One of the biggest surprises for the New York Giants has been the emergence of Larry Donnell. Through seven games this season, the second-year tight end has posted 332 receiving yards on 33 catches, with four of them going for touchdowns. This includes a two-game stretch where he had gone dormant while posting a line of 2/6/0 against the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles combined.
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The Indianapolis Colts are the sixth-worst in terms of points-allowed to tight ends despite being eighth-best against wide receivers, per Yahoo! Fantasy’s standard scoring. Just last week, Pittsburgh Steelers’ tight end Heath Miller put up a line of 7/112/1 against the Colts.
Given this, the Giants’ faithful would hope for a nice showing by Donnell who quietly caught seven passes for 90 yards against the Cowboys two weeks ago.
As per Pro Football Focus, Donnell is projected for a 4.1/47.6/.6 line. With the losses of wide receiver Victor Cruz and running back Rashad Jennings, Donnell should see more opportunities in the passing game especially given that Rueben Randle has been unable to be a big factor in the Giants’ passing attack.
Donnell’s best asset is his size. Despite putting up good yardage, Donnell’s value is solely tied to his scoring opportunities and quarterback Eli Manning has shown a desire to throw jump-balls to the 6’6” target in the endzone.
With running back Andre Williams not having much success so far in running the ball and pounding a score in, Donnell is a huge target in the endzone (figuratively and literally). Fantasy owners should feel confident when starting Donnell.
Fantasy Football Week 9 Projection: 8 receptions for 64 yards, one touchdown