NY Giants fantasy football projections: Saquon Barkley, Kenny Golladay, more
By James Doino
Saquon Barkley: 1st RD, RB 4 overall
Fantasy Football … Where it is actually acceptable to draft a running back No. 2 overall.
Too soon?
No, I’m not referring to the statement above, we all know that answer by now, but rather is RB 4 overall and the top half of the 1st round of your fantasy draft too soon to take a running back coming off ACL/MCL injuries?
That is the question league owners sitting in the top-five picks will have to decide on draft night.
Do the possible negatives of the injury, the early season volume and question marks surrounding both his offensive line and under center enough to scare you away?
My top four RBs this season are Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook, Alvin Kamara, and Barkley.
Derrick Henry is 5th with pass catching giving the other four backs a slight advantage in PPR and .5 PPR formats. However, I have seen in some instances where Barkley has fallen to, in some cases, RD1 Pick 8, with Henry, Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams and Travis Kelce even going before him.
Six piece nugget from Matthew Betz, @TheFantasyPT, from this gem of an article discussing the returns of Barkley and Joe Burrow this season.
"“When Barkley finished as the RB2 overall during his rookie season in 2018, he played 83% of the snaps and averaged 24 opportunities (carries and targets) per game while playing in all 16 games. It’s certainly possible we see that type of usage from Barkley during the 2021 season, but I do not believe we see that in September. In terms of his target share and usage, there’s also a reason for concern with Barkley when using his 2018 season as the gold standard. After all, he’s going as a top-5 RB, so that’s what we’re shooting for, or at least what we’re hoping for in terms of upside. In 12 career games played with Daniel Jones, Barkley averages almost two fewer targets per game, five fewer receiving yards per game, 1.3 fewer receptions per game, and most importantly, 7.2 fewer PPR fantasy points.”"
Heart: Believe in Barkley…
There is no way I am letting a PPR monster like Barkley pass me by at RD 1.05. I can see taking Henry at 4th overall over Barkley, but I cannot see letting him fall any lower than that.
I’m fully aware of the negatives. The injury concern, the volume early on this season and the offensive line to name a few.
Sometimes, we think too much.
I wouldn’t be expecting Barkley to be getting 80% of the backfield touches in September, but if the Giants are smart and work Barkley back patiently, it could make for a league winner come the fantasy playoffs.
Barkley’s talent alone makes him a must start every week even if his touches aren’t as ample to start the season. His game breaking ability paired with his passing game usage makes him a fantasy asset in any format.
From the Brain of Evan Silva:
“The rhetoric entering training camp has been negative based on his recovery from last year’s knee injury, which was obviously significant. Beat writers and Saquon himself has stated that he or has alluded to thepossibility that he might be eased into the season. I personally, am still considering him to be a top five overall fantasy pick because I think at the end of the day, the Giants need to win games, Dave Gettleman needs wins to keep his job, and playing Devontae Booker at the expense of Saquon Barkley is not something will last when these guys need to win games to keep their jobs. So I am staying optimistic about Saqon Barkley, he’s a young, superb, premium top notch athlete and really the social media posts that he has put out, he looks awfully good to me. So, I am optimistic side with Barkley and still considering him to be a top five overall fantasy pick.”