Fantasy Football Team Previews 2020: New York Giants
Must Own = Top 120
Value = 121-170
Deep Sleeper = 171 or later
All ADP data is courtesy of Fantasy Pros
Must Own:
Saquon Barkley, RB (ADP: 2): With all due respect to Christian McCaffery, when he’s healthy, Barkley is the best RB in football, and is my No. 1 overall pick. Barkley put up 1,003 rushing yards and eight total touchdowns last season in just 13 games, while chipping in a cool 52 receptions. McCaffery might be the best pure receiving back in the NFL, and he’s damn good overall, but there’s no one who can match Barkley’s game-breaking ability. We may come to find out that no one in history can match Barkley’s game breaking ability, but that’s a story for Father Time to tell. His numbers were slightly down in 2019, but that can be blamed fully on injury. He was over 120 yards from scrimmage in each of the first two weeks before going down in Week 3. He rushed back, and clearly wasn’t himself for a big chunk of weeks when he returned. It should be noted, that even in those “bad” weeks, Barkley remained a playable option. He regained his health down the stretch, and averaged 175 yards from scrimmage in the Giants’ final three weeks, while scoring five touchdowns. THAT is Saquon Barkley. Anyone who drafts McCaffery first is going to have a wonderful RB1 on their hands, but the scary truth is that even more upside lies with this man. He’s your guy at No. 1 overall.
Evan Engram, TE (ADP: 75): Engram’s value was covered here early in the offseason, and he hasn’t gained or lost much steam since then. It appears this is where the fantasy community is on Evan Engram, and that’s fair. Most TEs with his injury history wouldn’t even be drafted, so it’s a testament to his talent that people are still willing to risk the aggravation that he is capable of raining down. Based purely on receiving talent, Engram should be a Top 5, if not Top 3 TE. He’s one of the most targeted TEs in football, and that was true even when he had target hound Odell Beckham in the huddle. Last season, which was his most disappointing to date, he saw 8.5 targets per game, and averaged 58.4 yards per game, which was sixth-best at the position. So at worst, Engram is a safe bet for yardage and opportunity when he plays. When he plays is the crucial element of Engram’s value though; his games played have dropped from 15 to 11 to eight. I continue to consider Engram a value. He is the fastest TE in football, and when the offense is humming, Engram has proven to be a big play threat. In 2018, he averaged nine yards per target, and 12.8 yards per reception. Last season he saw shorter targets, partially because they had rookie Daniel Jones throwing most of the passes, and partially because he’s enough of a freak athlete to make people miss and rip off yards after the catch from the TE position. Chances are you’ll have to deal with him missing time, but when he’s in the lineup it’s not easy to find someone more consistent.
Darius Slayton, WR (ADP: 99): Slayton, a second-year man out of Auburn, is the highest-drafted WR in a packed Giants’ WR corps. He caught just 48 passes last year, but managed a healthy 740 yards and, impressively, eight touchdowns. That could be a red flag, as touchdowns are unpredictable and touchdown regression is a leading cause of draft busts. I like Slayton’s talent a lot, but I don’t quite see the value inside the Top 100, when he could easily be the fourth or fifth-best receiving option on the team (including Engram and Barkley). Hopefully he falls in some drafts, but I do not see myself jumping at this point for a Giants receiver.
Value:
Sterling Shepard, WR (ADP: 124): Shepard burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2016 much like Slayton did, with 65 catches, 683 yards and eight touchdowns. Fantasy owners have been getting disappointed by him ever since, as he’s scored nine times in the three years since, and failed to stand out last season with Odell Beckham finally out of the picture. Shepard has missed significant time in two of the past three seasons, and hasn’t been able to recapture the touchdown magic of his rookie campaign. I do like his talent, and this should be a fairly high-scoring offense, but I don’t expect any consistency from him. I think he’ll have a season similar to Slayton, so he’s probably a better buy based on ADP, but ultimately he’s not a guy you’ll probably be happy with if you’re relying on him.
Daniel Jones, QB (ADP: 130): Jones has a low ADP, and is the 16th QB off the board, but in my opinion he is a steal. Streaming QBs is popular these days, and the Giants have an ugly three-week stretch to start the season, so that’s pushing down his ADP. I say draft him, and have someone else to start for three weeks, because come Week 4, Jones will be a popular pickup you won’t want to compete for.
Yes, turnovers were a huge issue for him. To be frank, I don’t really care. He’ll have to be more cognizant of the fumbling, but he only threw 12 picks; that’s high for 13 games, but he is a rookie and needs to be cut some slack, especially playing behind the 25th-ranked pass blocking offensive line. Let’s look at the positives. He threw for more than 3,000 yards in 13 games, and notched 24 touchdowns. To compare, Kyler Murray threw for 20 touchdowns against 12 picks, and he’s currently a Top 5 QB. Obviously, Murray offers so much production as a rusher, but Jones in underrated in that department too. Jones rushed for 21.5 yards per game and scored two touchdowns, averaging 3.5 rushes per game. There probably won’t be much in the way of designed runs for him, but he is very fast for the position and can chew up yardage in chunks on scrambles, raising his weekly floor. Lastly, this is still not a good defense, so game scripts will force Jones to throw a ton, and he has a deep well of receiving options. While I don’t love any of the Giants’ receivers for fantasy individually, I like them all as players. And they all will catch passes from Jones, who is certain to return value on this ADP.
Golden Tate, WR (ADP: 141): Tate was someone I dogged last preseason due to his age, lack of touchdown upside, and four-game suspension to start the year. Then he arrived, caught 49 passes for 676 yards and six touchdowns and I had to shut up. Turns out Tate had plenty left in the tank. His ADP makes him the best value of the Giants’ WRs, but I remain skeptical of his touchdowns last year. Only two of the six scores came from inside the red zone, where Slayton, Engram and possibly even Barkley and Shepard will rank ahead of Tate. If those big plays don’t come, you’ll have yourself a well-targeted, but ultimately pedestrian WR3 type option. Tate is more appealing in full-PPR leagues, but I think he’ll be the third-most productive receiver in this group. I’m staying away, because the floor is too close to the ceiling.
Deep Sleepers:
Dion Lewis, RB (ADP: 269): Lewis is a better player than Wayne Gallman, and has shown serious receiving chops in the past. He’s not going to sniff the field as long as Barkley is healthy, but should Barkley go down, Lewis can be a capable RB2/FLEX play. I don’t see the need to handcuff Barkley, but if you do Lewis is the guy.