Thursday kicked off Week 1 of the preseason, and nobody did more to improve their fantasy football stock than Eric Gray. A fifth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Oklahoma product hardly played last year behind Saquon Barkley but now has a chance to earn a role in a relatively open backfield. So far, he’s off to a good start, as the second-year pro finished his season debut with four carries for 52 yards and two touchdowns while adding another four receptions for 46 yards. These types of performances don’t go unnoticed, but will it be enough for Gray to carve out a role in this new-look offense?
The Giants Eric Gray made his four rushes count last night with two touchdowns. Here’s his 48 yard sprint to the end zone.
It’s a beauty of a run. Acceleration through the line of scrimmage and then quickly by the safety while the avoiding a mental error upfront. pic.twitter.com/LXxLDfSake— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) August 9, 2024
Will Eric Gray Be A Fantasy Football Sleeper In 2024?
As shown in the clip above, Eric Gray had a genuinely fantastic performance, but it’s important to remember that preseason success doesn’t always translate to fantasy football production. After all, we don’t need to go too far back to a time when Terrace Marshall was a breakout candidate and Ja’Marr Chase was on a path to the XFL. One strong performance won’t make or break a career, especially when you look deeper into the circumstances surrounding Gray’s performance.
The Giants rested just about all of their starters, so the fact Gray was even on the field shows he’s relatively low on the depth chart. This isn’t surprising, as the Giants signed Devin Singletary to replace Saquon Barkley. What is notable, however, is that Gray wasn’t even the primary backup. Fifth-round pick Tyrone Tracy saw most of the snaps with the second-team offense, while Gray primarily played with the third-string unit later in the game. Perhaps Gray did enough to put some pressure on Tracy’s job, but for the time being, he’s clearly the RB3 in this committee.
Giants HB snap count by quarter
1st Quarter
Tyrone Tracy Jr. 17
Eric Gray 22nd Quarter
Eric Gray 13Pretty clear who the RB2 is even with Gray putting up some numbers.
— Nathan Jahnke (@PFF_NateJahnke) August 9, 2024
Additionally, Eric Gray didn’t look all that good last year, both in real life and fantasy football. While it’s an admittedly small sample, the running back averaged just 2.8 yards per carry last year and finished with a 57.2 PFF grade, which would have made him the 57th-best running back in the league out of 59 eligible players if he had enough snaps to qualify. Maybe he can turn it around, but he has a long way to go before he’s ready to do anything for fantasy.
The Giants Offense
For the sake of argument, let’s assume Eric Gray finds a way to win the starting job – will that be enough to give him fantasy football relevance? The honest answer is probably not. Even with the addition of first-round pick Malik Nabers, this offense should be one of the worst in the league. Andrew Thomas is the only reliable player on the offensive line, and it’s hard to envision a Daniel Jones-led attack scoring too many touchdowns.
Saquon Barkley is one of the most talented backs in recent memory, and he needed 300 touches just to put up an RB13 overall finish last year. Even if he wins the starting job, Eric Gray won’t receive Barkley’s massive workload, which obviously hinders his fantasy football value. He’s worth rostering if you have an extra bench spot in your dynasty league, but don’t waste a redraft pick on him.
Main Photo: Kevin Wexler – USA Today Sports
