Breida is again a backup for the Giants, and he could be worth drafting with a late-round pick in all leagues. Breida will enter training camp as the No. 2 running back on the depth chart behind Saquon Barkley, but he should face competition for the role from rookie Eric Gray. Gary Brightwell is also in the mix as the handcuff for Barkley. Even if Breida isn't drafted in most leagues, he could be a popular addition off the waiver wire in case Barkley misses time.
Breida rushed four times for 17 yards and a touchdown and brought in all three targets for one yard in the Giants' 30-12 loss to the 49ers on Thursday night.
Stepping in for Saquon Barkley (ankle), Breida somewhat unsurprisingly ended up with sparse opportunities on the ground against a 49ers team that overmatched the Giants on both sides of the ball. The veteran back did manage to salvage his fantasy night to an extent with an eight-yard touchdown rush with 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter, his first rushing score since Week 11 of last season. A report earlier Thursday indicated Barkley's injury is specifically a high-ankle sprain, which portends a potential multi-game absence. However, whether Breida will have another shot as the primary early down back in a Week 4 home matchup against the Seahawks on Monday night, Oct. 2 remains to be seen.
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Giants' Matt Breida: Week 3 Adds (RB Preview)
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We expect Breida to lead the Giants backfield for as long as Saquon Barkely is out, which could be two to three weeks. Breida is a flex at best, and Gary Brightwell could factor in as well. Expect somewhere between five and 10 PPR points for both, with a little more upside than that if they find their way into the end zone.
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Giants' Matt Breida: Week 3 starter with Barkley out
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Breida is expected to start Thursday's game in San Francisco with top running back Saquon Barkley (ankle) ruled out for the Week 3 matchup, Dan Salomone of the Giants' official site reports.
Barkley has had a near-monopoly on touches out of the backfield through two weeks, but he sprained his ankle late in Sunday's win over the Cardinals. Prior reports had suggested that Barkley's injury was expected to sideline him for around three weeks, but he may be making more progress than expected up to this point in his recovery. At least for Week 3, Barkley will remain out, leaving Breida as the next man up to lead a Giants backfield that also includes 2021 sixth-round draft pick Gary Brightwell and 2023 fifth-round draft pick Eric Gray. Breida has a career average of 4.8 yards per carry, but much of that production came while he ran behind strong offensive lines with San Francisco from 2017 through 2019 and with Miami in 2020. On Thursday, he'll be rushing behind a Giants line that will be without both of its regular starters on the left side in tackle Andrew Thomas (hamstring) and guard Ben Bredeson (concussion).
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Giants' Matt Breida: Stashes (RB Preview)
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You should add Breida, Gary Brightwell, and even Eric Gray in deeper leagues. But you cannot start any of them in Week 3 against the 49ers. The matchups get better after this week. If one of these backs emerges as a true lead back in Barkley's offense, they could be an RB2 by Week 4.
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Giants' Matt Breida: Week 3 Waiver Priority List
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If the timetable for Saquon Barkley (ankle) is 2-3 weeks, Breida should start for the Giants at San Francisco on Thursday night, followed by Seattle in Week 4 and potentially at Miami in Week 5. I wouldn't want to trust Breida against the 49ers, but he could be a flex against the Seahawks and Dolphins. Gary Brightwell will also have a role, but Breida should get the chance for 15-plus touches in place of Barkley. Breida is worth adding for at least 10 percent of your remaining FAB.
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Giants' Matt Breida: Quiet Sunday but could start Week 3
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Breida rushed once for five yards and wasn't targeted in the passing game Sunday in a win against Arizona in Week 2. However, top running back Saquon Barkley injured his ankle late in the contest, making Breida a candidate to start for New York this Thursday in San Francisco.
Breida's lone rush attempt Sunday came on the play after Barkley was injured with just over a minute left in the fourth quarter. Breida logged only three touches in a season-opening loss to Dallas, emphasizing the minimal role he has on offense when Barkley is healthy. However, with the Giants' star RB slated for an MRI on his ankle Monday, per Adam Schefter of ESPN, the door appears to be open for Breida to move in as the team's starter Thursday in San Francisco and possibly for additional time beyond that. The matchup against the 49ers is far from ideal, and there is hope among the organization that Barkley avoided a high-ankle sprain, so fantasy managers have a lot to consider when weighing how much to invest in grabbing Breida off the waiver wire.
