New York Giants Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Fourth-round rookie TE Daniel Bellinger just might be the favorite to start for the the Giants this season. NJ.com's Zack Rosenblatt reports that Bellinger was "almost exclusively running with the first-team offense" at Thursday's OTA practice. "Ricky Seals-Jones and Jordan Akins are both healthy and were running with the backups," Rosenblatt added. Although it's tough to count on much from any rookie TE -- let alone a 4th-round pick -- this report highlights Bellinger's limited competition on the road to a lead job. He's not a bad shot to take as a 3rd TE in best-ball drafts right now, especially when stacked with QB Daniel Jones. We'll keep watching how the situation develops.

Giants WR Wan'Dale Robinson lined up "almost exclusively" in the slot at rookie minicamp on Friday, according to NJ Advance Media's Zack Rosenblatt. That "will be his long-term role in this offense," Rosenblatt adds. Robinson played inside and out at Kentucky last year. But, at 5'8 and 178 pounds, he was always destined for the slot in the NFL. New HC Brian Daboll's Bills led the league in percentage of offensive snaps with 3+ WRs on the field last year (84.5%). So, if Robinson wins the starting slot job, he'll be on the field plenty. It also means that WR Kadarius Toney will be playing primarily on the outside after spending 59% of his snaps in the slot as a rookie last season.

The Giants added San Diego State TE Daniel Bellinger in the 4th round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Bellinger totaled just 68 catches for 771 yards and 5 TDs across 4 college seasons. He fared poorly in Pro Football Focus receiving grade and yards per route run last year. On the plus side, the 6'5, 247-pounder earned a 97th percentile Relative Athletic Score at the Combine, highlighted by a 4.63-second 40 time. That at least gives him the potential to be more productive in the pros than he was in college. Bellinger joins a wide-open Giants TE group alongside Ricky Seals-Jones and Jordan Akins.

The Giants selected Kentucky WR Wan’Dale Robinson with the 43rd overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft. Robinson is a fun watch. He’s quick, elusive and explosive with the ball in his hands. And he has the acceleration and speed to win deep. Robinson is a raw route runner, though, at least in part because he’s relatively inexperienced at WR. He played RB in high school and spent about 50% of his snaps in the backfield as a freshman at Nebraska. Robinson played more WR than RB for the Huskers in 2020. But it wasn’t until he transferred to Kentucky this past year that he really broke out. Under OC Liam Coen, who worked under Sean McVay in Los Angeles from 2018 to 2020, Robinson finished 3rd in the country in receptions (104) and 11th in receiving yards (1,334). He ranked top 5 among 251 qualifying WRs in both yards per route run and Pro Football Focus receiving grade. Robinson played about two-thirds of his snaps in the slot but was actually slightly more effective in terms of yards per route run on the outside (3.82 vs. 3.45). The concern with Robinson is size. He’s just 5’8, 178 pounds and has the shortest arm length and wingspan of all WRs in the MockDraftable.com database. Robinson’s skill set overlaps a bit with WR Kadarius Toney, who might still be on thin ice with the new Giants regime. We’ll see how the situation shakes out.

The Giants selected EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux with the 5th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Thibodeaux averaged a class-leading 1.18 tackles for loss per game over 3 seasons at Oregon, averaging more than 1 per game each year. He never cracked 10 sacks in a season but certainly sports that kind of upside. A 90th-percentile speed score in pre-draft testing supports that. We'll see whether Thibodeaux carries a LB or DE designation. There's an especially nice ceiling if your format combines all edge players into a single category.

Per multiple sources, the Giants are declining the 5th year option on QB Daniel Jones. Such a move would have paid him over $22 million for the 2023 season. Jones carries some upside as a QB2 for this year, especially if the Giants invest in WR early in tonight's draft. New York picks 5th and 7th in Round 1.

The Steelers claimed WR Miles Boykin off waivers from the Ravens. It's a fine landing spot considering Anthony Miller is currently the favorite for Pittsburgh's #3 WR job behind Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool. But Boykin will need to show us a lot more than he did in Baltimore before we consider him a fantasy target.

The Ravens released WR Miles Boykin. The 2019 3rd-rounder has struggled with injuries and totaled just 33 catches over his first 3 NFL seasons. We'll see where Boykin lands next, but his dynasty value is on life support. Marquise Brown and Rashod Bateman are locked in as Baltimore's top 2 WRs heading into 2022, with Devin Duvernay, James Proche and Tylan Wallace currently rounding out the depth chart.

