It’s that time of the year again when people head over to restaurants and other places to draft their fantasy football teams. Some of you may already have had their draft. This article does not pertain to you. I’m talking to the guys or gals who have not had their draft yet.
In this edition, I’m looking at one of the favorites to win the NFC East and if they stay injury free, they could make a deep run in the playoffs. I will be talking about the New York Giants, who are coming off a record last season of 6-10 and had them miss the playoffs for a 5th straight year. It also saw the end of the Tom Coughlin era, 2016 is the first year for new head coach Ben McAdoo.
According to ESPN fantasy stats from 2015, many of the Giants players were out of the top ten completely. A lot of this is due to a number of injuries the Giants had last season. In the last two years, the Giants have been in the top 10 of having people on either IR or on the injury report.
Looking toward 2016, I am figuring that Eli Manning will bounce back because he will have a lot of weapons to throw to between Victor Cruz, Odell Beckham JR, Sterling Shepard, Rashad Jennings, and so on. I would not take Eli to be your starter on your team because he is getting older and still has some issues of being inconsistent.
I would say push to grab Eli as your backup if your league allows you to have more than one QB. I say that because Eli is the type of QB who can get you points when your starter is either injured or on a bye.
Another area I think fantasy football people should consider is the New York Giants defensive unit. I’m expecting big things from this unit this season. Last season, the Giants had a mediocre defense that was riddled by injuries. During the offseason, the Giants revamped their defense big time.
A majority of the players that the New York Giants signed were to improve their defense from signing players like Damion Harrison to Janoris Jenkins to Oliver Vernon. By adding the talent, the Giants are expecting to have a much better defense.
If you look at the Wide Receiver crew led by Victor Cruz and Odell Beckham Jr who if injuries don’t hit Victor Cruz or Odell, this could be one of the most lethal combinations among Wide Receivers in the NFL.
One sleeper I could see on the Giants this season is Sterling Shepard who was drafted by the Giants in the 2016 Draft. I see him being a sleeper because with Cruz being injury prone, coach McAdoo playing Sheppard to give Cruz a rest.
Overall, the Giants could become a fantasy football owner’s best friend. As much as the Giants have a lot of expectations, and teams tend not to perform up to those expectations, I view the Giants as a team to perform up to those expectations. I would push to take Giants players later on in your draft. I wouldn’t start taking any Giants players until after round four.