RADIO
Welcome to another edition of "The Tape Tells All," where I break down some film of an NFL's player performance and try to draw some fantasy football conclusions from that film.
This week, I'm looking at a New York Giants player for the second consecutive week, which is not something I expected to do this year, but running back Wayne Gallman came up big on Sunday and I haven't looked at a running back yet this season, so we're going to talk about Gallman.
While his fantasy value is tied up in how long Saquon Barkley is out with an injury, there's plenty of reason to be optimistic about how Gallman will play up to that point, right? Well, let's turn to the tape and find out.
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Background Information
When Saquon Barkley went down with an ankle injury that will cost him multiple weeks, there wasn't a ton of optimism about his replacement, Wayne Gallman.
Sure, Gallman headlined the Week 4 waiver race, but that was only because potential every-down running backs don't just appear out of thin air very often. You had to add Gallman if you had the chance.
What you didn't have to do was play Wayne Gallman, but if you did then you were rewarded with an 18-carry, 63-yard game that featured a rushing touchdown and also saw Gallman be productive as a receiver, with five catches for 55 yards and a touchdown.
Gallman struggled against Tampa in Week 3 when he came in to replace Barkley, but those struggles weren't there on Sunday as he just racked up the yards against a weak Washington defense.
Gallman was especially productive after catching the ball. His yards before the catch on Sunday were in the negatives, but he had 64 yards after the catch, which means that he ended up with more YAC than he did receiving yards. That's a mark of Gallman's potential on the ground and of his ability to be an elusive runner.
But Gallman also didn't have a very good track record coming into Sunday's game. Last year, Gallman had 51 carries. He turned those into 176 yards, an average of 3.5 yards per carry. He scored one rushing touchdown and while he was a little better as a receiver, Gallman still finished the year with a production premium that ranked 74th among running backs.
Did Sunday really show us a different Gallman?
The Game Tape
So, let's see what we can learn from looking at the Gallman tape. Somethings I want to look for here: how the Giants offensive line does at opening up space for him -- Football Outsiders says that the Giants offensive line is top-10 in adjusted line yards this year, so we should see some solid work being done by the line --, how Gallman looks in the open field, and what kind of decisions he's making over the course of the game. Below you'll find some of the plays that best illustrate my overall thoughts on Gallman's day.
Rushing
Let's look at some Gallman runs first.
Here's Gallman's touchdown run from Sunday's game, a quick little one-yarder. I don't really think we learn much about a running back from a run like this one, but we do learn plenty about the offensive line. The Giants open up a lane for Gallman to get to here, and he's able to get into the end zone. As I wrote above, the Giants offensive line has done a good job this season creating openings for the back. I'm not fully part of the whole "running backs are interchangeable" thing, but I do think the offensive line needs to get more credit when plays like this go right.
Here's a play that goes for four yards. Giants run some pre-snap motion and get everything heading to the right, and there's a hole there for Gallman for a split second. But it closes up quick, and he's taken down.
One thing I liked about Gallman is how quickly he turns up the field. Sure, on this play he doesn't break through the line, but he also understands his limitations. His 40-yard dash time is in the 48th percentile for running backs, so you don't want to see Gallman lingering behind the line, dancing around and looking for an opening. In Week 4, his average time spent behind the line of scrimmage on run plays was the fourth-lowest in the league. Saquon Barkley's was fourth-highest in Week 1, for comparison. Barkley can do that. Gallman can't. So seeing him going north-south is a good sign.
Here was Gallman's longest run of the game, a 22-yarder. Giants run out of the shotgun. Handoff to Gallman, who has a ton of space on the right side of the field. Do I think Saquon Barkley scores a touchdown with this much space? Yeah, sure, we can get hypothetical and say that. But Gallman makes the most of his skill here, gets a good angle, and winds up getting the ball right down near the goal line.
I think my main takeaway on Gallman as a runner is this: smart rusher who pushes the ball past the line and will benefit from how well this offensive line has been playing this year. The Giants are putting their backs in a position to succeed, though it's fair to wonder if they'll fall off in that area as the year goes along.
Receiving
Okay, so if speed is a concern for Gallman, he probably shouldn't be a good receiver, right?
Not quite!
Gallman is given a big cushion on this play by the defense and executes the out route well. The defense is able to catch up with him, but Gallman's a tough runner and he slips the initial tackle and is able to get another 10 yards after the contact. The moment Gallman brings the ball in and transforms into a runner, we get to see the same things he does in the run game -- he turns up field, he isn't afraid of contact, and he takes what the defense gives him.
Here was Gallman's touchdown catch, which...same deal, really. Comes out of the backfield. Defense doesn't account for him. Easy catch.
Daniel Jones being a viable threat to run in the red zone should lead defenses to keep a linebacker in a spot where he can go after a rushing Jones. The other side of that means that linebacker won't be out covering the back. That should make this offense more dynamic.
Fantasy Impact
So, should you be confidently starting Wayne Gallman?
I think that Sunday's performance is obviously not the new norm for Gallman. We can't ignore the way he's played in the past and we also can't just assume the Giants offensive line has turned a corner, even if they've looked good this year.
But Gallman is a smart runner who makes the most of his chances. We saw that on Sunday, and we'll see that again. He might not be as open in the receiving game every week, but until Barkley's back, Gallman has some key things going for him in fantasy:
- He runs the ball and catches the ball
- No other back on this team is doing those things
Gallman's a low-end RB2 with upside right now. With the way he runs, he's not going to replicate Barkley's success, but I'd rather play Gallman in Week 5 over someone like Jordan Howard or Carlos Hyde or any of the guys in that tier. Gallman's technically a bell cow right now, even if he's probably more of a bell calf based on some skill-related factors.
