Happy August, readers! We’re two weeks into training camp, and the Giants’ first preseason game is history. This feels like the right time for me to take a break from my league-wide fantasy coverage to focus on one team and one team only. Boo-yah — It’s time for my annual New York Football Giants fantasy football preview!
If you haven’t started prepping for your drafts in season-long redraft fantasy leagues, it’s time to get going. The season kicks off in less than a month! You can check out my preliminary
preseason rankings and tiers, sleepers, division previews, and other draft prep pieces at this link: Fantasy Football Hub. I’ll have more content as the month rolls along.
Here’s a sad reality, Giant fans: For much of the 2020s, the Giants have been a team to avoid for fantasy. Before last season, the team ranked 30th or lower in either points scored, total offense, or both in four of the five seasons this decade. I won’t sugarcoat it — it’s been ugly. But that was then, and this is now. And right now, the Giants have a player at each of the four primary positions who could be a significant factor in fantasy this season.
The first glimmer came two seasons ago with the fantastic rookie season of the electric Malik Nabers, who burst onto the scene as a clear alpha and finished that season as the WR7 with a 109-1,204-7 stat line on 170 targets. He also led the NFL with 11.3 targets per game. And he did that despite a revolving door of, at best, sub-par QBs (sorry, Tommy Cutlets).
The team built on that success in 2025 as two more exciting rookies emerged in dual-threat QB Jaxson Dart (QB13 for the year) and human battering ram RB Cam Skattebo (RB11 in eight games before a season-ending leg injury). With Dart leading the way, and despite season-ending injuries to Nabers in Week 4 and Skattebo, the team jumped all the way to 13th in total offense, at 333 yards per game, up from 295 yards per game (30th in the NFL) the year before. With a new coaching staff in place, and everyone hopefully healthy to start the season, there are reasons to be excited about the Giants this season, and while their offensive players won’t be confused with the playmakers on the Cowboys, Lions, or Bengals, they aren’t the Jets or Titans either, and should no longer be viewed as a fantasy wasteland.
I won’t dwell on the offseason changes. You can find lots of great content all over this website – which covers the Giants like no other source — about the hiring of new HC John Harbaugh and OC Matt Nagy, the choice of Miami offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa with the tenth overall pick in the 2026 draft, and the additions of former Ravens Patrick Ricard and Isaiah Likely. Throw in the departure of slot merchant Wan’Dale Robinson, and the offense is going to look different this season. I wasn’t thrilled with the Nagy hire, but overall, the arrow is pointing up.
Let’s examine the Giants for fantasy football, 2026. I’ll go position by position for today’s exercise. All prior season rankings shown are for Half-point PPR, on a Fantasy Points Per Game (FPPG) basis and exclude the final week of the season. Fantasy draft rankings represent Expert Consensus Rankings (ECR) as of August 15.
Quarterback
Dart wowed fans last year with exciting scrambles, runs, and passing. His nine rushing TDs tied for second among QBs with Trevor Lawrence, and significantly bolstered his excellent rookie performance for fantasy. He was quite the pleasant surprise – from both a real and fantasy football perspective — given that he was a back-half of the first round draft pick. It looks like Big Blue found its guy for the next decade.
That said, all of Dart’s designed and not-so-designed runs might be part of what got Brian Daboll fired, and his propensity to take off as a ball carrier creates a big risk. He isn’t afraid of contact (some would say he invites it), and the new staff is reportedly trying hard to coach him on when and how to avoid unnecessary hits. We’ll never know how many times Dart actually was concussed in 2025, but self-preservation is something he needs to work on. The arm and rushing talent are there, in spades. Did you see his scramble, and across-the-body TD pass to rookie WR Malachi Fields in the first preseason game, right after a bone-crushing hit resulted in yet another frequent-flier trip to the blue tent? Yeah, so did I. And that sequence is the Jaxson Dart experience in a nutshell.
Dart is currently ranked as the QB12 for redraft, with an ECR of 95. QB is insanely deep this year and he’s one of multiple QBs who could be Top-10 options this season but are fairly cheap in one-QB leagues. He’ll miss the easy-button throws to Robinson, but getting Nabers back at anything close to full strength, for anything close to the full season, would be huge for his fantasy prospects. There’s enough weaponry here for Dart to thrive, if he can stay upright. That’s the big “if” with him for fantasy this season. And if Dart misses time, Jameis Winston is always a super fun waiver wire ride for fantasy. Just close your eyes and wait for the box score.
Running Back
Skattebo appears to be fully recovered from the gruesome injuries that ended his rookie campaign and that’s good news for the Giants. He quickly became a fan favorite with his ability to make plays, toughness, and nose for the end zone. He hit paydirt seven times in the eight games he played, and his skillset is ideal for a three-down role. He can handle early down rushing work, is a good pass catcher, is strong in short-yardage, and can pass block.
