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Dave Ventresca dives into the 2024 fantasy football outlook for the New York Giants' running game after longtime starter Saquon Barkley departed in free agency.
The New York Giants are one of many teams whose backfield will look much different when the 2024 season begins. Longtime starting back Saquon Barkley departed in free agency after signing a new deal with the division-rival Philadelphia Eagles.
As a result, the Giants signed former Buffalo Bills’ and Houston Texans’ running back Devin Singletary to a three-year, $16.5 million deal. He slides in as New York’s new RB1.
What do these changes mean for fantasy football purposes? Let’s take a look and analyze what fantasy gamers can expect from this backfield in 2024.
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2023 Season Review
New York’s offense was a complete mess last year. They were flat-out bad across the board. Ranking 29th in FTN Fantasy’s Offensive Rush DVOA, their rushing attack was no different. However, their ground game proved to be the most effective way of moving the football. The team averaged 110.2 rushing yards per game and averaged 4.1 yards per carry.
Most of the production on the ground can be attributed to starting back Barkley. Despite averaging only 3.9 yards per carry, Barkley was still effective last year. He finished 10th in Next Gen Stats Rush Yards Over Expectation (RYOE) and 13th in Rush Yards Over Expectation Per Attempt (RYOE/ATT). Barkley missed three games due to an ankle injury, but he still totaled over 1,200 scrimmage yards and 10 total touchdowns en route to a PPR RB13 finish.
SAQUON BARKLEY TOUCHDOWN 💯
pic.twitter.com/TS8DgSBeOZ— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) December 12, 2023
While Barkley had another strong fantasy football season, he did so with little help from his offensive line. New York ranked just 30th in Pro Football Focus’ (PFF) Run Blocking Grade. Part of the struggles stemmed from starting tackles Andrew Thomas and Evan Neal missing time due to injuries. Neal suffered an MCL injury that would eventually end his season, while Thomas missed seven games due to a hamstring injury sustained during a Week 1 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Neal has struggled with consistency so far in his career, but the Giants need him and Thomas healthy and playing at a high level for this unit to improve. Overall, the offensive line was just one of many problems for the Giants’ offense last year.
Offseason Changes
Barkley is gone after signing a three-year, $37.75 million deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. As a result, the Giants signed Devin Singletary and hope he can help fill the void left by Barkley’s departure. Singletary is coming off a career year in 2023. He had a career-high 216 carries and 898 rushing yards after supplanting Dameon Pierce as RB1 in Houston.
Devin Singletary running strong!! Touchdown Texans!!#NFL #Cardinals #Texans #AZvsHOUpic.twitter.com/JCoOM3ppLX
— Sportskeeda Pro Football (@SKProFootball) November 19, 2023
The Giants also signed several new offensive linemen during free agency. Guard Jon Runyan and tackle Jermaine Eluemunor were brought in as part of a remade starting line. Eluemunor has experience playing tackle and could also be an option to replace Neal if he continues to struggle. At this time, though, New York seems committed to Neal, and Eluemunor is slated to slide in at left guard. The Giants failed further to address the offensive line in April’s draft, as they feel the additions made in free agency are enough to fix the issue.
2024 Final Expectations
It would be hard-pressed for this Giants offense to be worse than they were a year ago. A healthy/improved offensive line will only help matters. Singletary is coming off his best season as a pro, but he still finished behind Barkley in RYOE and RYOE/ATT. However, Singletary fared better than Barkley in Fantasy Points Data Suite’s Missed Tackles Forced Per Attempt (MTF/ATT), PFF’s Rushing Grade, and PFF’s Elusive Rating. There’s no doubt that Barkley is the more talented player, but the difference between these two backs may not be as great as some think. This ground attack may see major improvements if the Giants have fixed their offensive line woes.
For fantasy football purposes, Singletary is the back to target in this offense. He was brought in as the team’s RB1 and should see the prerequisite volume to deliver flex or even backend RB2 production.
There was a recent blurb from New York’s OTAs that raised an eyebrow. Second-year back Eric Gray has reportedly been mixing in with the first team throughout practices.
Updated #Giants RB room:
Devin Singletary
Eric Gray
Jashaun Corbin
Tyrone Tracy Jr. (rookie draft pick)
Dante Miller (rookie free agent)Gray got a lot of run with the 1s today
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) May 30, 2024
Gray was a popular prospect in some circles during the run-up to the 2023 NFL Draft. He ultimately fell to the fifth round and hardly saw the field as a rookie. Should Gray carve out a role in the Giants offense, it will put a hard cap on Singletary’s ceiling. Gray is a wildcard in terms of his talent. He could end up being better than Singletary or ultimately prove ineffective. The former would be disastrous for Singletary, while the latter would be a major buoy to his fantasy outlook.
With a National Fantasy Football Championship (NFFC) average draft position (ADP) of 117.42, any risk surrounding Singletary is sufficiently baked into the cost. Fantasy gamers can select around the round nine/ten turn and feel comfortable with him as a flex option or depth piece with upside.
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