Down Bad at 2-7: New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, and Cleveland Browns

It's been a disappointing season for several teams around the NFL, but let's highlight three particularly disappointing teams: the Saints, Giants, and Browns.

Why these three? Well, because my editor said so, if we want to be technical, but also because these three teams are just so hard to pin down. They've all been losing plenty of games, and fantasy football players should have an idea of what to expect going forward.

What kind of fantasy value can we salvage from these teams this season? Will firing head coach Dennis Allen coach spark a Saints turnaround? Should the Giants bench Daniel Jones? Can we start anyone on the Browns other than Cedric Tillman?

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New Orleans Saints

We start in New Orleans, where the Saints started 2-0 but have now dropped seven games in a row. It's been a rough stretch for the team, one that's featured injuries across the roster and ended with head coach Dennis Allen getting fired this week. So, now what?

Derek Carr had a strong start to the season, finishing as a top-10 fantasy quarterback in both games, but he hasn't finished better than QB20 since. Interim head coach Darren Rizzi says that Carr will remain the starter, but a good rule of thumb is that if a coach has to say something like that, it's a bad sign. Consider Carr a QB3 play going forward.

Alvin Kamara is the best fantasy option in New Orleans going forward. While he hasn't repeated his four-touchdown effort from Week 2, he is coming off a strong Week 9 game against Carolina where he finished as the RB4, rushing for 155 yards. Sure, half of his RB1 finishes coming against the Panthers could be worrisome, but Kamara will maintain a major role in this offense and is a high-end RB2 with RB1 upside.

At wide receiver, the Saints are in a pickle right now. Chris Olave is a solid WR2 when he's on the field, but he suffered a concussion against the Panthers, which puts doubt on his upcoming availability. It remains to be seen when he'll be back, but once he is, his high target share in this offense and his ability to make big plays keep him as a low-end WR2 with upside.

#Saints WR Chris Olave will consult with specialists after suffering his second concussion this season and the fourth documented one in his career.

Interim HC Darren Rizzi said: "He wants to go thoroughly through the process and make sure he’s making the best decision for Chris… pic.twitter.com/uAzbf9G7VG

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) November 7, 2024

But outside of that, this is an offense worth avoiding in fantasy.

Could you be desperate enough to play Mason Tipton or Cedrick Wilson Jr. in a deep league with Olave sidelined? Sure, and it's possible one has a good game, but Tipton's best game this year was WR35, and Wilson's was a pretty shocking WR11 with Olave out in Week 7, but that's his only top-50 finish.

At tight end, Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau cannibalize each other's value. Both are touchdown-dependent TE3 options.

Oh, and there's Taysom Hill. He had five carries and five targets last week against Carolina. After just three targets all year, Hill has nine in the last two games. He's got a high upside every week, but his weird role also means he could easily finish outside the top 20 at tight end.

New York Giants

The Daniel Jones era in New York doesn't have much time left, but it doesn't appear at the moment that it will end during the season itself. Jones is coming off his best game of the season, throwing a pair of touchdown passes against the Commanders, but he has five games where he didn't throw a single touchdown pass. His best finish in any of those games was QB22. He's a QB3 play going forward.

At running back, Devin Singletary opened the year as the team's starter, but Tyrone Tracy Jr. has come on very strong and has taken over the backfield. With double-digit carries in four of the last five games and a pair of top-10 fantasy finishes in that span, Tracy rates as an RB2 going forward.

As for Singletary, he hasn't finished with 50 or more rushing yards in a game since Week 3 and hasn't had double-digit touches since Week 4. He's taken a very clear backseat here and is nothing more than a handcuff for Tracy's managers.

The big fantasy value in New York comes at wide receiver, with Malik Nabers rating as a WR1 play. The rookie has three top-12 finishes this season, though none have come since he returned from injury. Still, he has double-digit targets in the past two games, and that level of volume mixed with Nabers' skill makes him a strong fantasy option, even if the results aren't always there.

The Carolina Panthers have a 22% pressure rate when blitzing.

31% - the next-lowest rate
44% - league average

Malik Nabers going for 200+ yards on 20+ targets in Week 10. pic.twitter.com/WA2Ah7Q62W

— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) November 6, 2024

Wan'Dale Robinson looked like a potentially solid PPR WR3 option earlier in the year, but his role has waned a bit. He has nine targets combined in the last two games, but before that, he had nine or more in five total games. He hasn't finished above 50 yards since Week 6. Robinson is trending down and is a WR5 at this point.

Tight end Theo Johnson has been trending up and caught his first touchdown last week against the Commanders, but he remains a risky fantasy option because he has five games with zero or one reception.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns have made Jameis Winston their starting quarterback after the Deshaun Watson injury. On one hand, Winston brings more upside for this offense because he remembers how to push the ball down the field.

On the other hand, he's coming off a game in which he was picked off three times. You take the highs and the lows with Winston, but his arm strength makes him an upside QB2 play in good matchups, though the Browns face a tough upcoming schedule.

Nick Chubb is back, but his yards per carry in each game have been pretty rough: 2.0, 3.3, and 2.6. He just doesn't look like the same guy anymore, missing a lot of the explosiveness that made him so lethal for years. He's only an RB3 play right now.

The wide receiver spot is interesting in Cleveland. Cedric Tillman, Jerry Jeudy, and Elijah Moore are all top-60 fantasy options right now, but all of them have their individual weekly upside capped by the fact that they share the field together.

Of the three, Tillman is the closest to being a WR3 or better. Since the Browns traded Amari Cooper, Tillman has consistently played well, with nine or more targets and 75 or more yards in three consecutive games. He has three touchdowns in that span as well.

Cedric Tillman’s THE WR1 overall in fantasy points from weeks 7-9

➖1st in Targets (32)
➖5th in Yards (255)
➖2nd in TD’s (3)

His 22.2 PPG in that span also ranks 1st in the NFL pic.twitter.com/HkOc7ht4ZJ

— Austin Abbott (@AustinAbbottFF) November 5, 2024

Jeudy and Moore both are capable of strong games, but the two feel harder to project as they compete for the No. 2 role behind Tillman.

At tight end, David Njoku is a strong TE1. The biggest question was if he'd survive the trade deadline, but he's still in Cleveland, so he should continue to play a lot. He has 14 targets in the two games that Winston has started and 35 total targets over the last four games with a pair of touchdowns in that span.

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