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Giants' Matt Breida: Week 3 Early Waiver Targets (Add/Drop)
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Even the ankle injury that forced Saquon Barkley out of Sunday's game doesn't necessarily look like it'll lead to an obvious, must-add option on the wire, though the short turnaround before their Week 3 game against the 49ers Thursday night doesn't bode well for his chances. The problem is, are you really going to want to use Matt Breida or Gary Brightwell against the 49ers even if Barkley is out? I'd guess Breida is the lead back if Barkley is out, but only managed 11 PPR points in his only start last season despite eight targets and four carries; Brightwell had 7.3 points on 11 carries and three targets. In fairness, that was with the team's backup QB, so maybe they can manage better with Daniel Jones in Week 3. But I can't imagine ranking either back as more than an RB4 if Barkley is out Thursday.
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Giants' Matt Breida: Gets three touches in season opener
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Breida rushed twice for nine yards and caught his only target for minus-three yards in Sunday's season-opening blowout loss to Dallas.
New York played about as terribly as a team can and fell behind big early, so there wasn't a whole lot of action on the ground aside from Daniel Jones' team-leading 13 rushes and Saquon Barkley's 12 totes. With the game far out of reach in the rain late in the fourth quarter, the Giants turned largely to Gary Brightwell, which solidifies Breida's status as the No. 2 RB rather than calls it into question. Nonetheless, there's little doubt that Barkley is expected to work as the team's workhorse back again this season, so Breida isn't likely to see significant action even in more competitive contests.
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Giants' Matt Breida: Starts preseason opener
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Breida got the start in Friday's 21-16 preseason loss to the Lions and proceeded to rush once for one yard while failing to catch his only target.
Breida's stat line was nothing to write home about, but it's encouraging that he was the first running back called upon with Saquon Barkley sitting out the preseason opener. Next into the game after Breida were veteran James Robinson and rookie fifth-round draft pick Eric Gray. After serving as Barkley's primary backup last season, Breida's the frontrunner to reclaim that role in 2023.
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Giants' Matt Breida: Sees rookie added to RB room
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Breida will have additional competition for carries behind Saquon Barkley this season in rookie Eric Gray, whom the Giants took in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Barkley was given the franchise tag in the offseason, though New York plans to continue contract talks with the star running back in hopes of coming to an agreement on a contract extension. If that doesn't come to fruition, Gray may immediately be viewed as Barkley's future replacement, which could prompt the team to get him a few more carries along the way during his rookie campaign. Breida figures to remain the primary backup to Barkley, though the latter was such a workhorse last season -- he tallied 295 carries (fourth-most in the league) and 76 targets (sixth-most among RBs) -- that no ball carrier behind him received substantial playing time. Breida posted modest production with 54 rushes for 220 yards and a touchdown along with 20 catches for 118 yards and no TDs. Barring an injury to Barkley, Breida likely will be in line for similar usage in 2023, though that could drop if Gray impresses the coaching staff enough to merit expanded opportunity.
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Giants' Matt Breida: Re-signs with Giants
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The Giants re-signed Breida to a one-year contract with a max value of $2.3 million Monday, Jordan Schultz of TheScore.com reports.
A favorite of coach Brian Daboll's from their time together in Buffalo, Breida is returning to New York after rushing 54 times for 220 yards and one touchdown behind Saquon Barkley last season. He would need an injury ahead of him to have any fantasy value.
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Giants' Matt Breida: Scores in divisional-round loss
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Breida rushed four times for 23 yards and a touchdown and secured his only target for 19 yards in the Giants' 38-7 divisional-round loss to the Eagles on Saturday night.
Breida ended up recording the only score of the night for the Giants on an eight-yard run just past the halfway point of the third quarter. His first-half reception was also noteworthy, as he worked himself open to save a play on which Daniel Jones had to scramble for an extended period. Breida played his first season in New York on a one-year contract, and after doing a serviceable job as a complementary option with a 54-220-1 line on the ground and a 20-118 tally through the air in the regular season, it's conceivable he could be brought back in 2023.
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Giants' Matt Breida: Seven catches in finale
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Breida carried the ball four times for 28 yards and caught seven of eight targets for 12 yards in Sunday's 22-16 loss to the Eagles.
With Saquon Barkley inactive in a relatively meaningless game for the Giants, Breida split the backfield workload with Gary Brightwell but didn't do much with his share of the touches. Breida and Barkley are both free agents in the offseason, but the latter is a top priority to re-sign while Breida may not be in the Giants' plans for 2023. Over 17 games this season, the 27-year-old managed only 220 yards and a TD on the ground and 118 yards through the air on 20 catches.
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Giants' Matt Breida: Role should expand sans Barkley
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Breida is expected to take on an increased workload in Sunday's game against the Eagles with top back Saquon Barkley (coach's decision) a healthy inactive for the contest.
