Washington Commanders

Redskins at Giants: 5 best fantasy options

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Sep 1, 2016; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham (13) in the first half against the New England Patriots at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Hauser-USA TODAY Sports

The latest Redskins at Giants preview for fantasy football owners wondering which players could be good starts from this game.

On Sunday afternoon, the Redskins visit the Giants as two NFC East teams will face off in East Rutherford, New Jersey. These two teams have started off their seasons on opposite ends of the spectrum. New York currently leads the division at 2-0, while Washington has been unable to find their first win and sits at 0-2. Every other team in the division has won at least once so far.

Here’s a look at the five guys to consider starting in your fantasy league for this Week 3 matchup.

5. Odell Beckham Jr.

One of the best options most weeks for the Giants is Beckham. He’s going to get his stats and fantasy owners respect his value to explode in any given week. That said, there’s some also some realism to employ with him this year compared to past years.

In last year’s game against the Redskins, Beckham was the most targeted receiver for Manning, and that was the same in last week’s game. Manning threw to Beckham 11 times in the win over the Saints and he tallied 86 yards in the game with no touchdowns.

One big takeaway with owners that have Beckham on their teams this year is the fact Manning has two other top notch receivers to throw to. The rookie Sterling Shepard has been off to a good start to his career and Victor Cruz is back on the field. Both of these guys had more yards than Beckham in the game against New Orleans.

Shepard even leads the team right now in terms of yards for receivers, but only by one yard over Odell. It’s unlikely the rookie will continue that level of performance to take the top spot over one of the game’s best. Of note, Beckham is the only one of New York’s receiving options that has yet to score.

However, that should definitely change. Beckham continues to rank among the top three receivers in fantasy football. There’s a good reason for that, as he’s been an absolute stud the past few seasons. He makes sense to start in this matchup too. Just keep in mind, that he’s not the only good option for a New York team that is finding ways to win.

Sep 18, 2016; Landover, MD, USA; Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins (8) drops back to pass as Dallas Cowboys outside linebacker Kyle Wilber (51) rushes during the second half at FedEx Field. The Dallas Cowboys won 27 – 23. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

4. Kirk Cousins

It’s early, but Cousins has been among the top quarterbacks when it comes to yards thrown. He currently ranks below Andy Dalton and Matt Ryan in that category. The Washington QB has made playmaking mistakes with overthrown passes or missing receivers on what could have been easy scores. Still, based on looking at the first two games of their season, Washington is much more reliant on their passing game.

Against the Cowboys in Landover last Sunday, Cousins had another loss, but also threw for 364 total yards and his first touchdown strike of the season. He also threw an interception in the end zone and was part of a botched snap attempt to spike the ball late. Still, he racked up 21 fantasy points against Dallas in many leagues which paid off for owners.

Cousin currently has a one to three touchdown to turnover ratio. However, he’s thrown over 300 yards in his first two games so far and still makes sense to start in this early season game against New York.

Fantasy owners who snatched Cousins in their draft are hoping to see another good performance against Manning and the Giants on Sunday. The fact he’s got healthy receivers to throw to and is piling up high passing yards is a good sign, he just needs to find that end zone a bit more. He’ll have a shot at bouncing back on the road after two failed attempts at wins at FedEx Field.

Sep 18, 2016; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) before the game against the New Orleans Saints at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

3. Eli Manning

Owners who started Manning in his Week 1 game at Dallas got a nice boost as the veteran quarterback tossed three touchdowns. He ended the day with a win and an impressive 25 fantasy points in many leagues.

Last Sunday’s game against New Orleans was a different story. Manning failed to throw any strikes into the endzone. He still threw for 368 yards and was picked off zero times. That kind of yardage, should it continue against Washington will certainly pay off.

When the two teams met last season, they split their two meetings. Manning had a combined 600 yards of passing between the two games. In the home matchup, he had 279 yards and two touchdowns. While past performance is never the best indication, his performance against Dallas this season looked good enough to warrant him a start against this NFC East opponent.

While Washington has the services of Josh Norman on the field to cover New York’s best receiver, Manning has multiple options now. He targeted Odell Beckham Jr., Victor Cruz and Sterling Shepard a good number of times. It was Shephard who led all receivers, followed by Cruz and then Beckham.

That certainly shows that Manning has a good selection of targets to choose from. If he continues passing like he did against New Orleans and adds some touchdowns, fantasy owners won’t be disappointed in Week 3.

Sep 12, 2016; Landover, MD, USA; Washington Redskins tight end Jordan Reed (86) breaks the tackle by Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Cortez Allen (28) during the first half at FedEx Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

2. Jordan Reed

The Redskins tight end has continued to show consistency so far this season. He also has a favorable matchup against a Giants team that may not necessarily be one of the best defenses in the league, just yet.

In Sunday’s game against Dallas, Reed was targeted seven times and had five receptions for 70 yards. Jamison Crowder was the most targeted of the receivers but had a bit over half as many yards.

Meanwhile, Cousins seemed to look to rookie Josh Doctson several times in the end zone rather than Reed. Fantasy owners have seen solid performances from him since last year, and the fact he’s healthy and on the field is a plus.

Last season, Reed racked up 195 yards on 14 receptions against New York. The Giants’ defense may have looked good in Sunday’s game, holding Drew Brees to one touchdown and the Saints to 13 points. However, New York was not touted as one of the top defensive teams coming into this season and are still suspect.

With that in mind, Reed makes a smart choice to start in the tight end spot for fantasy owners that don’t have a better option such as like Carolina’s Greg Olsen or New England’s Martelius Bennett.

Sep 18, 2016; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz (80) loses control of the ball as New Orleans Saints cornerback Ken Crawley (46) defends at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

1. Victor Cruz

One of the biggest positives so far in the Giants’ 2-0 start is Victor Cruz, according to ESPN. After being off the field due to serious injuries the past two seasons, he’s contributed in a major way in two wins.

In last Sunday’s win over the New Orleans Saints, the Giants failed to score any offensive touchdowns. However, Cruz made the big 34-yard catch late in the fourth. That allowed the Giants to get into field goal range and ultimately win the game.

Against Dallas, Cruz also scored his first touchdown since returning to the lineup. There was presumably going to be a bit of rust for the star receiver to shake off coming into this season. However, he’s clearly one of Manning’s top three targets this season.

Of course, keep in mind that Cruz did a good bit of trash talking towards Josh Norman ahead of this contest. He called him out for his coverage, or lack thereof, against the Pittsburgh Steelers’ top receiver Antonio Brown. Will Norman focus mostly on Beckham, or will he attempt to completely shut down and shut up Cruz in this particular game?

It’s certainly a consideration fantasy owners must contemplate heading into this matchup. However, with three receivers playing well so far in a 2-0 Giants season, at least one should rack up solid stats against the Redskins Sunday. Beckham and Cruz seem like solid bets as Norman won’t be able to put his attention on all three of Giants’ top receivers.