New York Giants Fantasy Football Preview
Updated: Aug 23, 2022
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It's been a rough half decade for Giants fans whose team hasn't managed a 7 win season since 2016. In the last 5 years they've suffered through miserable campaigns where their Giants have finished 31st in scoring three times. In fact, The Giants have finished each of the last two seasons 31st in scoring and 31st in yards. Woof.
They rightfully canned Joe Judge and brought in Brian Daboll who coordinated Bills offenses that finished 2nd and 3rd in scoring and 2nd and 5th in yards in the last two seasons. It's an exciting hire on the surface, but what if we dig a little bit deeper?
When you look at Daboll's first five seasons as an offensive coordinator in the NFL, frankly, there's cause for concern. Daboll's offenses finished:
29th in scoring and 32nd in yards (2009 Cleveland Browns)
31st in scoring and 29th in yards (2010 Cleveland Browns)
20th in scoring and 22nd in yards (2011 Miami Dolphins)
32nd in scoring and 24th in yards (2012 Kansas City Chiefs)
30th in scoring and 30th in yards (2018 Buffalo Bills)
All five of those units had porous passing attacks (32nd, 29th, 23rd, 32nd and 31st in yards).
Now for a little context, let's look at his supporting casts in those 5 seasons...
In 2009, Daboll's Browns featured Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson at QB. Their target leaders were WR Mohamed Massaquoi (95) and RB Jerome Harrison (50). You read that right; 50 was the second most targets on the team that year.
In 2010, Daboll's Browns pivoted to Colt McCoy, Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace at QB. Their target leaders were TE Ben Watson (102), RB Peyton Hillis (77) and WR Mohamed Massaquoi (73). Yeah...their top two receivers weren't receivers.
In 2011, Daboll was given Matt Moore for a QB and inherited Brandon Marshall who he fed 141 targets. The next closest was Davone Bess with 86 and you can see why.
In 2012, Daboll had Matt Cassel and, once again, Brady Quinn at QB. Their target leaders that year were WR Dwayne Bowe (114) and RB Dexter McCluster (77).
In 2018, Daboll began his work with rookie Josh Allen who only started 11 games and had Zay Jones (102 targets) and Kelvin Benjamin (62 targets) as his top WRs.
So as you can see, a lot of this can be explained and expected from the supporting cast. Three trends that are important to peel from this is that:
Brian Daboll is willing to feed his RBs in the passing game
Brian Daboll is willing to involve his TEs in the passing game and heavily if need be
Brian Daboll schemes to his players. More on this in a minute but it's no concidence that Brandon Marshall received 141 targets when no one else on a Daboll team received more than 115. He gets his guys the ball.
In those five seasons where Daboll's units were otherwise putrid, he did notably produce top-notch ground games more often than not. His offenses in his first five years finished 8th, 20th, 11th, 5th and 9th in rushing yards, which makes sense since you don't really want Brady Quinn/Derek Anderson/ColtMcCoy/Jake Delhomme/Seneca Wallace/Matt Moore/Matt Cassel throwing it all over the yard.
Daboll's 2009 Browns finished 9th in rushing behind Jerome Harrison and Jamal Lewis.
The 2010 unit took a step back (20th) but produced a one-hit wonder in Peyton Hillis who came out of nowhere to rack up 331 touches (61 catches on 77 targets) for 1654 scrimmage yards and 13 TDs.
Daboll's 2011 Dolphins finished 11th in rushing with a Reggie Bush/Daniel Thomas tandem.
His 2012 Chiefs finished 5th in rushing yards behind a monster campaign from Jamaal Charles (320 touchesā35 catches on 49 targetsāfor 1745 scrimmage yards and 6 TDs).
His 2018 Bills protected rookie Josh Allen with a 9th ranked rushing attack behind LeSean McCoy, Chris Ivory (and a little bit of Josh Allen himself).
And then, in 2019, 2020 and 2021 when Josh Allen was ready to become the BAMF he is, Daboll's offenses took off and, for the first time in his coaching career, he started to embrace a pass-heavy approach.
The trends I'm pulling from here? Daboll seems to coach around his players rather than forcing them to adjust to his schemes (cough cough Joe Judge). That is, he's not decidedly a run-heavy coach or a pass-heavy coach.
Instead, he identifies his talent and puts the ball in their hands, building his offense around them accordingly.
And for that reason, I am all the way in on Saquon Barkley (and some others) this season. So let's get into who.
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Daniel Jones š¤·
2019 fantasy points: 215 (QB 24) - 2019 fantasy points per game: 16.5 (QB 16)
2020 fantasy points: 180 (QB 24) - 2020 fantasy points per game: 12.9 (QB 31)
2021 fantasy points: 167.5 (QB 27) - 2021 fantasy points per game: 15.2 (QB 19)
Remember everything I said above about Brian Daboll hiding bad QBs and scheming to his talented players? That those teams had porous passing attacks but desirable rushing attacks?