Like Dart, his aggressive play style raises durability concerns, so there’s some risk here. His current ECR of 50 (RB19) has him going off boards as a mid-range RB2, around the 4/5 turn. I think that’s fair value for one of the better RB2 options out there, given the upside and potential three-down role. If you’re in a league with Giant fans, good luck getting any kind of bargain on him though.
Behind Skattebo, there’s decent depth, but some uncertainty. Tyrone Tracy, Jr. has proven himself more than capable when given the chance, although his missed block is what got Dart blown up. He’s the top candidate to be the #2 who shares work with Skattebo, for now. And if anything happens to Skattebo, he could be a big asset for fantasy. He’s one of a multitude of backup runners that I tend to go after in the double digit rounds. Devin Singletary is competent but is simply depth at this point and shouldn’t be drafted in typical leagues. Newly signed Najee Harris is a wild card who missed almost all of last season with a torn achilles, after four straight 1,000 yard seasons in Pittsburgh. I’m curious to see how the depth chart shakes out in the next month. The Harris signing followed the loss of running back Dante Miller for the season.
Wide Receiver
Let’s make one thing clear: A fully healthy Nabers is a Top-5 wideout in fantasy, and an obvious difference-maker for the Giants in terms of actual football. He’s that good. That’s why so much hand-wringing has accompanied his recovery from a serious knee injury suffered in Week 4 last season, including a setback this spring. Sad but true: Dart’s first NFL start was Week 4, so he and Nabers have played less than one half of football together.
Will Nabers be ready for Week 1, and what strength will he play at? That’s been one of the top question sets in fantasy this spring and summer. His current ECR of 28 (WR13) is still at a decent discount from his ceiling, and reflects the risks associated with his early-season availability and play strength this season. But that ECR has been rising steadily, and the fact that Nabers didn’t start camp on PUP is a good sign. But this is the year after the ACL tear, and some players take two seasons to get back to full explosiveness. At his current third round price, I’m intrigued. If he rises close to the 1-2 turn, where he belongs on talent, that’s a very tough click for me, and I’ll let someone else take him.
Beyond Nabers, the fantasy cupboard is pretty bare. It’s a collection of dusty veterans and unproven younger players. Robinson earned 140 targets each of the last two seasons, so opportunity is available, but it’s hard to know which of Darius Slayton, Fields, Darnell Mooney, Calvin Auston III, or any of the other multitude of names fighting for roles and roster spots could emerge. I wouldn’t draft any of them other than in very deep redraft leagues, but I’m guessing there will be several Big Blue WRs that are add/drop regulars throughout the season. Honestly, I can see a lot of those vacated targets going to….
Tight End
…Isaiah Likely. And let’s get this out of the way — Likely isn’t really a tight end. You won’t see him lining up on the end of the line and blasting linebackers on run plays. He’s really more of an oversized slot receiver, and with his size/quickness combo (6’4”, 240), he can be a tough cover for linebackers and safeties. While he has yet to put together a big season, he’s still only 26, and he usually stepped up when first string TE Mark Andrews missed games. Given the Giants’ WR depth chart, Likely is a prime breakout candidate, and I’m here for it. Is he overhyped right now? Maybe, but I think the opportunity for a big role on the offense is there and that he’ll finish as a Top-10 TE this season.
The rankers are warm on this idea. His ECR of 118 (TE12) has him going alongside some very good and more proven players at the position (Andrews, Dallas Goedert, Jake Ferguson, and Dalton Kincaid), and I slightly prefer Likely to each of those guys given the upside case.
Theo Johnson flashed some last season, and will have his role too. But I don’t see him being fantasy-relevant in 2026 unless Likely gets hurt.
Kicker
Whichever kicker (Dominic Svada or Ben Sauls) wins the Giants’ job will probably be serviceable for fantasy as a streaming option. Harbaugh is not as big of a risk-taker as some other coaches, but that’s a little hard to gauge since for many years he had the best kicker in the game in Justin Tucker.
Defense/Special Teams
The Giants’ D/ST was a disappointing 26th in fantasy scoring last season. The defense couldn’t stop the run, which led to a lot of long, clock-churning drives against them. And while Brian Burns piled up the sacks, overall the defense underperformed in that regard, considering the personnel. They created only 15 turnovers, which was 25th in the league.
I’m bullish on the defense to be a better fantasy unit in 2026, with the addition of #6 overall pick Arvell Reese and an expected jump in production from second-year man Abdul Carter, the #3 overall pick the year before. Like the kickers, I think the D/ST will be serviceable in certain matchups as a streaming option when needed, and it’s a unit with sneaky upside potential because of what could be an elite pass rush. But I wouldn’t draft them in a 12-team league.
That’s my Giants fantasy preview for 2026. The bottom line is that the team should be improved in year two of Dart and year one of Harbaugh, and especially if Nabers is out there for most of the season. The schedule is easier too – another plus. The 2026 version of Big Blue offers four intriguing pieces for fantasy managers, and should have some other contributors, albeit on a less consistent basis.
Keep it here for more fantasy content. Coming next: Players to target and avoid at their draft cost.
