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Fantasy Football: What to expect from Saquon Barkley in 2021

Over his last 15 games, New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley has put up more than 1,500 yards from scrimmage with 58 catches and eight total touchdowns. Of course that has come over the last two seasons. An ankle injury cost him three games and limited him a few others in 2019, and Barkley suffered a torn ACL in Week 2 last year.

As the Giants have made an effort to surround quarterback Daniel Jones with weapons, Barkley is making good progress in his rehab.

RELATED: 3 early predictions for Giants quarterback Daniel Jones in 2021

There’s no denying Barkley’s talent, but injuries have become a factor over the last two years. Week 1 will be close to a year since since his torn ACL, so barring a setback he should be ready to play. A question would be how the Giants manage his workload over the first few weeks, and there should be some amount of caution.

Saquon Barkley 2021 Fantasy Football Outlook

In his one full game in 2020, Barkley had just six yards on 15 carries against the Steelers. He was heavily targeted in the passing game though, with six catches (on nine targets) for 60 yards. That was a template for a big workload had he not been injured.

Barkley was a top-10 fantasy running back in 2019 (standard and full PPR), despite missing three games and looking like less than himself for a bit after he returned. That created buzz about a path to him being RB1 in all of fantasy last year. But of course that didn’t materialize.

Via current (and early) Fantasy Football Calculator ADP, the optimism is high for Barkley in 2021. In 12-team full PPR, he’s RB3 (approximately pick 1.04, with Alvin Kamara and Derrick Henry in that range). In 12-team standard scoring, Barkley is RB5 right now (pick 1.06).

Barkley is a difficult projection for 2021. The upside is massive, and still overall RB1-style in a Giants’ offense that will only be better. But the downside, with the possibility of a slow start as his snaps are limited and durability concerns after a significant injury in back-to-back seasons, is definitely big too. Barkley is a fairly sneaky boom-or-bust player this year.

Drafting Barkley as your RB1 this year means a lean toward going RB in Round 2 as protection. At worst, as long as it makes sense, you’re probably taking two running backs in your first three picks. In deeper leagues, Devontae Booker is the handcuff to know for Barkley.

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