Never Too Early: New York Giants Fantasy Football Preview

Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. Fantasy FanHouse is here to get you ready by previewing every team from a fantasy perspective.

Meet The ...
David who slayed Goliath ... and you know how that goes in the world of fantasy football. At least you should. The residue of a strong post-season run by a team almost certainly means several players are going to be overrated the next fantasy season. I'm looking right at you, Thomas Jones. So the question with the Giants is, can you look past the post-season and judge flatly on what you think they'll do in this regular season? Imagine the Giants had lost in the first round at Tampa Bay. Now judge their fantasy players. That should be an accurate rating system. For example, settle down about Eli Manning. Sure, you can believe he's taken a giant (pun unintended, but I'm keeping the word choice) step forward in terms of maturity and taking care of the football. You also should remember that 13 QBs outscored him in fantasy points in '07. His last name doesn't do him any favors either. Hypnotize yourself into believing that Eli Smith lost in the first round to the Bucs. Now do you like him as a top ten QB? Me neither.

The Breakout
Brandon Jacobs ... I already covered him.

The Bust
He doesn't have a ton of value left at this point, but Amani Toomer's days as a usable fantasy option are limited ... and will be over before the midway point of the season. Whether you believe it's going to be Steve Smith, Sinorice Moss, rookie sensation Mario Manningham, or Super Bowl hero David Tyree (the best example of forgetting about the post-season before your fantasy draft ... don't touch him); someone is going to supplant Toomer as the 2nd receiving option during the course of the season. He's 33, so his best days are behind him. Plus, the Giants likely won't feel the need to surround Eli with experienced vets so much anymore now that he's confident. Enter the new wave of Giants wideouts. Exit stage left, Amani.

The Depth Chart
QB1 - Eli Manning
QB2 - David Carr
QB3 - Andre Woodson
RBBC1 - Brandon Jacobs
RBBC2 - Ahmed Bradshaw
RB3 - Derrick Ward
RB4 - Reuben Droughns
WR1 - Plaxico Burress
WR2 - Amani Toomer
WR3 - Steve Smith
WR4 - Sinorice Moss
WR5 - Mario Manningham
WR6 - David Tyree
TE1 - Jeremy Shockey
TE2 - Kevin Boss
K - Lawrence Tynes

The D/ST
Coming off a season in which they were eighth in fantasy points, the Giants aim to improve even further ... BUT ... they lost Michael Strahan. He had nine of the team's league-leading 52 sacks, but it's not just the numbers. The respect given to him by opposing offensive blocking schemes cannot be replaced. The rest of the defense is still quite exciting. Antonio Pierce mans the middle, while Mathias Kiwanuka and Osi Umenyiora will look to keep pressure on the QB, and Sammy Knight was added to anchor the secondary. The sacks will decrease, but the interceptions should increase. This is a top ten unit, so if people overreact to the loss of Strahan you'll get a quality late round steal.

The Skinny
If you can do what I suggested in the intro and not get overly excited about what you saw in the post-season, there are plenty of valuable fantasy players to be had here. They aren't the Colts or Pats, but they do have a top 15 QB, RB, WR, K, and D/ST, along with a host of other characters (when you call them that word, you know I'm including Shockey) that will be helpful from time to time should injuries or bye-weeks hamper your squad. The Champs are balanced, that's for sure.