2019 Team Previews - New York Giants

Projected Starting Lineup

QB: Eli Manning RB: Saquon Barkley WR: Golden Tate WR: Sterling Shepard WR: Corey Coleman TE: Evan Engram

LT: Nate Solder LG: Will Hernandez C: Jon Halapio RG: Kevin Zeitler RT: Mike Remmers

New York Giants Offensive Profile 2014-2017 Pass Attempts Rank: 9th, 6th, 8th, 1st, 9th 2014-2017 Rush Attempts Rank: 10th, 19th, 22nd, 25th, 29th 2014-2017 Play Volume Rank: 4th, 11th, 16th, 10th, 26th 2014-2017 Yards Per Play Rank: 15th, 9th, 23rd, 26th, 10th

Pat Shurmur's average offensive production as an Offensive Coordinator in the NFL. (7 Seasons)

Passing: ATT COMP PCT YDS AVG YDS/G LONG TD TD% INT INT% SACK YDSL RATE

571 358 62.7 3984 7.1 253 64 23 4.03 15 2.6 378 262 86

Rushing: ATT YDS AVG LONG 20+ TD YDS/G FUM FUML 1DN

444 1896 4.3 63 14 13 121.8 5 3 100

Receiving: REC TAR YDS AVG TD LONG 20+ YDS/G FUM FUML YAC 1DN

358 571 3984 11.3 23 66 54 257 4 2 1978 193

Quarterback-

Change is coming as Eli Manning enters his 16th season with the New York Giants. With Manning's play deteriorating, the franchise went out and tried to address the quarterback position. Unfortunately for Giant fans, Dave Gettleman is in charge of your organization and he went out and drafted one of the worst prospects that I have seen with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. The real shame in all of this is that the talents of Saquon Barkley are going to waste, while this general manager destroys the Giants franchise.

What else could go wrong for Eli and the Giants? Well they will be without one of the best pass-catchers in the league, as Odell Beckham Jr was traded away for a first and third round pick to the Cleveland Browns. Another brilliant move by Gettleman, as he continues to deprive this team of talent.

Pat Shurmur will continue to call plays for an offense that finished 17th in total offense and 16th in total points. While it would appear that the team was middle of the pack, they actually accrued the majority of those statistics in garbage time. Do not let the statistics fool you this was a bottom five offensive team all season long with one of the best running backs in the league. Which makes the next stat troubling as the Giants finished 29th in rushing attempts, might want to change that Pat.

I have not even started with the quarterback breakdown as you can already tell there is not much to break down for a broken down Manning. The majority of his passes will be underneath throws to whoever is playing the slot (Tate, Sheppard), Barkley, and Evan Engram as Manning has the third highest percentage of check downs in the league at 10.2%. This offense will have plenty of garbage time opportunity though, as the defense should be downright dreadful. I would imagine after six to seven games of Eli having that weird look on his face that the team will transition to Daniel Jones. That is when the fun is going to happen folks, it will be like a car wreck that you just can't look away from!

Fantasy Outlook-

The deepest position in fantasy football makes this an easy choice to steer clear of the quarterbacks in New York. Wide Receiver-

With the loss of Beckham, the Giants went out and signed Golden Tate to a four year 37.5 million dollar deal. The problem with that is if you do not play Tate full time in the slot, you're literally wasting any value that he has. Both Tate and Sheppard are much better slot receivers than they're on the outside, which probably means both will rotate inside ruining any fantasy value that they would have.

Sterling Shepard looks to continue his development with Beckham no longer in town. The fourth year receiver out of Oklahoma has been very productive as the teams 2nd / 3rd receiver averaging 63 catches and 762 yards receiving. While Shepard is better suited for the slot, I would imagine Tate gets the majority of that role as he is one of the best in the league when healthy. Outside production has been harder to come by for Shepard, so I will be paying close attention this pre-season on where he is lining up.

Fantasy Outlook-

With an ADP of #98, Shepard could pay off value rather easily being that he might see over 100 targets for the third time in four years. With defenses no longer having to double Odell though, getting open will be that much more difficult. I like better options in this range than Sheppard, unless he falls a couple of rounds it's doubtful that I roster him.

Golden Tate-

Best suited for the slot, Tate welcomes a new home after struggling in Philadelphia after being traded from Detroit. He will not be able to help his new team until Week five though, Tate was suspended for the first four games of the season. One of the best slot receivers in the game and someone always inside the top-5 for most missed tackles forced, Golden Tate will hope to help what should be a high volume passing attack that will be trailing early and often.

Fantasy Outlook-

If Tate lines up in the slot over 65% of plays I will want him on my roster as his current ADP of #111 is too low. However if he spends the majority of his time lined up outside like he did in Detroit in 2016, I want no part of him. He started that season like a zombie from the Walking Dead with only 139 receiving yards in the first five games of the season. The coaching staff reluctantly moved him back inside, resulting in a major uptick in production the rest of that season allowing him to clear 1,000 receiving yards.

Tight End-

Evan Engram stands to gain the most with the departure of Odell Beckham Jr. In the final four games of the season without Beckham he went from averaging 11.2 to 14.6 yards per reception. He saw his targets rise almost 11% as they went from 16.7% to 27.3% with Beckham out of the lineup.

Fantasy Outlook-

The best option in the Giants passing game not named Saquon Barkley is no doubt Evan Engram. He is a tremendous athlete that runs very well (4.4 forty) and should get tons of volume in a passing attack that will be trailing often. I have him as a top-6 tight end and is someone that I am looking to target should I miss out Travis Kelce, George Kittle, Zach Ertz.

Running Back-

It is safe to say that Saquon Barkley lived up to the hype. The rookie went out and rushed for 1,307 yards on 261 carries and 11 touchdowns. Not too bad for a running back right? Well he also added 91 catches for 721 yards and another four scores! He was a fantasy monster last season and is currently the number one overall player for most fantasy football publications. The one concern is that the team is so bad, will they continue to put tread on his tires when the season gets away from them? Last season they did not hold him back, but it is something to watch for especially in DFS.

Fantasy Outlook-

If I have the opportunity to draft Saquon Barkley, I will not be letting it pass by. With Elliott currently holding out, he is my number one overall player. He does have some risk, especially if Daniel Jones takes over as he will no longer have the dump-off king to pad those stats at the end of games. 2019 Vegas Win Total The Giants’ Win Total opened at 6 (+100). Everything that Dave Gettleman has done with the Giants since taking over as General Manager has been an outright disaster. The offensive weapons outside of Saquon Barkley and Evan Engram are non-existent. Golden Tate was just hit with a 4-game suspension for PEDs, Sterling Shepard broke his thumb and Corey Coleman tore his ACL. I mean Gettleman drafted Daniel freaking Jones with the 6th overall pick in the NFL draft, not AAF or XFL draft but the NFL draft. While I am not throwing fists of cash on the under with Eli Manning and Daniel Jones at quarterback I am seriously considering it.