New York Giants wide receiver Kenny Golladay is coming off, by far, the worst season of his career. With the Giants completely overhauling their coaching staff and offensive philosophy, what is Golladay’s fantasy football outlook for 2022, and should managers take a shot on him at his current ADP in fantasy drafts?
Kenny Golladay’s fantasy outlook for 2022
Last season, Golladay averaged 6.4 PPR fantasy points per game. Other than his rookie year, Golladay had never been worse than 13.2 ppg. As a result, some fantasy managers want to write it off as an aberration and blame the coaching staff.
Jason Garrett’s uncreative offense and Joe Judge having no business being an NFL head coach certainly didn’t help. However, let’s not completely let Golladay off the hook here.
Targets are earned, and Golladay commanded just a 16.6% target share. He played in 14 games. Golladay was on the field. He wasn’t getting targeted because he wasn’t getting open. His 1.36 yards per route run was one of the worst rates in the NFL. It’s difficult to find a single metric in which Golladay performed well.
For several years now, Golladay has been perceived as this alpha WR1 that just never got the opportunity he deserved. What if Golladay never got the opportunity because he didn’t deserve it? What if Golladay just isn’t as good as many of us, myself included, may have thought?
How the Giants’ depth chart impacts Kenny Golladay’s fantasy projection for the season
Part of the problem for Golladay in New York is his quarterback. But here’s the thing — Daniel Jones is still there. Jones is not a starting-caliber NFL quarterback. Yet, here he is as the man for at least one more season. I believe in Brian Daboll far more than any coach the Giants have had since Tom Coughlin, but Daboll is not about to turn Jones into Josh Allen.
Despite the Giants’ perception as a weak offense, this team actually has a few talented players. Kadarius Toney flashed serious upside as a rookie, while Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton are still around. A healthy Saquon Barkley should also command around a 13-15% target share. With this in mind, the Giants don’t need to lean on Golladay, especially if he doesn’t earn the targets.
Golladay’s ADP for 2022
Golladay will turn 29 years old this season. He’s been nothing more than a low WR2, at best, in all but one year of his career. Granted, he doesn’t need to be a WR2 to return value at his ADP.
Golladay is being drafted as a WR5. At that price, I understand the desire to buy. Even if his fantasy outlook isn’t great, Golladay has, at least at one point, been a fantasy WR1. If he’s merely a WR3 this season, he’ll be worth it.
I just don’t buy it. At all. Jones cannot support more than two fantasy-relevant wide receivers. He may not even be able to support more than one. If someone is going to break out on the Giants, it makes more sense for it to be Toney than Golladay.
There’s definitely still hope for Golladay. I can’t completely write him off. He’s currently our consensus WR55. Although, I’m considerably lower on him, ranking him at WR72. When it comes to taking swings at upside in the later rounds of fantasy drafts, you’re probably better off going after younger players on better offenses.