If you thought things couldn't get worse for Saquon Barkley, they just did. During the first quarter of the Giants' Week 2 game against the Chicago Bears, Barkley went down awkwardly and grabbed his knee. He was helped off the field, carted to the locker room, then ruled out promptly — and Adam Schefter gave us the news we didn't want to hear before the game was even over — that it is feared Barkley suffered a torn ACL.
Barkley will undergo tests Monday to determine the full extent of the injury, but it's time to prepare for the worse. Barkley is one of the most talented backs in the game, and you're going to hold on to him until the Giants say he's out for the season, officially. But you need to start looking at replacement options now.
After Barkley left it was all Dion Lewis for the Giants. He carried the ball 10 times for 20 yards and caught four of five targets for 36 yards. This is a bad team with an equally bad offensive line, so it's hard to get too excited about Lewis, especially since we'd expect the team to give some touches to Wayne Gallman as well. Lewis has been a productive back in the past, but mostly in better situations than the 2020 Giants present. Lewis will be a waiver wire priority, but more so in PPR.
In many leagues there may better replacements for Barkley than Gallman and Lewis. In shallow leagues, Kerryon Johnson re-emerged as a factor in the Lions running game, scoring their first touchdown of Week 2. And after his performance in Week 2, Darrell Henderson looks more desirable as well. And don't hesitate to stash backs like Bryce Love and Devonta Freeman. Love could eventually be the main man in Washington and Freeman appears to be close to joining a team. We'll have more replacement options for you in the early waiver wire column Sunday night.
As for the rest of the Giants, this bad offense looks even worse. You can't trust Daniel Jones in anything but a two-quarterback league, and maybe not even there against bad matchups. We have very little clarity on the passing game, but Darius Slayton still has the most upside. At this point you may be better off avoiding all of the Giants in Fantasy.
