Giants' Top Players to Target in Fantasy Football Drafts

The New York Giants were a mess offensively in 2020. While their ninth-ranked scoring defense was good enough to keep them in NFC East contention, their 31st-ranked offense was a liability.

New York also ranked 31st in scoring offense, which was a problem for fantasy football enthusiasts. However, this doesn't mean that the Giants cannot produce some quality fantasy options for managers in 2021.

Star running back Saquon Barkley missed the majority of the 2020 season with a torn ACL, and he will be back at some point. The Giants also made several offensive additions this offseason, including Kenny Golladay, Kyle Rudolph and rookie wideout Kadarius Toney.

Here we will examine the top options on New York's depth chart worth targeting in fantasy drafts.

Sleepers

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Before we get into the list proper, let's examine a couple of potential sleepers and players to target late.

The first is quarterback Daniel Jones, who had virtually no fantasy value in 2020. He was borderline awful, passing for only 2,943 yards with 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. However, that was with a lackluster supporting cast that should be better this season.

Looking back to Jones' rookie campaign of 2019, there is some upside here. Jones passed for 3,027 yards with 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions that year, despite only making 12 starts. He's not worth targeting to start, but Jones could be a viable streaming option with some upside.

Running back Devontae Booker is also worth a late-round flier as a potential spot starter and as a handcuff for Barkley. Last year with the Las Vegas Raiders, he rushed for 423 yards and three touchdowns on only 93 carries.

If you're going to draft Barkley, it's worth snagging Booker late.

RB Saquon Barkley

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Saquon Barkley is elite when he's healthy, He topped 2,000 scrimmage yards as a rookie in 2018 and was again great in 2019—finishing with 1,441 scrimmage yards and eight touchdowns. However, he is coming off a serious knee injury and could be out for several weeks.

He could miss as many as six regular-season games, according to The Athletic's Virginia Zakas, and may not be at 100 percent.

"I do see Saquon eventually returning to his pre-injury form, but it won't be in the first half of the season, and it might not happen until 2022," Zakas wrote.

Because of the health concerns, it's hard to be sold on targeting Barkley in Round 1—though he's certainly going to go that high in some leagues. Barkley can be considered an RB1, but managers should realize he may not be available right away.

WR Kenny Golladay

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Wideout Kenny Golladay also carries some injury concerns after he missed 11 games in 2020 with a hamstring injury. However, he appeared in 31 games over the previous two seasons, so the concern should be minimal.

Golladay is a solid No. 1 NFL receiver when healthy. He topped the 1,000-yard mark in each of the 2018 and 2019 seasons, and he led the league with 11 touchdown receptions in the latter campaign. Of course, the other concern with Golladay is that he's going from Matthew Stafford to Jones at quarterback.

There's no telling quite how Golladay will perform with Jones pulling the proverbial trigger. He will be New York's No. 1 perimeter option, but managers should consider him a high-end WR2. He has 1,000-yard potential, but he should be targeted somewhere between Rounds 5 and 8—perhaps earlier if there's a run on receivers.

TE Evan Engram

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Evan Engram is not an elite fantasy tight end, though he has been a serviceable starter. While he had only one touchdown reception in 2020, he caught 63 passes for 654 yards. He has caught at least 44 passes in each of his four pro seasons, which gives Engram a decent points-per-reception floor.

The caveat here is that the Giants added Kyle Rudolph in the offseason, which hurts Engram's value quite a bit. Engram is still the tight end to roster of the two, as he is experienced in New York's system and possesses some legitimate deep-threat potential. However, Engram should now be considered a low-tier fantasy starter instead of a mid-level one.

If he stays healthy, Engram should still grab 40-plus passes and top 500 receiving yards. If you still need a tight end by the later rounds, grab him. However, he's not worth targeting inside the first 10 rounds in most formats.