Scheme and Metrics fantasy team preview- we'll take a look at each of the 32 teams and look at a combination of offensive scheme/philosophy and some player metrics to give us something else to think about when drafting our fantasy squads this summer. In this edition, we'll look at the New York Giants.
The system/scheme
• I honestly have no clue what scheme the team will use, but I'm pretty sure it'll be inconsequential. There's not much that makes me think the Giants have a chance of having an offense that's effective in more than a few games all year. They have an over-the-hill QB who struggles to move the offense, and even if they bench him, Daniel Jones is unlikely to have success as a rookie. In addition, they lack an alpha-WR, so defenses will be able to stack the box consistently while possibly assigning a spy to Saquon Barkley on each play.
Metrics
• Sterling Shepard posted a 73rd-percentile 40-yard-dash, but unfortunately that goes along with a 35th-percentile agility score. With Odell Beckham gone, he could struggle if defenses make him the WR they want to eliminate.
• Evan Engram has 100th-percentile speed, 85th-percentile explosiveness and 90th-percentile agility to go with a 93rd-percentile catch radius. He's one of the best athletes in the league at the TE position, and he easily could be the team leader in targets.
Positive Spin
• Daniel Jones is a revelation- he has an amazing training camp, unseats Eli Manning and instantly becomes a franchise QB. That leads to the passing attack becoming functional which provides Barkley with enough room to operate and post big games each week.
Negative Spin
• The offense is as expected- they can't throw the ball successfully, defenses stack the box with eight or even nine defenders, and their punter breaks the league record for punts in a season.
My advice-
• I would avoid both of these QBs at all costs.
• As stated earlier, I expect teams to stack the box more than ever to slow Barkley down- and it doesn't help that the Giants don't project to have an even average OL. David Johnson paid the price for being on a putrid offense last year, as defenses could key on him- Since I won't take Barkley in the first three picks of a draft (I have him at number four overall), I won't be getting him this year.
• Even before the four-game suspension, Golden Tate is going to new team, and one that is horrible; he'll likely struggle to find consistency and a useful role in the offense. He'll likely man the slot, but Even Engram, the TE, could easily see more of those middle of the field targets. It's hard to bet on a 31-year-old declining player moving to a new team with a terrible QB, and not being able to play until Week 5.
• After the first four games, Sterling Shepard will likely have to move out of his preferred slot role with Golden Tate now on the team, which will hurt his chances for success, but based on Shepard's three-year performance, he's had enough big games to show that he has big upside. I'd recommend him in best-ball leagues to take advantage of those potential spike weeks, but I don't recommend him at his ADP of 121, now if he falls another couple rounds, he'd be a value.
• Evan Engram may not be in the 'big 3' at TE this year, but there's no reason he can't finish just behind that group. He won't be cheap on draft day with an ADP of 47, and there are other TEs I'd rather have at their cost, but there's no denying that Engram is worth what it will cost to acquire him.