This article is part of our Showdown/Single Game DFS Breakdown series.
Although the Giants (4-8) have no hope of making the playoffs this year, they have still in recent weeks pulled off a bit of a resurgence, with coach Brian Daboll refocusing the offense and reestablishing some dignity under the lead of undrafted Tommy DeVito of all people. The Giants have shown enough life that it's a real concern for the newly ambitious Packers, who are suddenly in a renewed playoff push after clawing their way to 6-6. Quarterback Jordan Love will look to keep the Packers rolling, and they head to New York favored by six points, with the over/under a paltry 36.0.
QUARTERBACK
Tommy DeVito ($9800 DK, $13500 FD) has some moxie and Brian Daboll remains an excellent schemer, so it's difficult to count out the undrafted rookie even though he's a heavy underdog on a team projected to score few points. The Packers are without their top CB (Jaire Alexander), and the Giants have real speed at receiver to threaten the Packers downfield. DeVito showed the ability to land downfield strikes against Washington in November, but what seems less plausible is an outcome where DeVito throws with both efficiency and volume. The Giants probably can't ask DeVito to throw 30-plus times and expect much good to come of it.
Jordan Love ($11600 DK, $16000 FD) has been very encouraging in the last month and could emphasize is arrival by carrying that momentum into another big game on the road. The Giants defense is probably better than
Although the Giants (4-8) have no hope of making the playoffs this year, they have still in recent weeks pulled off a bit of a resurgence, with coach Brian Daboll refocusing the offense and reestablishing some dignity under the lead of undrafted Tommy DeVito of all people. The Giants have shown enough life that it's a real concern for the newly ambitious Packers, who are suddenly in a renewed playoff push after clawing their way to 6-6. Quarterback Jordan Love will look to keep the Packers rolling, and they head to New York favored by six points, with the over/under a paltry 36.0.
QUARTERBACK
Tommy DeVito ($9800 DK, $13500 FD) has some moxie and Brian Daboll remains an excellent schemer, so it's difficult to count out the undrafted rookie even though he's a heavy underdog on a team projected to score few points. The Packers are without their top CB (Jaire Alexander), and the Giants have real speed at receiver to threaten the Packers downfield. DeVito showed the ability to land downfield strikes against Washington in November, but what seems less plausible is an outcome where DeVito throws with both efficiency and volume. The Giants probably can't ask DeVito to throw 30-plus times and expect much good to come of it.
Jordan Love ($11600 DK, $16000 FD) has been very encouraging in the last month and could emphasize is arrival by carrying that momentum into another big game on the road. The Giants defense is probably better than most assume – their secondary has improved over the course of the year, and they have an emerging All-Pro type of pass rusher in Kayvon Thibodeaux. Those two details bring a substantial amount of peril to Love in this matchup. The good news is that, if Love really has turned a corner in his development, then he might by now be the caliber of quarterback built to withstand such challenges. This will be a moment of truth on that question. While the loss of Christian Watson hurts, the replacement (Dontayvion Wicks) looks plenty capable, so Love should have enough ammo on hand.
RUNNING BACK
Saquon Barkley ($11200 DK, $16500 FD) is the Giants offense – it's a shame he sure as hell isn't paid like it. Oh well – poorly paid or not, the Giants will continue to ask Barkley to keep doing superhuman feats just to barely keep this thing afloat. The Packers run defense has been uneven at best this year, though injuries at inside linebacker arguably are an excuse. With Quay Walker out, though, the excuse might persist here. If so, it would be to Barkley's benefit. Matt Breida gets the scraps, which lately have been fewer than 10 snaps per game.
AJ Dillon ($8600 DK, $14000 FD) is expected to carry the Green Bay backfield again with Aaron Jones likely unavailable. The Giants run defense has been rather poor in 2023, so this could be a favorable setting for Dillon despite his generally disappointing career to this point. Dillon is also due for some good touchdown luck after somehow totaling just one touchdown on 149 carries – he had seven on 186 carries in 2022. Patrick Taylor ($2600 DK, $7500 FD) probably has the ability to do something against the Giants defense, too, though it's unclear if the backup has a chance to see any significant level of opportunity outside of a Dillon injury.
WIDE RECEIVER + TIGHT END
Jayden Reed ($9200 DK, $10000 FD) and Romeo Doubs ($8800 DK, $11000 FD) need to step up with Christian Watson out, though rookie Dontayvion Wicks ($5200 DK, $8000 FD) is an esteemed prospect in his own right and a real candidate to step up here. The Giants corner crew is improving, though, so this is a more challenging matchup than it might have appeared a month or two ago. The Kayvon Thibodeaux pass rush is arguably more concerning, but even if the Packers shut down Thibodeaux the Packers' young wideouts will still need to be on their game. Rookie tight end Tucker Kraft ($4000 DK, $7000 FD) is a candidate to step up especially if the Packers wideouts are lagging in their production. Both Kraft and fellow rookie tight end Ben Sims ($200 DK, $5000 FD) are fairly athletic, though Sims is generally restricted to a few blocking snaps and little more, especially now that Josiah Deguara ($400 DK, $5000 FD) is back.
Darius Slayton ($3800 DK, $9500 FD) and Jalin Hyatt ($7000 DK, $7500 FD) have established themselves as formidable big-play threats for the Giants on the boundary, and one or both could have some opportunity here especially since star Green Bay corner Jaire Alexander is out. Slayton played through a neck injury last week – it's not clear if he's fully past that. Wan'Dale Robinson ($4600 DK, $8000 FD) remains a promising prospect as well, but he has struggled in the slot since DeVito took over. After Slayton, Hyatt and Robinson get their snaps there isn't likely to be much left for Isaiah Hodgins, Parris Campbell or Sterling Shepard, but each of those three is a candidate to take some trivial number of snaps. If tight end Daniel Bellinger ($3600 DK, $7500 FD) can't play then Lawrence Cager ($600 DK, $6500 FD) could be an interesting sleeper as the only remaining Giants tight end. Cager isn't a tight end at all – he can't block, so if he has to play it will be like a wide receiver (albeit a bad one) running against linebackers.
KICKER
Anders Carlson ($5600 DK, $8500 FD) probably still has some time to get it together but not much. This should be a favorable setup for the Green Bay kicking game – a low-scoring game yet one where they are safely favored – so this should be a good spot for Carlson to make his case. His last game – an 11-point fantasy outing in Green Bay's win over Kansas City – will hopefully prove the beginning of momentum he carries into this game.
Randy Bullock ($5000 DK, $8500 FD) is one of the worst regularly-employed kickers of the past decade, so adding him to a poor offense is unlikely to result in fantasy fireworks. Sometimes weird things happen, but it would be weird if Bullock were a deciding variable in this showdown slate.
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
Although the Giants ($3200 DK, $9000 FD) are heavy home underdogs their defense must have some amount of relevance in a game with such a low over/under. Granted, the Giants are very much expected to be the less active offense, but the Packers still face plenty of questions as an offense, especially now that Christian Watson's speed is on the sidelines. Even fully-proven starting quarterbacks have bad road games from time to time, and Love is not fully proven.
The Packers ($6600 DK, $9000 FD) are projected to control the game for the most part, and if they do it should leave their defense in a conventionally favorable setup to produce sacks and turnovers against DeVito and the Giants offense. It would be a little easier to buy into the Packers defense if Jaire Alexander (shoulder) were playing, but even without him the Giants passing game projects poorly.
