New York Giants RB Saquon Barkley has fantasy football managers sweating about his status today. He is questionable coming into today’s game vs. the Miami Dolphins.
Barkley has missed the last two games for the Giants with an ankle injury sustained during the Week 2 victory over the Arizona Cardinals late in the fourth quarter.
What is the latest on his injury status, is he likely to play today, and if he does play, what is his fantasy outlook? Let’s get straight into it.
Update: Saquon Barkley is out for the New York Giants Week 5 game against the Miami Dolphins.
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Is Saquon Barkley Going To Play Week 5?
As of right now, Barkley’s status is officially questionable. However, there was some optimism that Barkley could return to the field for the Giants today.
Barkley has practiced every day this week, albeit in a limited fashion. Additionally, he was a relatively late scratch last week, meaning he wasn’t too far away from playing last week.
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While we have not had any official word on his likelihood to play today, the hope was that Barkley would be able to suit up and play versus the Dolphins. Unfortunately, early on Sunday morning, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Barkley is not expected to play against the Dolphins.
If Barkley does defy expectations to play today, what will his fantasy outlook and potential workload look like? Let’s take a look.
What Is Barkley’s Potential Fantasy Outlook for Today?
Barkley is the most important offensive weapon for the Giants. Since his injury late in Week 2, the Giants have only managed one touchdown, scored by Matt Breida in the third quarter of their Week 3 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
Therefore, the Giants would potentially risk Barkley, given how important he is to the team. However, they will likely limit his involvement and hand more snaps to Brieda than normal, should Barkley be fully healthy.
Barkley is currently ranked as the RB19 in PFN’s Consensus Rankings. This is reflective of the fact that it is expected that Brieda will get more touches and that Barkley will have a more limited role.
However, considering how difficult the Giants are finding it to move the football down the field, I would expect Barkley to play over half the snaps until the game gets out of hand. If the Dolphins go up early, the Giants might bench Barkley and let him rest.
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However, if the Giants can keep the game to within a score or 10 points, then it is more likely that Barkley will continue to play on. DraftKings Sportsbook currently has the Giants as a 12.5-point underdog. Barkley fantasy managers will hope the Giants can either outperform the line or lose to this betting line late in the fourth quarter.
Barkley, if healthy, can have a fantasy-relevant role on limited touches. He is one of the more explosive running backs in the NFL. Therefore, he should be viewed as a low-end RB2 with a top-end RB2 upside. The biggest barrier to Barkley hitting his ceiling, other than his injury, is the Giants offense and the quarterback play of Daniel Jones.
Outside of the second half against the Arizona Cardinals, where they scored 31 points, in the remaining 14 quarters of football, the Giants have amassed 15 points, scoring just one touchdown. Daniel Jones has thrown two touchdown passes all year (one to Barkley), and both came in that second half versus Arizona.
Therefore, don’t hold out too much hope if you are a fantasy manager playing Barkley for an RB1 finish. However, on talent alone, he should be able to get fantasy managers a starter-worthy finish at the running back position this week.