4-EYED TEAM PREVIEW: NEW YORK GIANTS (2021)

July 16, 2021 Ken Sonnenberg

Welcome to our 4-EYED TEAM PREVIEW SERIES where today we are continuing our coverage of the NFC EAST with the New York Giants! This morning we’re talking offense and this afternoon we’re talking defense (IDP).

Here are the storylines for the New York Giants offense going into the 2021 season; first, the young QB that you drafted in the first round two years ago to replace a two-time Super Bowl Champion is going into his third season and has yet to prove that he is worthy of keeping the starting job.  An All-World Running Back who is returning from a serious knee injury that derailed what was looking like the beginning of a Hall of Fame career.  A big-money free agent Wide Receiver that is out to prove that he was worth the money that some thought was too high a price.  All while once again trying to revamp an Offensive Line that was one of the worst in the NFL over the last 4 seasons.  The Giants ranked only ahead of the Jets for the fewest total yards in the NFL in 2020.  So yes, many questions need to be answered, but optimism still abounds as there looks like there could potentially be tools in place for a big turnaround.

Which players am I talking about that could help you win a fantasy title in 2021?

Find out NOW in our Giants 4-EYED Offensive Team Preview!

Quarterback

Daniel Jones

No QB comes into this upcoming NFL season with more of a “now or never” label attached to his performance than New York Giants QB Daniel Jones.  When he is on, he has a look and skill set that is similar to Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen.  He has a great arm, while not being especially accurate, and has electrified fans with his legs, no better example of that than his stunning week seven 80-yard scramble against the Philadelphia Eagles. (No further discussion is needed on how that play ended).  Then there is the downside, as mentioned, he is not a particularly accurate QB, having only completed 62% of his passes in his first two seasons and the 29 fumbles in 27 career starts is a stat that will hang over his head his entire career.

What is it that we can look forward to in 2021?  The first thing that one has to be encouraged about is the fact that the Giants have loaded him up with enough offensive weapons that there should be no excuses. His All-Pro Running Back is returning from injury, they signed one of the top free-agent Wide Receivers this off-season, they took a WR in the first round of the draft and now have two former all-pro tight ends as well.  Daniel Jones has all the tools to be no worse than a top 15 starting QB in the league, and with the potential firepower that he has around him on offense, there are no excuses.

Running Backs

Saquon Barkley

What a star-crossed three seasons it has been for this supremely talented running back.  Saquon Barkley’s rookie season was everything the Giants could have wanted from him when they took him as the #2 overall pick in the draft out of Penn State.  He would finish his rookie season second in the NFL in rushing yards with 1,307, while averaging five yards per carry and 11 touchdown and that was before you even start to look at his ridiculously eye-popping receiving stats.  Unfortunately for Barkley it was a steady decline down as he was plagued with some inconsistent play and one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL.  His 2019 season was respectable but nowhere near his breakout rookie season, and then in 2020, he would tear his ACL in the second game of the year and would be lost for the rest of the season. 

So, what do we expect from Barkley going into this pivotal 4th season?  Will he be able to return to the player that he was in his rookie season that put up those MVP worthy stats. What he has going for him is that his offensive line is a little better than he remembered and now he is surrounded by even more weapons, which could potentially free up a lot of yards both rushing and receiving. Is he a top 5 overall fantasy pick this season?  Only time and a few preseason games will tell, but as dual threat running backs go, he still could be the best in the NFL. 

Wide Receivers

Kenny Golladay

As has been mentioned, the Giants spent a good part of their off-season building up an offense that finished 29th in total passing yards and 31st in the NFL in total yards in 2020.  So, what does a team do when faced with that reality and a healthy amount of cap space?  They go out and sign one of the top free agent wide receiver available and then use their first-round draft pick on another wide receiver.  Kenny Golladay comes over from the Detroit Lions after four seasons and 1 Pro-Bowl appearance.  In 2018 and 2019, Golladay put up a combined 2,200 yards receiving and 16 touchdowns.  2020 was not so kind to him as he dealt all season with hamstring issues that limited him to only five games. While his target to catch ratio throughout his career is not stellar, Pro Football Focus ranked Golladay third in the NFL over the last three years in terms of deep threat yards, behind only Tyreke Hill and D.K. Metcalf.  So, if all the pieces fall into place, and Golladay can stay healthy and develop a repour with Daniel Jones, they look for him to potentially vault into being a top 10-15 Fantasy wide receiver again.

Sterling Shepard, Darius Slayton

If anyone ever had any thoughts of Sterling Shepard being a #1 receiver, they were not only delusional, but they were setting themselves up to have one of the worst offenses in the NFL.  Dave Gettleman’s master plan aside, Sterling Shepard is most certainly not a #1 wide receiver, however, he is and has shown himself to be quite a competent, #2 receiver.  In the three years that was the secondary option to Odell Beckham Jr., Shepard averaged 98 targets, 63 receptions and 762 yards receiving, while also hauling in 14 total touchdowns.  These are stats that anyone will take late in a fantasy draft when all the top tier wide receivers are all off the board.  Shepard’s only issue is durability, five seasons and only two of them where he played the entire season.

You can almost literally take the stats that Sterling Shepard has put up over his first five seasons and ship them over to Darius Slayton as they are pretty much the same.  While Shepard has shown himself to be a solid position receiver, Slayton has shown a penchant for the big play.  Of his 11 career touchdowns in his first two seasons, five of them have gone for 35 yards or more.  With Slayton, the key for him is going to be consistency, he has already shown that he has a connection with Daniel Jones, what will be interesting to see going into 2021 is whether having, what portends to be a legit #1 receiver next to him in Golladay will open Slayton up to even bigger gains.     

Tight Ends

Evan Engram

Perhaps one of the most maddening players in the NFL, he has the talent, he has the size, he has the speed, he is a wide receiver in a tight ends body. He can put up numbers along side the best tight ends in the game.  So, what then is Evan Engram’s issues?  The most obvious is that he has not been able to remaining healthy; 2020 was the first time in his NFL career that he played in all 16 games, prior to that, knee and foot issues led to his previous two seasons being cut short with injuries.  Then there is the issue with inconsistent play when he is in the game.  In the two seasons where he has played in 15 or more games, he averaged 64 receptions and almost 700 yards receiving.  With the talent now around him, he should be able to potentially increase that, but what has driven many Giants fans crazy is that Engram also has a penchant for dropped balls.  Last season, Engram dropped 11 passes that were thrown his way, with three of them being intercepted and 2 of those turning into touchdowns.  When you are a team that does not score that much, those lapses in basics could prove to be fatal.

Kyle Rudolph

With Evan Engram showing just flashes of potential brilliance, the Giants dipped into the free agent waters to look and pick themselves up insurance in case Engram falters.  What they came up with is a pretty legitimate backup plan in Kyle Rudolph.  The former Minnesota Viking brings his two Pro-Bowls to the Giants in the hopes that he can provide QB Daniel Jones a viable second option at TE if/when Engram falters, or if their offense wants to design more two tight end sets.  Will Rudolph match his 2016 season where he caught 83 passes for 840 yards and 7 touchdowns, doubtful.  But what he will bring is a solid veteran influence and an heir of consistency that could prove lucrative to fantasy owners who could be looking for a potential TE streaming option.