Fantasy Football 2017 Team Preview: New York Giants
This is the 2017 fantasy preview of the New York Giants. In this preview I will provide the Must-Own players, Sleepers, and Longshot players with upside very deep in drafts.
Must-own players are those who should be owned by someone in any league. Handcuff RBs can qualify, as they are often very important to a fantasy team over the full schedule. Sleepers are secondary players that you may find on the waiver wire at some point in the year, or may go undrafted in shallower auction-style leagues. The Longshots are players with microscopic ADP, who are being drafted at the very end of drafts, or more likely not drafted at all.
All ADP data is courtesy of FantasyPros.com.
**I will list all kickers, but I cannot give analysis on them. Sorry :-/
MUST OWNS
Odell Beckham Jr., WR (ADP: 6): Talking about OBJ is really easy. He’s an utterly elite WR who has a fantastic chance to finish as the No. 1 position player in fantasy. The Giants have added to the weaponry surrounding Beckham, who saw a whopping 169 targets in 2016, but there’s no need to worry about him seeing a reduction in work. Beckham will lead the team in targets by a mile and score double-digit touchdowns. He’s an absolute beast. He can be safely drafted anywhere after the first two picks.
Brandon Marshall, WR (ADP: 68): Marshall is old (33), coming off a terrible 2016 in which his reception total dropped by 50 (not kidding), and scored only three touchdowns. Throw it all out. Marshall is not the stone cold WR1 he used to be, but the Jets couldn’t have been a worse team to catch passes for. Their QBs were the worst in the league except for maybe the Texans and Rams, and Marshall lost Eric Decker in the early going, meaning he was the target of opposing secondaries. All that is going to change in this offense. The Giants are pass-happy, and Eli leans on big targets in the red zone. He is unlikely to return to form as a PPR monster, but a double-digit touchdown season is within reach. He would be a fine WR2, but his ADP is indicating he’s more like a WR3. That’s called value.
Paul Perkins, RB (ADP: 79): Perkins is the starter for the Giants, but don’t too pumped about snagging a starter this late, because Perkins is likely to underwhelm. This will be his first chance to be a lead back, but so far he hasn’t shown much to get excited about. He averaged 4.1 yards per carry in 2016, and rushed for zero touchdowns. As a receiver he showed some ability, but nothing spectacular. The Giants have been a poor rushing team for years, and Perkins strikes me as a back who may be a slight improvement, but ultimately won’t make much difference for your squad.
Defense/Special Teams (ADP: 145): The G-Men are the eighth D/ST off the board, but they could wind up as the No. 1 D overall. There’s that much talent here. Jason Pierre-Paul figures to rack up sacks, the secondary has lockdown CBs, and S Landon Collins has a chance to be one of the NFL’s top playmakers, period.
SLEEPERS
Sterling Shepard, WR (ADP: 150): Shepard was an impressive rookie, scoring eight touchdowns in 2016. His value took a hit with Marshall hopping aboard, however, because a TD-dependent receiver is in dire shape with Odell Beckham and Brandon Marshall competing with him for red zone looks. Despite all that negativity, I still like Shepard. This offense isn’t much for running the ball, so Eli Manning will be able to find all of his pass-catchers and make them fantasy relevant. The only problem is that Shepard’s company in the receiving corps will limit his upside to WR3 unless there’s an injury to Beckham or Marshall.
Eli Manning, QB (ADP: 138): Manning is the 16th QB off the board, and it makes sense. He’s getting up there in age, he threw a ton of interceptions last year, and he didn’t make much of a splash despite helming a Ben McAdoo offense that features him heavily. If Eli does have a big season left in him though, this will be it. Beckham, Marshall and Shepard form the best receiving corps he’s ever had, so his career-high mark of 35 touchdown could fall. At minimum, I’m expecting a return to the 30-TD club.
Evan Engram, TE (ADP: 190): Engram’s ADP says Longshot, but I’ll say sleeper based on Manning’s love of good receiving tight ends. Engram ain’t here to block, and during the preseason he truly looked more like a huge WR than a TE. He was a late bloomer in college, scoring eight touchdowns as an Ole Miss senior, but Engram looks like he’ll be a sneaky TD source. The overload of pass catchers means that Engram is not going to become a star as a rookie, but in dynasty leagues he is gold. He will likely emerge into an annual Top 7 or better option at the position.
LONGSHOTS
Shane Vereen, RB (ADP: 204): If Perkins flops, the Giants may just say screw it in terms of trying to establish the run, and turn more to Vereen. At his peak, Vereen was catching around 60 passes for 500 yards for the Patriots; he had projected for even more, but health has been a problem for him. Should Vereen stay healthy, he could wind up being a PPR stud a la Theo Riddick, but chances are he’ll be too brittle to warrant so much work.
Wayne Gallman, RB (ADP: 311): Gallman is one of the longest shots I’ll write about, but in the event Perkins is not great – clearly, I’m leaning toward him not being great – I think Gallman will be the one who emerges. A rookie out of Clemson, he rushed for 1,000+ yards in each of the last two seasons for the Tigers, totaling 13 and 17 touchdowns, respectively, on the ground. He has also grabbed at least 20 receptions in all three of his collegiate campaigns. Gallman has a lot of people to leap on the Giants’ depth chart, but none of them are particularly formidable. This is doabe.
KICKER
Mike Nugent.