Wayne Gallman Fantasy Outlook: What to expect on Sunday night

Only two games remain in Week 15, and some fantasy football managers will be relying on New York Giants RB Wayne Gallman to help secure their spot in the championships. With a matchup against the Cleveland Browns upcoming, what should they expect from Wayne Gallman, who is coming off one of his worst fantasy performances in recent weeks?

Wayne Gallman has quietly been one of the better RBs for fantasy

Wayne Gallman has been a bright note for the Giants and fantasy since taking over for Devonta Freeman. Since Freeman went down in Week 7, Gallman is averaging 83.0 yards from scrimmage per game while scoring five touchdowns in six games.

No one is going to say this is the same rushing attack as when they have Saquon Barkley. However, Gallman’s performance has been enough to keep this team’s offense balanced.

Among his last seven games, Gallman has racked up 106 total touches for 485 total yards and scored six times. Wayne Gallman’s volume makes his fantasy floor reasonably safe on a week to week basis, even in Week 15.

There might not be a more underappreciated running back in fantasy this season

Did you know that since Week 7, Wayne Gallman is the RB7 in fantasy? Honestly, I didn’t even realize this until recently — he’s that unassuming. During this time frame, he has averaged 15.0 PPR points per game. 

He has four top 12 finishes in this seven-game stretch since he took over as the lead back.

Gallman disappointed a bit in Week 14

Against the Arizona Cardinals, Wayne Gallman rushed 12 times for 57 yards. He also added three receptions for 16 yards through the air. This was not an awful game out of Wayne Gallman, and he did not tank your team. But, if you look at his recent stretch, this was a slight downtick in fantasy performance.

Week 14 was the first time since Week 7 that Gallman finished outside RB16 in a week. His 8.8 fantasy points placed him as the RB26 on the week. 

We expect a bit more since he turned 16 carries into 135 yards the week before. His Week 14 performance snapped his streak of six consecutive games with either a touchdown or 100+ rushing yards. You have to think falling behind 13-0 in the first half ended the thoughts of a consistent rushing game. 

Wayne Gallman’s mid-season surge could prove to be lucrative

Gallman is in the midst of his most productive season in the NFL. He is in his fourth year in the NFL and is having his best season in the league. 

His six rushing touchdowns are already double what he had previously in his career. And if he keeps on this game pace, Gallman is going to double his career rushing totals.

What makes this interesting is that Gallman is set to be a free agent after this season. Coming out of Clemson after rushing for 3,416 yards and 34 touchdowns, the Giants took him in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

Unfortunately for him, they followed it up the next year by selecting some guy named Saquon Barkley in 2018. 

The NFL is moving towards an attitude where they don’t want a high investment in running backs, as evidenced by the Chiefs landing of Clyde Edwards-Helaire at the 32nd pick — the first RB off the board.

Wayne Gallman could either be a cheap starting option for a team or be a fantastic RB2. With committee approaches being the norm, Gallman might end up somewhere and be a thorn in the side of whatever lead running back we are banking on for fantasy in 2021.

What is the fantasy outlook for Wayne Gallman in Week 15?

Last week, the main disappointment was that the one scoring opportunity went to Dion Lewis rather than Wayne Gallman. That one carry would’ve made the difference in Gallman finishing as the RB25 where he did versus the RB14 if he had that score.

The only issue for Wayne Gallman in Week 15 is the lack of scoring opportunities. The Browns have allowed the 11th-fewest fantasy points to running backs. A majority of the fantasy points have come from the touchdowns they have allowed. They’ve allowed one every 21.0 carries (just four teams allow one more often than them). The 4.14 yards per carry the Browns have allowed is below the league average. There’ve been just three running backs who’ve topped 66 yards on the ground against them.

This is likely a negative game script for the Giants, who will be starting Colt McCoy rather than a hobbled Daniel Jones. When we look at the Browns points allowed, we need to remember that five of those touchdowns on the ground came last week against the Ravens. Because of the lack of scoring chances, Wayne Gallman is a low-end RB2 for fantasy in Week 15. The best we can hope for is he gets into the end zone and can see 16 or so carries. 

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Tommy Garrett is a writer for PFN covering Fantasy Football. You can read more of his work here and follow him at @TommygarrettPFN on Twitter.