Can the Giants Offense Be Salvaged?

December 1, 2021

Dom evaluates the state of the New York Giants offense after offensive coordinator Jason Garrett was fired. Who can be trusted for fantasy football leagues the rest of the 2021 season?

The New York Giants made a major impact this off-season by signing free agent Kenny Golladay to a massive contract. The talented yet oft-injured Golladay was supposed to bring an alpha receiver into the mix in hopes Daniel Jones would take a step forward in his progression. So far, it has not worked out for either the players or the team.

While signing Golladay may or may not have been the best choice, the New York Giants were also able to leverage their draft slot into Kadarius Tony and the Chicago Bears' first-round draft pick in 2022. Getting a weapon like Toney should have made things easier on Jones as well. He also has been injured for much of the season. This has been a major reason why the New York Giants are fighting for last place in the NFC East instead of first place.

It is also a major reason as to why, if you have any of these players on your team, you are not too happy with your fantasy team at the moment. Jason Garrett was recently fired as offensive coordinator but the team only put up 264 yards of total offense in the first game without him. Is this offense beyond repair?

Who Can We Trust?

The short answer is no one. Saying this, the best thing to do is to re-evaluate your expectations for whomever you are willing to trust.

The easiest name to trust is Saquon Barkley. Not only is he the best player on the team, but he is also finally getting healthy.

Saquon Barkley

Like the rest of the Giants team, Barkley is having a season to forget though. In seven games started, Barkley has only 73 rushes for 260 yards and two touchdowns. Although we know the abundant skills he possesses, he has been unable to fully achieve this expectation in many seasons. Injury has a lot to do with it and with the offensive line still a mess, he will have to rely on his passing game skills for any semblance of production.

During this dismal season, Barkley has racked up 24 receptions on 31 targets out of the backfield. This includes six receptions in his first game back from injury against Tampa Bay. With games remaining against Washington Dallas and Philadelphia, the New York Giants are still viable in the division race. At least as a spoiler for someone. But it will be heavily predicated on whether Barkley can perform or not.

For fantasy purposes, Saquon Barkley is no longer an RB1 until it is proven. Going into next season, he will and should fall out of the first round for the first time in his career, barring a huge end-of-season run. As for the rest of 2021, he is an RB2 with potential upside to pull off a top-12 week here and there. It seems strange to think of Barkley this way but if you do, you will be much more satisfied than trying to roll him out each week expecting the moon.

Giants Receivers

Next on the list would be Kadarius Toney. That’s right, Toney is more trustworthy than free-agent signee Kenny Golladay. Why? Simple, he is better.

Despite the New York Giants bringing in Golladay from Detroit, he has yet to do anything to live up to his contract. Not only has Toney been the better receiver in New York thus far, but he has also gotten the diva receiver attitude down pat which comes with it.

After an off-season of grumbling about anything and everything, Toney came into the season as a longshot to succeed and early in the season, it looked like this was a correct assumption. But recently, he has taken over the WR1 spot on the roster. Injuries are still a worry as he along with fellow receiver Sterling Shepard missed yet another game last week against the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite this, in nine games so far, Toney has caught 35 passes from Daniel Jones for 390 yards although he has yet to record a receiving touchdown.

Much like Barkley and the rest of the names, he is not someone to be counted on weekly. He will underwhelm you. But with bye weeks still going on and injuries piling up around the league, Toney is worth a shot when active as a flex play for the remainder of the season. We have seen breakouts with more than 125 yards in a single game from him, but with Daniel Jones possibly missing Week 13 as well as more time, this is not likely to repeat any time soon.

Next up is Sterling Shepard. Yes, another receiver mentioned before Kenny Golladay. This is not a shot at Golladay. It is a nod to how consistent and good Shepard has been when on the field this season.

In four fewer games than Toney, Shepard has only three fewer receptions with 32 receptions for 324 yards. He also has a receiving touchdown. Something neither Toney nor Golladay can claim to this point. He is the main target behind Saquon Barkley in the offense and when he is not on the field, it is apparent the team struggles for continuity.

Shepard missed time again last week and it is yet unknown if he will start in Week 13 against the vastly improved Miami Dolphins. If he does, this might be one week where you want to sit him. With Daniel Jones out this week, I do not trust Mike Glennon to find him. Or anyone. But when Jones returns, Shepard is going to be his favorite target once again and he can be fired up as a WR3. Until then, much like the rest of the wide receivers listed here, do not play him.

Now let's talk about Kenny Golladay. What a disappointing season it has been. Golladay thought he was getting out of Detroit and going to a better team. Ok, he clearly did it for the money. Either way, he could not have seen such a season coming for him in 2021.

With only 23 receptions in eight games, Golladay is the third and even fourth fiddle in the offense. He has yet to score a touchdown and while his 372 receiving yards and 16.2 Y/C average shows he is still getting downfield, he has yet to do anything with this ability. Now, with Daniel Jones out, he takes an even bigger hit. Of the receivers listed here, he is the least trustworthy. Despite being the third option, he is still being covered like the alpha. This limits his ability to make plays and allows the others to feast.

At best, Golladay is a desperation flex play. At worst, he will wreck your lineup with mediocre numbers and unfulfilled potential. It is tough to say from someone you drafted in the top five or six rounds of your fantasy draft. But at this point, of the three receivers mentioned, he would be the first who would get the boot from my team if a roster spot was needed.

Evan Engram

Evan Engram has been in the NFL for five years now and he has failed to learn two important things: how to block and how to catch the ball.

When Engram came into the league, the big draw on him was his in-line ability to be like a big receiver at the tight end position. So far, this has failed to pan out. Much like the rest of this team, a lot of it is due to injuries piling up for him. This season alone, he has missed an additional three games due to injury.

In the nine games he has appeared in, Engram has 31 receptions and two touchdowns. Despite this, he is extremely unreliable all though it is at a position of tight end where any production can be good production. He notably dropped 11 balls in 2020 and while he's cleaned it up this year with just two drops, he's still not the most trustworthy target.

With Mike Glennon starting for Daniel Jones this week, Engram is likely to be the beneficiary of this switch. For Week 13, I can see Engram being a top-12 tight end. A third touchdown reception may also be in the cards. For the rest of the season, he returns to a fringe top-15 tight end. Not too good, not too bad. Just ho hum. At the least sexy position for fantasy, Engram is the most average of average. If you do not have Travis Kelce or another of the top tight end, throw Engram in your lineup and see what floats to the top. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Conclusion

The move to a new OC in Freddie Kitchens showed no tangible signs of improvement last week, so it will be a big test over the next couple of weeks to see if the G-Men can move the ball as they get their weapons back. It's hard to believe but the sooner Jones gets back, the better it is for the New York Giants and your fantasy team, so here's to hoping for a speedy recovery.

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