The Bills on Sunday announced that they’ve re-signed WR Isaiah McKenzie on 2-year, $8 million deal. McKenzie caught just 20 passes last year and has yet to top 30 receptions in a season. But he carries upside well beyond that if he can wrest the primary slot job from Cole Beasley, a rumored cut candidate

The Commanders are expected to release S Landon Collins after attempts at restructuring his contract couldn't reach a deal, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Collins rebounded decently from a 2020 Achilles' tendon tear to play in 13 games last season, average 6.2 total tackles per game, grab a pair of INTs and tally 3 sacks. He spent time in safety and LB roles for a Washington defense that disappointed overall. Collins figures to get a shot at another starting job elsewhere this offseason.

ESPN's Jordan Raanan says "it seems likely" that the Giants will decline the 5th-year option on QB Daniel Jones' rookie contract when that decision comes up this May. Raanan works the Giants beat and surely has more insight into the team's thoughts on Jones than we do. But this reads like a guess/assumption on his part rather than a report. It's certainly fair to say that the early returns haven't been great, and exercising the option would guarantee Jones a little more than $20 million for 2023. That could be a particularly big number for a Giants team currently strapped for cap space. Fortunately, we'll get the answer to this question well before the coming season starts. And Jones remains in line to at least start for the Giants in 2022. Jones told Raanan this week that new HC Brian Daboll has sought the QB's input in designing the offense.

Beat writer Joe Buscagila of The Athletic believes the Bills “should” spend a “Day 2 or early Day 3 pick” on a RB. Buscagila points out that the current Bills staff has typically favored a 1-2 punch. Zack Moss took a step back after a promising rookie year. Devin Singletary, meanwhile, impressed with career highs in yards, TDs and receptions. He enters the offseason as Buffalo's clear lead back -- just note that he enters the final year of his rookie deal. GM Brandon Beane also spoke this offseason about adding more speed to the offense, and such a move could come in the form of a new RB. “I’m always looking for speed,” Beane said in January. “You’d love to have a (run after catch) guy that you can get the ball to and he can turn a five-yard pass into a 60-yard touchdown. We talked about speed here. You can never have enough of that. So we’ll continue to look for various ways.”

New Giants GM Joe Schoen threw his support behind QB Daniel Jones at his introductory press conference on Wednesday. "We'll build an offense around Daniel to accentuate what he does best," Schoen said. "I know he's a great kid ... The kid has physical ability. He's got arm strength, he's athletic, he can run. I'm really excited to work with Daniel." Jones has failed to show tangible improvement over his first 3 NFL seasons and missed the final 6 games of 2021 with a neck injury. We'll see when he's cleared from that injury -- and who Schoen and the Giants hire as HC and OC. But Jones can't be considered more than a low-end QB2 in early 2022 fantasy drafts.

Raiders TE Darren Waller (knee) is active for tonight’s game vs. the Chargers. It’ll be his first action since Week 12, adding risk to Waller’s fantasy profile. But there’s plenty of upside in the matchup vs. the #28 TE defense.

The Raiders expect TE Darren Waller (knee) to play in tonight's game against the Chargers, ESPN reports. He's officially questionable but should be available for fantasy football lineups.

Raiders TE Darren Waller (knee) is listed as questionable for Sunday night’s game vs. the Chargers. He got in 3 limited practices this week. Interim HC Rich Bisaccia said Monday that Waller was expected back for this must-win game, and he seems to still be on track.

Raiders TE Darren Waller (knee, back) was limited in Wednesday's practice. Interim HC Rich Bisaccia said Monday that Waller is expected back for Sunday night's game vs. the Chargers, but we'll keep an eye on his progress over the next few days.

Raiders interim HC Rich Bisaccia said Monday that TE Darren Waller is expected back for Sunday night's game vs. the Chargers. We haven't seen Waller since he suffered knee and back injuries in Week 12. He was placed on the COVID list on Wednesday and remains there as of Monday night. We'll see when Waller is cleared and then what he does in practice this week.

Broncos QB Drew Lock is questionable to return to Sunday's game vs. the Chargers with a right shoulder injury. We'll update his status when we know more. QB Brett Rypien is in for Denver.

Update: Lock returned in the 2nd quarter.

Giants CB Adoree' Jackson (quad) and DT Austin Johnson (foot) are active for today's game against the Bears. Neither carries big IDP intrigue for Week 17 lineups, though.