Thanks for all of your #nygmail-tagged Twitter questions from this week. Including this tag-team effort:
@DanGrazianoESPN #nygmail Chances Vereen leads the backfield in snaps? Frontrunner for WR4 role? Chances Donnell gets unseated?
— Scott Barrett (@DudeFantasyBro) June 11, 2015@DanGrazianoESPN: I think your first question is the one that interests fantasy players the most, as it should. The New York Giants signed running back Shane Vereen away from the Super Bowl champion Patriots to give themselves some help in the passing game. Vereen has 124 receptions (including playoff games) over the past two years, and the Giants also consider him an excellent pass-blocking back. So he gives quarterback Eli Manning an additional target and some more protection, and I would expect to see him an awful lot on third down. I also wonder whether we could see him in more than just that role, given the issues the Giants have right now at tackle due to the Will Beatty injury. A little bit of pass-protection help from the backfield might be more of a priority than the Giants even thought it was when they signed him. That said, based on the conversations I've had, I believe the Giants still want Rashad Jennings to get the early-down work and that they'll give it to him as long as he can stay healthy. The presence of Vereen could help Jennings stay healthy by keeping him away from the third-down work. Jennings was plugged in last year as the do-it-all starter at running back, and he's fine in the passing game, but he does break down. So having Vereen in the mix, and Andre Williams in a sprinkled-in or goal-line role could help maximize Jennings' role as the team's primary ball carrier. Whether Vereen is on the field for more snaps depends on the pass/run ratio of the Giants' offense. But if it's as balanced as coach Tom Coughlin always insists he wants it to be, then their preference is for Jennings to be the primary workhorse. If he can stay healthy, my belief is that Jennings will lead the 2015 Giants backfield in snaps and touches, though Vereen will certainly take a bite.
@DudeFantasyBro @DanGrazianoESPN #nygmail all three are great questions! Please answer one of the remaining two as my question submission
— vin (@vin_e) June 11, 2015@DanGrazianoESPN: I like this. Guy couldn't think of his own question, so he embraced that and just said, "I want one of that guy's questions!" So let's move on to the wide receiver one. I believe the presumption here is that Odell Beckham Jr., Victor Cruz and Rueben Randle are the top three receivers. While this assumes full health at the start of the season for Cruz (which cannot be assumed), we will stipulate that in what I believe was the spirit of the question, and I believe the answer will be Dwayne Harris. The reason I think this is because Harris is definitely going to be on the roster for his value on special teams, while Preston Parker, Corey Washington, Marcus Harris and Julian Talley are going to have to scrap and claw for a roster spot. So for instance, I think if Parker makes the team, he'd be ahead of Dwayne Harris in line for snaps at WR4. But since there's no guarantee Parker makes the team, I'd be foolish to pick him in this prediction game, right? With Dwayne Harris and sixth-round rookie Geremy Davis both seemingly locked into spots, that Parker/Washington/MHarris/Talley quartet could be competing for one spot, unless Cruz needs to start the season on PUP or short-term IR. Parker's experience with the team last year gives him an edge in that competition and leg up on Dwayne Harris on the depth chart if he makes it. If one of the other three got the spot, I think Dwayne Harris would be the most likely WR4, especially since they seem to have convinced him during the negotiation process that he'll have some sort of role on offense. I'll believe that when I see it, but because he's got the roster spot locked up, he's the most likely answer to this particular question.
And what the heck? I'll take the third one as well. Tight end Larry Donnell is a player the Giants love and believe is still on the upswing. They believe his ceiling his high, that he fits the offense well, that Eli Manning trusts him and that he can be one of the more dynamic playmakers in a dynamic offense. The only thing that could cost Donnell the Giants' starting tight end job is an injury, and right now he has one. Donnell missed a good chunk of OTAs with an Achilles problem. If that lingers, it opens the door for other candidates, such as Jerome Cunningham and Adrien Robinson (yes, he's still on the team), to be the pass-catching tight end while Daniel Fells handles the dirty work as a blocker. But Donnell is the clear No. 1, and there's no one on the roster right now who's a threat to his job if he's healthy.
Thanks for the questions. More coming Sunday.