All of that that seems like it would apply perfectly the 2022 Giants, specifically their former 6th overall pick and current bust, Daniel Jones.
Vegas sportsbooks seem to agree as well, pegging the Giants with the 7th worst odds of leading the league in scoring this season. Never a good sign for a QB's prospects in fantasy football.
But it's warranted.
Jones has never finished better than 19th in passing yards and has a total of 21 TD passes over the last two seasons, a far cry from his 24 TD rookie campaign.
Over 38 fantasy football games in his career, Daniel Jones has landed under 15 fantasy points in 61% of them. He's even landed under 10 fantasy football points 29% of the time.
On the bright side, Jones did flash a bit as a rookie, tossing 24 TD passes and hitting 30 fantasy points three different times (though he hasn't done it since). And one underrated aspect of Jones' game is his rushing ability, having already finished 11th, 7th and 7th in QB rushing yards in his career. We know Daboll knows how to work with QBs that can run the ball.
Perhaps Daboll can bring back a version of Daniel Jones that's actually palpable for fantasy football?
Maybe. But I'd still bet on this being a bottom-half passing attack that force-feeds Saquon Barkley everything he can possible handle.
Fantasy Drafts š: Daniel Jones is currently the QB 27 in fantasy football drafts, going around pick 234 (20th round). In other words, he's completely free in fantasy football leagues but, assuming you're in a 1 QB league, there's a reason he's free; he should be.
Draft Kits: I have Daniel Jones in Tier 2C of my fantasy football Draft Kits with Zach Wilson, Carson Wentz and Jared Goff. In your typical 1QB league, I'm not wasting a draft pick on any of these guys. In a 2QB league, these are bottom-barrel QB 2s.
Dynasty Leagues: Daniel Jones is hanging on for dear life in dynasty leagues.
Tyrod Taylor
For all you Superflex players, Tyrod Taylor should be on your short list for potential pick ups if Danny Dimes gets hurt or even benched.
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Saquon Barkley š
2019 PPR points: 244.1 (RB 10) - 2019 PPR points per game: 18.8 (RB 7)
2020 (out for year after 1 game)
2021 PPR points: 140.7 (RB 31) - 2021 PPR points per game: 10.8 (RB 33)
Saquon szn is upon us and it feels like the rapture is coming for us Saquon truthers who've been waiting for it since 2018.
It feels like forever ago, but never forget that Saquon absolutely smashed his 2018 rookie campaign, averaging 24.1 PPR points per game on 352 touches (including 91 catches on 121 targets) for 2028 yards and 15 TDs to finish as THE RB1.
He put together another solid year in 2019, averaging 18.8 PPR points per game (RB 7) on 269 touches (52 catches on 73 targets) for 1441 scrimmage yards (438 receiving) and 8 TDs. He hit 15 PPR points in 69.2% of his games, teasing with 20+ point games 38.5% of the time.
And then in 2020 he was knocked out for the season after one game and 2021 was a year to forget under Joe Judge (Barkley had just 189 touches for 807 yards and 4 TDs).
But Judge is out and Daboll is in, and everything we're hearing out of Giants camp is that Saquon Barkley's workload "will be huge" as long as he's healthy in 2022.
That is easy to believe when you look at Daboll's track record with similar offenses (Peyton Hillis had 331 touches in 2010, Jamaal Charles had 320 touches in 2012, Reggie Bush had 259 in 2011, and Jerome Harrison had 228 in 14 games in 2009).
Daboll is willing to force-feed his RBs, including in the passing gameāDaboll's RB has finished top 2 on the team in targets in 3 of his 8 seasons as an offensive coordinatorāif he believes they're the best chance of moving the ball. And when your options are Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones, it's not a difficult decision to make.
It's Saquon szn, baby. And I'm here for it.
Fantasy Drafts š: Saquon Barkley is currently the RB 13, drafted around pick 23 (late 2nd round). Drafted within 6 spots of Saquon in either direction are Deebo Samuel, Nick Chubb, Alvin Kamara, CeeDee Lamb, Aaron Jones, Tyreek Hill, Javonte Williams, Josh Allen, Mark Andrews, Leonard Fournette, Mike Evans, Keenan Allen and Ezekiel Elliott.
Lamb and maybe Jones are the only names in that list I'd even think about taking over Barkley. Barkley is a near auto-draft for me in the 2nd round. He is this year's league-winning value pick.
Draft Kits: I have Saquon in Tier 1C of my fantasy football Draft Kits with Joe Mixon, D'Andre Swift and Aaron Jones.
Dynasty Leagues: Saquon's value is the lowest it's ever since entering the league, creating a small buy-low window that's about to slam shut.
Matt Breida
Not someone you should spend a draft pick on (outside of super deep leagues) but definitely someone to have on your radar/watch list. He's a week-winner if Saquon goes down.
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