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

July 19, 2021 Ken Sonnenberg

In this second New York Giants 4-EYED TEAM PREVIEW, we’re going to be covering the Giants IDPs that you should consider rostering for the 2021 fantasy football season

The biggest concerns surrounding the New York Giants heading into the 2021 season center completely around the offense.  Third-year QB Daniel Jones helms a Giants offense that finished next to last in total yards last season.  Plain and simple, if they get the same output from their offense this season as they did last, then this team is doomed to be a top 10 drafting team again in 2022.  The reason that they will be more towards the higher end of the top 10 and perhaps into the teens is based mainly on the strength of the Giants Defense.  In 2020, new Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham turned a defense that ranked no higher than 24 in the previous three seasons into a defense that finished 12th in total yards.  Through a combination of strong draft picks and smart free agent signings in key areas, the Giants defense took the first step back to respectability last season and hope to make the next leap to the upper echelon this season.

So with that being said let’s take a look at who you should roster in your IDP leagues from the New York Giants in our 2021 Giants 4-EYED IDP Team Preview

*This season at Fantasy In Frames we’ll be using IDP123 scoring as our default scoring rubric when talking about the fantasy relevance of IDP player performance.*

Linebacker

*Positional designations & ADP data brought to you by Sleeper.

Blake Martinez (Current ADP: LB5)

The phrase #tacklemachine was created for guys like Blake Martinez.  Having already created a strong reputation as one of the game’s best tacklers while in Green Bay, Martinez signed a free-agent deal with the Giants in the 2020 offseason and promptly went out to show that he is one of the best linebackers in the game today.  If fantasy football is all about accruing the stats, then from an IDP perspective, Blake Martinez is your guy at the linebacker position.  Since entering the league in 2016, Martinez is averaging a ridiculous 132 tackles a season, which includes a mere 69 in his rookie season; taking that season out and you now have an average of 148.5 tackles.  Since breaking into the league in 2016, only the Seahawks Bobby Wagner has had more tackles than Martinez.

Defensive Line

Leonard Williams (Current ADP: DL15)

In 2019, the Giants took a big chance when they traded a 3rd and 5th round draft pick to the Jets for Leonard Williams in the last year of his contract.  Speculation was that the Giants were not going to be able to sign the former Pro-Bowl Defensive Tackle to a new long-term deal.  Most observers would say that the eight games that he played for the Giants that year were less than spectacular.  So instead of holding out or requesting a trade in order to seek a better deal somewhere else, Williams accepted the one-year franchise tag that the Giants put on him and played 2020 with the thought of earning a long-term contract in the preceding off-season.  And boy was that bet worth the risk, Williams had, by far, the best season of his career in 2020, amassing 57 tackles and a career-high 11.5 sacks.  For that the Giants rewarded him with a new 4-year contract, now the only question that needs to be asked is will the play dip now that he has a new contract or will he work to prove that he earned it.

Defensive Backs

*Positional designations & ADP data brought to you by Sleeper.

Jabrill Peppers (Current ADP: DB6)

Coming off of a career year in total tackles (91), tackles for a loss (8), and passes defended (11), Jabrill Peppers came up huge for “Big Blue” in 2020. In IDP123, he finished as the DB10 (minimum ten games played) in fantasy points per game with 15 and is, currently, being drafted as the DB6 on Sleeper. Something special is brewing on the defensive side of the ball in New York and Peppers is smack dab in the middle of it. I would not hesitate to get ahead of the curve this year in your IDP leagues by drafting Peppers as my DB1 and neither should you.

Logan Ryan (Current ADP: DB36)

While not lined up at cornerback anymore but rather Free Safety for the NYG, Logan Ryan, in 2020, still showed you that he can still be a VERY fantasy viable defensive back in IDP leagues. He’s a heavy-volume tackler that can also play in coverage, getting you those passes defended fantasy points consistently. Finishing as the DB32 in fantasy points per game in 2020 with a 13.7 average, Ryan is as reliable of a security blanket as you can find at the defensive back position.

That’s all for our NYG coverage for today. Stay tuned tomorrow for our double coverage of the final team in the NFC East, the Philadelphia Eagles!