X
Lost password?

Don't have an account?
Gain Access Now

X

Receive free daily analysis

NFL
NBA
NHL
NASCAR
CFB
MLB
MMA
PGA
ESPORTS
BETTING

Already have an account? Log In

X

Forgot Password


POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Value Picks
Compare Any Players
News and Alerts

The Tape Tells All - Wayne Gallman's Week 4 Performance

Justin Carter breaks down game tape of New York Giants running back Wayne Gallman's recent performance to help fantasy football owners get a sense of his value heading into Week 5 of the 2019 NFL season.

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.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:

 

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.

More Fantasy Football Analysis




POPULAR FANTASY TOOLS

Expert Advice
Articles & Tools
Import Your Leagues
Draft Rankings
Draft Simulator
Enter League Settings
Value Picks
Compare Any Players
News and Alerts

REAL-TIME FANTASY NEWS

Pete Fairbanks

Picks Up Fourth Save On Thursday
Carlos Estévez

Carlos Estevez Picks Up Save On Thursday
Corbin Burnes

Picks Up Eight Strikeouts In Thursday Start
MacKenzie Gore

Strikes Out Eight In Loss On Thursday
Cade Povich

Picks Up Win On Thursday
Bobby Witt Jr.

Scores Three Runs, Steals A Base On Thursday
Alex Bregman

Homers In Loss To Seattle
Mike Yastrzemski

Homers, Drives In Two On Thursday
Salvador Perez

Notches Four Doubles, Four RBI In Thursday Doubleheader
Jordan Beck

Homers Three Times On Thursday
Jameson Williams

Lions Didn't Entertain Trade Offers For Jameson Williams
Dalton Rushing

Homers In Four-Hit Game
Qadir Ismail

Raiders Sign Qadir Ismail
New York Giants

Giants Plan To Exercise Kayvon Thibodeaux's Fifth-Year Option
Russell Wilson

Will Be Giants Starting Quarterback
Max Muncy

With A Pair Of Doubles Back At Triple-A
Michael Lorenzen

Tosses Quality Start
Kansas City Chiefs

Chiefs Close Out The First Round With Josh Simmons
Philadelphia Eagles

Eagles Trade Up One Spot In First Round To Select Jihaad Campbell
A.J. Puk

Likely To Miss Multiple Months
Marquis Grissom Jr.

Notches Fifth Save At Double-A
Buffalo Bills

Bills Address Secondary And Take Maxwell Hairston With 30th Overall Pick
Félix Bautista

Felix Bautista Records Third Save
NFL

Eagles, Chiefs Swap First-Round Picks
Washington Commanders

Josh Conerly Jr. Goes At No. 29 Overall To Commanders

Giants Trade Up For Jaxson Dart At No. 25
Detroit Lions

Tyleik Williams Taken By Lions At No. 28 Overall
Shane Smith

Tosses Five Shutout Frames
Roman Anthony

With Home Run No. 5 On Thursday
Baltimore Ravens

Ravens Go With Malaki Starks At No. 27 Overall In NFL Draft
Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Takes Donovan Jackson No. 24 Overall
NFL

Rams Trade The 26th Pick In The 2025 NFL Draft To The Falcons
Andrés Muñoz

Andres Munoz Secures Ninth Save
Atlanta Falcons

Falcons Trade Back Into First Round To Draft James Pearce Jr. At No. 26 Overall

Matthew Golden Selected No. 23 Overall By Green Bay
NFL

Texans Trade The 25th Pick In The 2025 NFL Draft To The Giants
Jakob Marsee

Up To 18 Steals At Triple-A

Omarion Hampton Taken No. 22 Overall By Chargers
Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Selects Derrick Harmon At No. 21 Overall
Denver Broncos

