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Summer Fantasy Outlook: New York Giants
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The two keys to a successful draft in fantasy football are: 1) Selecting players who will perform better than expected; and 2) Staying away from guys who will disappoint. In this 32-team series, I examine both types of players on every NFL team as the clubs prepare to head to training camp. For a listing of all 32 capsules, click here.
NEW YORK GIANTS
2008 Fantasy Ratings:
Rushing: 3rd.
Passing: 15th.
Overall: 8th.
The Giants thought they had a pretty darn good defense two years ago. They better be even better in 2009 if they want to compete, because their offense has fallen off dramatically.
That's what happens when you lose three key skill-position players, including star wideout Plaxico Burress. And that comes on top of having allowed talented tight end Jeremy Shockey to walk last summer.
Without Burress and Amani Toomer on the flanks, the Giants are in fulltime transition mode in the passing game. That's not good news for Eli Manning, who has struggled to be a fantasy starter even with one of the league's best supporting casts in recent years.
Predicting who will emerge is difficult. Clearly, wideout Steve Smith will get the first chance to shine, but as the No. 1 receiver, he'll have to run away from the other teams' top defenders. He might not be that good.
Sinorice Moss, Domenik Hixon, Hakeem Nicks, Ramses Barden ... somewhere in there a second and third receiver will emerge. Or maybe not.
It all adds up to a lot more work for star back Brandon Jacobs, who would warrant high first-round consideration if he were more of a fulltimer. However, Ahmad Bradshaw returns to cut into his playing time.
Still, with the way the Giants expect to play defense this year, look for even more running than a year ago. It'll be shocking if Manning turns out to be any kind of fantasy factor at all.
Projected 2009 Overall Fantasy Rating: 13th.
Most likely Giants to be better than expected (2008 position ranking in parentheses): RB Brandon Jacobs (12th among running backs), RB Ahmad Bradshaw (not among Top 40 running backs).
Most likely Giant to disappoint (2008 position ranking in parentheses): QB Eli Manning (13th among quarterbacks).
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