New York

Giants

Lock suffered the abdomen injury in the preseason but is good to go for Week 1. He will back up Daniel Jones to start the year and could see some run late in the season if Jones struggles.

It sounds like salary cap shenanigans with the core special teamer, whose salary would no longer be guaranteed if he’s re-signed in Week 2. Sadly, these kinds of moves are common with players like Coughlin. Stay tuned.

Tracy suffered a scary injury in August that required an air cast before he was carted off the field. Despite the optics, it was simply a rather minor ankle issue for the rookie. He considered week-to-week but didn’t miss much practice time and is now good to go for Week 1. Tracy played ahead of backup Eric Gray in the Giants’ first preseason game, indicating he had the inside track to RB2 duties at the time. Fantasy managers can continue to stash Tracy as an exciting insurance option on veteran Devin Singletary.

Lock took a hard hit in a preseason game against the Lions and suffered a bone contusion plus an oblique injury. The Giants kept Tommy DeVito on their 53-man roster as injury insurance for Lock, but the latter should be good to go for Week 1 after logging the limited session on Wednesday.

Daboll had taken on a bigger role in play-calling during OTAs and minicamp, but he confirmed on Tuesday that he will be calling plays and not offensive coordinator Mike Kafka. It’s not a surprising development since Daboll got the Giants’ head coaching job primarily because of his play-calling in Buffalo as the team’s offensive coordinator. With a lot on the line for the Giants and Daboll following a poor 2023 season, the head coach clearly wants to make sure the offense succeeds or fails with him calling the shots.

The report helpfully affirms prior fantasy market assumptions about Ford’s likely role. The Browns’ Weeks 1-4 schedule includes the Cowboys, Jaguars, Giants and Raiders. Ford’s access to high-volume touch counts helps keep him RB2/3-viable against these stacked defensive fronts. Russo also lists veteran D’Onta Foreman in the No. 2 running back spot, having "[demonstrated during] his two preseason games how he can catch out of the backfield and be utilized as a power back, having success in short yardage situations.”

Jacobs says he declined to sign with the Chiefs, along with the Broncos, Bears, Cardinals, Dolphins, Giants and Texans. Jacobs’ statement perhaps most profoundly applies to the Chiefs’ starter Isiah Pacheco. The Chiefs’ front office allowed Jerick McKinnon to walk this offseason, publicly praising Pacheco’s three-down and scoring-position potential while adding only UDFA Carson Steele to the mix through the preseason’s conclusion. The Chiefs then signed pass-catching specialist Samaje Perine on Wednesday, in what was thought to be a likely depth-related move. The Chiefs’ prior pursuit of Jacobs, a capable three-down player, casts a slightly different light on Perine’s signing though; the front office may be less comfortable with increasing Pacheco’s receiving usage than it appeared for much of the summer. While Pacheco should still be viewed as a locked-in fantasy football RB1, his range of outcomes is now slightly wider than it was a week ago.

The oft-injured Jackson spent the last three seasons with the Giants and was routinely picked on by opposing quarterbacks in 2023. His 19.1 percent targeted rate ranks fourth-highest among 65 NFL cornerbacks with at least 415 coverage snaps. He surrendered league-high rates in both yards allowed per coverage snap (1.75) and explosive pass plays allowed rate (4.4 percent). The Giants’ secondary needed help but Jackson’s best days are likely far behind him.

According to Schultz, the Giants have already brought in Jackson for a physical. A deal is not imminent at this time, but Schultz says “the two sides are very interested” in one another. Jackson has spent the last three seasons with the Giants, appearing in 37 games while totaling 176 tackles, two interceptions, and 23 pass breakups. He’s started all but one of the games he’s appeared in and could see significant snaps again if the two sides reunite.

Hodgins was waived by the Giants on Tuesday as part of their final roster cuts, but the 25-year-old will still stay in the organization. It wouldn’t be a surprise at all if Hodgins ends up earning targets by the end of the year, but it’ll take unforeseeable events for him to see enough volume to make him fantasy relevant in 2024.