Broncos Build Secondary By Selecting Jahdae Barron At No. 20

Buccaneers Add Emeka Egbuka At No. 19
Jeff McNeil

Activated From Injured List
Jrue Holiday

Tagged As Questionable For Friday
Jayson Tatum

Likely Out Again On Friday
Isaiah Stewart

Remains Out For Game 3
Anthony Cirelli

Good To Go Thursday
Andrei Vasilevskiy

Looks To Bounce Back In Game 2
Rasmus Ristolainen

To Miss Training Camp
Jonas Siegenthaler

Returns To Practice
Aliaksei Protas

Traveling With Capitals
Gabriel Vilardi

Still Out On Thursday
Max Pacioretty

Set To Join Maple Leafs Lineup For Game 3
Linus Ullmark

Attempts To Overcome Playoff Struggles Thursday
Anthony Cirelli

A Game-Time Call Thursday
Logan Thompson

Comes Up Big In Game 2
Connor McMichael

Strikes Twice In Wednesday's Win
Anze Kopitar

Tallies Four Points In Game 2 Victory
Adrian Kempe

Notches Two Goals, Two Assists In Wednesday's Win
Tyler Seguin

Gives Stars Series Lead With Overtime Winner
Gabriel Landeskog

Delivers Six Hits In First Game Since 2022
Tyler Herro

Scores Game-High 33 Points In Wednesday's Loss
Donovan Mitchell

Fires In 30 Points In Game 2 Win
Paolo Banchero

Notches 32 Points In Game 2 Loss
Jaylen Brown

Posts 36-Point Double-Double Wednesday
Jalen Green

Erupts For 38 Points In Game 2 Victory
Brandin Podziemski

Limited To 14 Minutes Wednesday
Jimmy Butler III

Set For MRI Thursday
Brandin Podziemski

Upgraded To Available
Cam Davis

Looking For Better Fortunes At TPC Louisiana
Michael Porter Jr.

Listed As Questionable For Game 3
Adam Svensson

Making Third Apperence At Zurich Classic
Davion Mitchell

Moves Into Starting Lineup Wednesday
Brandin Podziemski

Picks Up Questionable Tag
Al Horford

Starts Game 2
Michael Porter Jr.

Practices On Wednesday
Jayson Tatum

Out On Wednesday
Isaiah Stewart

May Miss Another Game Thursday
NYI

Cal Clutterbuck Announces Retirement
Pavel Zacha

Recovering From Small Procedure
Nikolaj Ehlers

To Miss At Least Two More Games
Miro Heiskanen

Still Out On Wednesday
John Klingberg

Enters Oilers Lineup For Game 2
Evander Kane

To Make Season Debut Wednesday Night
Jaren Jackson Jr.

Posts Team-High 26 Points In Tuesday's Loss
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Notches 27 Points Despite Poor Shooting
Max Greyserman

Aiming For Similar Success At TPC Louisiana
Pascal Siakam

Scores Team-High 24 Points In Game 2 Win
Lee Hodges

A High-Upside Player In New Orleans
PGA

Nico Echavarria Looks To Ride Off Of Elite Putting In New Orleans
Gary Woodland

A Player Worth Watching In New Orleans
Max McGreevy

Returns To The Zurich Classic Of New Orleans
Rasmus Hojgaard

In Search Of Consistency Ahead Of Zurich Classic
Sam Stevens

A Boom-Or-Bust Candidate In New Orleans
Nicolai Hojgaard

Looking To Turn Season Around At Zurich Classic
Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Looks To Sway A Hot Putter In Teams Favor At Zurich Classic
Akshay Bhatia

Looking To Bounce Back At TPC Louisiana
Carson Young

Looks To Turn Things Around At TPC Louisiana
Erik Van Rooyen

Looking For Momentum In Louisiana
Andrew Novak

Making Start At TPC Louisiana After Near Miss At Harbour Town
Ben Griffin

Making Third Career Start At Zurich Classic
Taylor Moore

Competing With A New Teammate In New Orleans
Wyndham Clark

Making Return To New Orleans
Kurt Kitayama

Teeing It Up Again In New Orleans
Collin Morikawa

Back At Zurich Classic For Fifth Time
Thomas Detry

Making Third Appearance At New Orleans Team Event
RANKINGS
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
OF
SP
RP

RANKINGS

QB
RB
WR
TE
K
DEF