Barkley is sitting out the regular-season finale simply for preservation purposes, as the Giants are locked into as the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoff regardless of the outcome of their game or any of the NFL's other contests Sunday. Considering that Gary Brightwell -- who has mainly been a special-teams contributor this season -- is the Giants' only other available running back, Breida looks as though he could be primed for his biggest role of the season. Breida fared well in garbage time of last week's commanding win over the Colts with nine carries for 59 yards and one reception for eight yards on 12 snaps, but even though he'll likely be in store for an increased touch count, expect his efficiency to take a major hit. Not only will be facing off against a tough Eagles defense that won't be resting key players, but Breida will also be playing alongside a third-string quarterback (Davis Webb) and a makeshift offensive line missing star offensive tackle Andrew Thomas, who joins Barkley as a healthy inactive.
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Giants' Matt Breida: Week 18 Waiver Priority List
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The Giants could be resting players in Week 18 since they are locked into the No. 6 seed in the NFC. With that in mind, it doesn't make sense to play Saquon Barkley at Philadelphia. If Barkley rests then Breida should have an increased role and would be worth using as a flex. He would likely be playing with other backups, which lowers his chances of a big game, but he just had 67 total yards in mop-up duty against the Colts in Week 17. Gary Brightwell (2 percent rostered) could also get touches for the Giants, but Breida is the only option to consider as of now if Barkley is going to rest.
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Giants' Matt Breida: Tallies season-high yardage total
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Breida carried the ball nine times for 59 yards and caught his lone target for eight yards in Sunday's Week 17 win over Indianapolis.
Breida did most of his work in garbage time, tallying 48 rushing yards on six fourth-quarter carries after New York had put the game well out of reach. The veteran back ripped off consecutive runs of 16 and 18 yards, respectively, for the bulk of his production, and he finished with one rushing yard more than starter Saquon Barkley. Breida's 67 total yards was easily a season high, and he could see increased opportunity again next Sunday against Philadelphia if the Giants opt to rest (or reduce the workload of) their starters. New York clinched a playoff berth with the win over the Colts and has nothing to gain except momentum in the regular-season finale.
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Giants' Matt Breida: Gets just two touches Week 16
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Breida carried the football twice for nine yards and did not see any targets in Saturday's loss to Minnesota.
Neither Breida nor Gary Brightwell (one carry for a loss of one yard) saw much action in the critical contest for New York. Breida did get 11 offensive snaps to Brightwell's one, so the former should remain the primary backup to bell-cow back Saquon Barkley while all three ball carriers are healthy.
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Giants' Matt Breida: Gets minimal touches in Week 15
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Breida rushed twice for six yards and caught his lone target for six yards in Sunday's 20-12 win over Washington.
Breida saw a season-high snap count last week against the Eagles, but with Saquon Barkley back at full strength, Breida returned to a less prominent role with just 11 snaps Sunday. Nearly all of his production came on a second-quarter drive during which he logged a five-yard rush and a six-yard reception to help set up a Barkley rushing touchdown. Breida hasn't exceeded 15 total yards or scored a touchdown in the Giants' past four games, so he has almost no fantasy value except as a stash in case of a Barkley injury.
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Giants' Matt Breida: Does little with extra opportunity
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Breida carried the ball three times for six yards and caught two of four targets for nine yards in Sunday's Week 14 loss to the Eagles.
Breida actually led New York running backs with a season-high 23 offensive snaps Sunday, finishing just ahead of Gary Brightwell (21) and Saquon Barkley (20). Barkley's reduced playing time was the result of both a neck injury and a lopsided score, but it's telling that Brightwell logged such a high snap count after being limited to special-teams work the previous week. Brightwell also significantly outperformed Breida against Philadelphia, totaling 41 yards to Breida's 15. It's wise to monitor New York's injury report throughout the week to get an idea of Barkley's availability and potential limitations, but even if the No. 1 back is held out Week 15, ball-carrying work could be divided fairly evenly between Breida and Brightwell.
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Giants' Matt Breida: Could see uptick in opportunities
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Saquon Barkley (neck) is expected to be a game-time decision for Sunday's contest against the Eagles, which could mean more opportunities for Breida, Art Stapleton of The Bergen Record reports.
The Giants opted not to elevate a running back from the practice squad, meaning Breida and Gary Brightwell would be the two lone running backs available if Barkley was ultimately ruled inactive. Expect more clarity on the backfield situation well before the team's 1:00 p.m. ET kickoff, but at the very minimum Breida appears to be a valuable pickup for fantasy managers desperate for low-rostered running back production.
