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Saquon Barkley

Back should be busy receiver, if available

Saquon Barkley is going to be an interesting case in fantasy leagues this season. No one disputes the talent, but he's been an injury-prone disappointment his last two seasons. With a new coaching staff and offseason to rest up, can he deliver strong numbers?

There doesn't seem to be a lot of optimism. In the Experts Draft last week, he was the 15th running back selected, in the middle of the 3rd round. That's not terrible, but it's around other starting running backs with questions (Ezekiel Elliott, Cam Akers). Similarly in the Auction, he was the 13th-highest priced running back.

If you select Barkley, it's probably not with the expectation he's going to be cranking out 100-yard rushing performances and lots of short touchdowns. The Giants have a new coaching staff and some skill guys of note, but this still looks like a rebuilding team that will lose more than it wins. Mediocre offensive line, questionable quarterback, and Barkley himself needs to prove he can stay healthy.

It's for his receiving potential that he carries some interest. Not to catch 91 passes, as he did as a rookie, perhaps, but to be one of the league's busier backs in that regard. A story in The Athletic last week theorized that Barkley would catch a ton of passes in Brian Daboll's new offense. Devin Singletary, Zack Moss and Matt Breida combined to catch 70 last season, and Barkley should be more of a full-time guy. Certainly, he's been productive thus far in his career, when available.

During his four seasons in the league, Barkley is one of 48 running backs to see at least 100 targets in the passing game. With him missing a good chunk of games, for him it's worked out to nearly 6 targets per contest. That's more than all but four other players.

RUNNING BACK TARGETS, 2018-2021
PlayerGTgtRecYdsTDTgt/G
Christian McCaffrey423262772364127.8
J.D. McKissic161108058926.9
Alvin Kamara573762922437156.6
James White482942201865136.1
Saquon Barkley44260190148285.9
Tarik Cohen35204156122285.8
Austin Ekeler563202552447215.7
D'Andre Swift2613510880945.2
Leonard Fournette50257203139435.1
Ezekiel Elliott63302230161294.8
Chris Thompson2913610379224.7
Nyheim Hines65272210153774.2
Dalvin Cook52215171140934.1
Aaron Jones572311741426124.1
David Johnson542111511355103.9
James Robinson281068056633.8
Todd Gurley4416511595163.8
James Conner51191161133873.7
Miles Sanders4014910486433.7
Kenyan Drake57212158125063.7
Melvin Gordon55203152115783.7
Kareem Hunt431571231141133.7
Myles Gaskin341229767363.6
David Montgomery4415412192433.5
Devonta Freeman3712910568153.5
Duke Johnson48164123112973.4
Joe Mixon52174141103583.3
Giovani Bernard5617913593063.2
Josh Jacobs4313610775203.2
Devin Singletary4514110769133.1
Le'Veon Bell341058762923.1
Mike Davis5917814486843.0
Jalen Richard55161135114002.9
Chase Edmonds5716412892152.9
Chris Carson4512310074562.7
Dion Lewis4812910369132.7
Rex Burkhead471239178842.6
Jamaal Williams5714912385662.6
Anthony Firkser58140106110752.4
Ty Johnson451077458032.4
Tony Pollard461068263722.3
Kyle Juszczyk6113299106172.2
Nick Chubb581219275132.1
Darrel Williams511058376242.1
Phillip Lindsay561148151022.0
Devontae Booker6412610168412.0
Ronald Jones II551047657111.9
Latavius Murray611088962721.8

Assuming a PPR format, and if you're comfortable thinking Barkley should be available for most of the season, good chance he's a solid starter this year, due to that receiving involvement. Availability and opportunity count for a lot. But if you'd rather invest in a player that hasn't missed 3, 14 and 4 games the last three seasons, best to stay away.

--Andy Richardson

Fantasy Index