. However, he once again aggravated the hamstring injury and played just 65% of the Eagles’s snaps in a loss to the Panthers. Smith has not played since.
Eagles’ head coach Nick Sirianni was recently asked if the Eagles were considering shutting Smith down for the season (now that the season is slowly slipping away) and didn’t give a definitive answer, though he did praise Smith’s work in his rehab despite not getting ideal results.
“It’s been unfortunate”
— Nick Sirianni when asked if the Eagles are considering shutting down WR DeVonta Smith due to his lingering hamstring injury
Sirianni says Smith has been attacking his rehab https://t.co/5DBCnSv17L
— Jeff Skversky (@JeffSkversky) October 24, 2026
The Eagles and fantasy managers alike are hoping that he can turn the corner soon and return to the field.
DeVonta Smith Fantasy Football Outlook
When healthy, DeVonta Smith has given fantasy managers what they hoped for in 2026. In four games played this season, Smith has logged two 20+ point efforts in PPR formats, including a top-5 finish in Week 2 (27.7) and a top-8 finish in Week 6 (20.5 points). His 17.5 PPR points per game in four games (sample size alert) ranks 10th among all wide receivers with a minimum of one game played.
DeVonta Smith makes the catch near the end zone!
PHIvsTEN on FOX/FOX One
Stream on @NFLPlus https://t.co/BJ5kgPy7VZ— NFL (@NFL) September 20, 2026
Unfortunately, he just hasn’t been available enough to matter for fantasy purposes. Smith will be the unquestioned WR1 in Philadelphia when he’s healthy, but it’s also important to note that the version of the Eagles’ offense he will return to is dramatically different than the one he left.
Smith’s final game played in Week 6 came with backup quarterback Tanner McKee. Since then, the Eagles have pivoted to their third-string quarterback (Joe Milton III) to try and find a spark on offense.
Milton showed the kind of mobility fantasy managers covet in his first start of the season in Week 9, but his ability to pass the ball was much more of a work in progress. The veteran quarterback completed just 52.9% of his passes for 169 yards against the Giants.
Among 35 quarterbacks with a dropback in Week 9, Milton finished 31st in passing success rate (32.4%) and completion percentage over expectation (-8.0%) with the second-highest off-target rate (32.4%) and the second-most sacks taken (7). Having a player like Smith would mitigate some of those problems, but the lack of accurate passes could cap Smith’s ceiling as well.
When Smith returns, he will get the passing volume needed to be a solid WR2 for fantasy managers. Unfortunately, the lack of accurate targets from Milton or McKee will likely cap his upside, limiting the ceiling so many hoped for at the start of the year.
Smith is talented enough to produce WR1 weeks in that situation, but the fact that a nagging hamstring injury has already plagued his season could limit his explosiveness after the catch or continue to keep him off the field until the team inevitably shuts him down in a lost season.
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Week 10 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players: Jakobi Meyers, Keenan Allen, Zay Flowers. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 10.
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Popular Week 10 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 10 (2026)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 10 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
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