New York Giants Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Giants QB Daniel Jones revealed that he underwent a "non-football-related procedure" on his neck this offseason. "I saw there was something about it," Jones added. "It was completely unrelated, but I feel good. Neck is great." Jones, of course, missed the final 6 games of last season with a disc injury in his neck. Whether this procedure was related to that injury or not, it's worth remembering that Giants insider Dan Schneier told us on the Draft Sharks podcast that Jones appears to have lost velocity on his throws this summer. It'll be something to watch closely early this season. Jones is no more than a risk/reward QB2 in fantasy drafts.

"The Bills’ running back corps has all the potential to devolve into a muddy three-person committee dependent on the situation and riding the hot hand," The Athletic's Joe Buscaglia writes. We know RBs Devin Singletary and James Cook will have a role in this backfield, but Buscaglia believes RB Zack Moss could be an "early-down threat to Singletary" and the goal-line back. That, of course, would put a major dent in Singletary's fantasy value. Buscaglia also says that Cooks' role "could be smaller than some expect."

Raiders TE Darren Waller returned to practice on Wednesday. He'd been out since July 30 with a hamstring injury. Barring a setback, though, consider Waller's fantasy stock unaffected.

Seahawks QB Drew Lock tested positive for COVID. He'll be out at least the next 5 days, which means he'll miss Seattle's 2nd preseason game. Lock seemed to be making up ground on QB Geno Smith, getting 1st-team reps in Tuesday's practice. But this is an obvious setback. Smith remains the favorite to start Week 1, although Lock is a good bet to also make starts this season.

The Bills gave another indication Saturday that WR Isaiah McKenzie leads the competition for the starting slot job. McKenzie didn't play in the preseason opener against the Colts. Jamison Crowder, on the other hand, opened the game running with the 2nd team. We've been treating McKenzie as the leader here pretty much since training camp opened.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that Raiders TE Darren Waller has been missing practice with a hamstring injury. He's been out since July 30, but Schefter says the injury is "not considered serious." We'll see when Waller is able to get back on the field. We're not adjusting his 2022 projections as of now.

Giants QB Daniel Jones saw his 1st game action Thursday night since a November neck injury ended his 2021 season. “It felt good to get out there and it was just like it used to be,” Jones said afterward, according to ProFootballTalk. “I didn’t think a whole lot about the neck or anything like that. I felt good and it was just football.” Jones said he thought the offense got off to a good start. The QB went 6-of-10 for 69 yards over 2 series before leaving. The Giants came away with 1 FG over that span. Jones also ran once for 6 yards. He was going without Kadarius Toney, who figure to be the top WR come Week 1. We'll keep evaluating Jones as the regular season approaches.

Raiders TE Darren Waller has been sidelined since July 30 with an undisclosed injury, according to The Athletic's Tashan Reed. We're not panicking with the regular season still a month away, but hopefully Waller is able to get back on the field soon. He missed about 2 weeks last summer with an ankle injury and then lost 6 games and most of a 7th with ankle and knee injuries.

"Something's up with the velocity on [Daniel Jones'] throws," Giants insider Dan Schneier told us on the latest Draft Sharks podcast. "Ball placement is something that's been waning for him since his rookie season ... it seems to be only getting worse. The velocity is a weird thing." Schneier wonders if the dip in velocity is related to the neck injury that Jones suffered last year. Schneier also notes that Jones has seemed to struggle with HC Brian Daboll's offense and with getting on the same page as his receivers so far in camp. There's plenty of time for that stuff to get ironed out, but the arm strength note is concerning. Jones is cheap enough in fantasy drafts that you can keep taking shots on him. But we're less excited about his 2022 value now than we were before talking to Schneier.

Giants beat writer Dan Duggan considers Daniel Bellinger the team's "clear TE1.” He’s seen a steady dose of snaps with the starters throughout camp, and given the minimal competition, this news isn’t shocking. We’ll see if the Giants add a veteran body, but the dynasty arrow is certainly pointing up for the 4th-round rookie.

SNY’s Connor Hughes expressed concern over the Giants’ pass protection. “The pass protection, ever since the Giants strapped on the pads, is becoming a problem, Hughes wrote. “The severity of which has the potential to derail any [Daniel] Jones evaluation.” HC Brian Daboll admitted that this unit still has “a long way to go,” adding that he believes “they’re moving in the right direction.” We’ll see how this unit looks in preseason action. But it’s worth noting that they’re going up against one of the game’s most aggressive DCs in practice (Wink Martindale). New York’s also breaking in several new starters — including rookie RT Evan Neal.

Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News noted Friday that WR Darius Slayton was running with the 3rd team. That's a notable fall for a guy who has exceeded 80 targets twice in 3 NFL seasons. We already expected Slayton to be brushed aside in this year's offense, with Kadarius Toney and Kenny Golladay entering their 2nd Giants seasons and Wan'Dale Robinson arriving in Round 2 of the NFL Draft. Consider this a signal to not even look Slayton's way much as an end-of-draft flyer in best-ball tournaments. Slayton could be in danger of missing the Giants' regular-season roster.

Bills WR Isaiah McKenzie got off to a strong start of training camp. But it came with WR Jamison Crowder sidelined. Crowder is back now, though, and McKenzie has continued to work with QB Josh Allen and the 1st-team offense, according to The Athletic's Joe Buscaglia. "Perhaps it’s a sign of where the competition stands or that they’re letting Crowder crawl before he walks in coming back from an injury," Buscaglia adds. "But it’s also a continuation of what we’ve seen previously when both players were healthy, which shows how great of a chance McKenzie has to win the job." This battle isn't over yet, but McKenzie continues to look like the favorite to be Buffalo's Week 1 starting slot receiver.

While Bills WR Jamison Crowder has been sidelined with "general soreness," WR Isaiah McKenzie has been a "standout almost every day since camp began," The Athletic's Joe Buscaglia writes. "He is playing at the top of his game right now, full of confidence and knowing a big opportunity awaits if he stacks good days," Buscaglia adds. "If he continues to play like this and Crowder keeps missing time, McKenzie could end this battle quickly." We're not calling this one yet, but McKenzie certainly looks like the favorite to open the season as Buffalo's starting slot receiver. He's worth a look late in PPR drafts.

Giants TE Daniel Bellinger (quad) has evidently been activated from the PUP list. He was on the field for the start of Wednesday's training-camp practice -- and running with the 1st-team offense. At this point, the rookie looks like the favorite to open the season as the Giants' starter, ahead of veterans Ricky Seals-Jones and Jordan Akins. Bellinger is still just a late-round fantasy flier in what figures to be a WR-centric passing game.

The Bills opened training camp Sunday morning with WR Isaiah McKenzie running in the slot with the 1st team, according to Aaron Quinn of the Cover 1 Buffalo podcast. Veteran free-agent addition Jamison Crowder, meanwhile, was splitting 2nd-team reps with rookie Khalil Shakir. It could just be the Bills leaning toward the incumbent to open camp, but the Buffalo News also called McKenzie the "slight favorite" to win the starting slot gig earlier in the week. The Bills added Crowder on just a 1-year, $2 million contract -- far from starter money for a WR. We'll keep watching this competition through the summer. It looks like we should at least consider McKenzie the leader for now, though.

Giants TE Daniel Bellinger is opening training camp on the PUP list with a quad injury. The rookie surprisingly ran with the starters in OTAs and is certainly a name to monitor leading up to Week 1. We'll see when he's able to get back on the practice field.

According to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, the Giants have had discussions about moving on from WR Darius Slayton. Raanan actually wrote that such discussions started last year — before New York overhauled its coaching staff and front office, of course. Slayton reportedly struggled with drops in offseason practices and routinely worked with backups. The 25-year-old is off the redraft radar.

The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia writes that the Bills’ coaching staff “remains firmly behind” RB Devin Singletary “as an important piece to the [backfield] puzzle.” Buscaglia expects Singletary to remain the “lead back by playing time” over late-Round 2 pick James Cook. The veteran likely cemented his role with a strong end to 2021, rushing 102 times for 430 yards and 8 scores over his final 6 games (playoffs included). However, Cook’s arrival does make Singletary a virtual lock to fall shy of his 40 catches from 2021. Current projections have him slated for only 25 catches.

Giants 4th-round S Dane Belton "got the majority of the reps with the first team" in Thursday's OTA session, according to Zack Rosenblatt of NJ.com. Belton reportedly played alongside safeties Xavier McKinney and Julian Love, as well as in place of 1 of them at times. Rosenblatt adds that Belton "will seriously push" Love for the starting job opposite McKinney (a former 2nd-round pick). Belton didn't post big numbers across 3 seasons at Iowa but did close his career with 5 INTs in 2021. McKinney's the only 1 we'd bet on in IDP drafts right now, but we'll see how the rest of this competition goes. The Giants released Logan Ryan after deploying him as a full-time player last season.