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It's amazing what can happen to the fantasy football public when a team has a real bad game. It was just a few weeks ago that most pundits were burying Tom Brady and the Patriots offense after a horrendous Monday night game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Eli Manning and the Giants offense burned so many fantasy football players last week that they could be on a lot of benches this week.
Eli Manning - Manning takes the biggest hit (not literally like Sunday night) with the injury to Victor Cruz. Eli's comfort with Cruz along with Cruz's ability to change the way a defense plays means Eli will have to feel out how teams are going to defend the new look Giants offense. Eli was ranked among the top 12 QBs going into last last week, but this week he will be a low-end QB2 with some upside with his history against the Cowboys.
Andre Williams - Williams holds his value in standard leagues and once again will be tough to count on in full PPR leagues. The Giants will want to get their running game going and I expect Williams to have a decent game. Definite RB2 in standard leagues and holds flex value in PPR leagues.
Rueben Randle - Randle has been infuriating to own in fantasy. The glimpses are there. Tons of targets, including red zone targets, but his inefficiency has made him an enigma. This week many of the FantasyPros are ready to bet on Randle moving up into the WR2 category as he currently sits at 20th overall in standard scoring WR rankings. I have him in the mid- to low 20s, but I will be playing him a lot of leagues where I suffered injuries to Calvin Johnson and A.J. Green.
Odell Beckham Jr. - I have gotten more start or sit questions about Beckham than any other player this week. The opportunity is there for Beckham to step into a major role on this offense. Not only are the Giants missing Victor Cruz, but they are also missing Rashad Jennings's pass catching ability. Beckham has flex value for me in both formats, but I'm hesitant to bank on him too much until after the bye week.
Larry Donnell - Donnell should benefit the most from the absence of Victor Cruz. On Sunday night he was forced to block and chip a lot to help the Giants offensive line and that shouldn't be the problem in Dallas. If he can get out in pass routes more often he will be Eli's main target over the middle of the field. Donnell is still a top 12 TE for me this week, but he does slide a little bit with Travis Kelce back this week and Jordan Reed finally healthy.
Editor's Note: FanDuel is hosting a $250,000 one-week fantasy football league this weekend. It's $5 to join and the top 9,680 teams win money. League starts Sunday 1 PM ET and ends on Monday night. Here's the link.