Fantasy football season is around the corner, as drafts are taking place across the country, should Saquon Barkley or any NY Giants be near the top of your draft board?
As we prepare for the 2021 Fantasy Football season we will all go through our own rankings and tier out players to ensure we come up with the most value each time our team is on the clock, parsing out whether any NY Giants should be atop your draft board.
In this piece we will mock the first three rounds of a 12-team fantasy football draft, and try to provide some insight on who our favorite players are in each given round.
The only Giants player that makes the cut in the top 36 players taken is Saquon Barkley.
Before we get take a look how the first three rounds pan out, let’s revisit the only NY Giants player that will make the cut early in fantasy drafts this season.
Saquon Barkley: 1st RD, RB 4 overall
I have been on the record from day one that Barkley was not the best pick for the NY Giants, when they selected him No. 2 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Some NY Giants fans still do not understand.
That take had very little to do with the player, and more to do with the value of running backs in todays NFL coupled with the fact that the NY Giants roster at that time was not a Barkley and Nate Solder away from being a contender in 2018.
Barkley as player is a dream talent. He truly is match-up nightmare if deployed correctly by the offense (I’m looking at you Jason Garrett).
The concerns I have for Barkley heading into this season?
1. When will he play? We know he will be eased in, but what does that look like? If he misses the start of the season does the “easing in” continue into October?
2. Will the NY Giants deploy more of a committee approach in Barkley’s return? We know for sure this will happen early on, but what if Barkley is delayed and isn’t ready for week 1 or week 2? What if Devontae Booker plays well early on? Does that impact Barkley’s touches all season long?
3. And would that be a smart play by the NY Giants considering most players take a full year of playing the game again to really fully recover from the type of injury Barkley sustained. Most of the players coming back from these type of injuries state they feel a lot more like themselves in year two of their comebacks.
All valid questions. But…
I 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.
Evan Silva, founder of Estrablish the Run, with his two cents on Saquon Barkley:
"“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.”"