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It’s no secret that the Giants need to give quarterback Daniel Jones a better gun collection. Any day now, the Giants will cut wide receiver Golden Tate to clear ceiling space, leaving only Darius Slayton and Sterling Shepard as proven wide receivers, and both have their own flaws.
Tight end Evan Engram has just had a tough season and running back Saquon Barkley only appeared in two games last season before suffering an ACL tear.
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The point: The Giants’ top priority this offseason will be giving Jones a better supporting cast to help one of the NFL’s worst offenses (17.5 points per game, 31st overall) get more firepower .
ESPN analyst Mike Clay presented a slightly different free agency scenario than what most predicted the Giants would do this offseason.
In an article where Clay projects which teams will make this offseason and what that means for fantasy football, he attributed two moves to the Giants:
1. Project Alabama wide receiver Jaylen Waddle with the 11th pick.
2. Register Colts running back Marlon Mack as a free agent.
His explanation: “Barkley-Engram-Shepard-Slayton-Tate looks like a respectable quintet of offensive weapons, but what’s missing is a wide receiver alpha. Waddle is arguably the No. 1 wide receiver in this year’s class and could immediately fill that role for the Giants. Alabama’s fast product is extremely explosive and, while well balanced, will make its name with deep chunks. New York needs help behind Saquon Barkley as well, so a one-year contract for Mack, who is recovering from a torn ACL, makes sense.
The idea of writing Waddle isn’t entirely unique. Many mock editors projected the explosive wide receiver to land with the Giants if it falls to the 11th pick. It would be an obvious choice.
The interesting part of that equation is the idea of signing Marlon Mack as the back-up running back.
Barkley is the only running back on the 2020 roster who is currently under contract for 2021. Wayne Gallman, Dion Lewis and Alfred Morris will all be in free agency. The Giants might have an interest in bringing back Gallman, who had a great season for Barkley in 2020, but that’s no guarantee.
Mack presents an interesting alternative.
He tore his Achilles in Week 1 and missed most of the 2020 season so that would depend in part on his health, but before that Mack had been one of the most productive running backs in the NFL. .
Only eight running backs (including Barkley) had more than Mack’s 1,999 rushing yards from 2018-19. He also scored 18 total touchdowns in those two seasons. He’s not much of a pass-catcher (17 catches per 2017-19 season) but would be more than capable of replacing Barkley if he were injured again.
Impressively, Mack has escaped just three times in 539 career races.
Pro Football Focus has predicted that Mack will get a one-year, $ 2.5 million contract to re-sign with the Colts, but Indianapolis may not be the best place for him to land anymore. The Colts have aspiring running back star Jonathan Taylor, who had 1,169 rushing yards and 12 total TDs as a rookie. Nyheim Hines is a top notch option for catching passes (63 receptions in 2020) behind him and would likely have more playing time than Mack too.
The Giants, on the other hand, could offer Mack the chance to be the No. 2 running back behind a Barkley player who has missed time in each of the past two seasons, and in an attack that prioritizes the balloon race.
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