New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. rightfully gets all the headlines and attention. His rapid ascension through the NFL ranks started in Week 5 of last year and forced everyone to take note. Not only did he have the single most impressive catch of the season, but his electric ability was just plain old fun to watch.
Despite all of this, Beckham may not be the go-to guy when the Giants offense enters the redzone. Instead, that honor may be bestowed on tight end Larry Donnell, who Eli Manning looks for often on the goal line. Listen up, fantasy owners.
"Keep an eye on tight end Larry Donnell," ESPN's Dan Graziano wrote. "He was second on the team last year in red zone targets with 20, trailing only Odell Beckham Jr.'s 25. But offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo has spoken often about how he learned during his first year that 'sometimes you have to look for players instead of plays.' Beckham was blue-hot in the second half of last season and was the Giants' primary option anywhere on the field, including the red zone. Assuming a more normal, balanced situation this year, Donnell would make sense as the featured target in the red zone. If you shrink the zone down to the 10-yard line or closer, Donnell led the Giants last year with 13 targets to Beckham's 10. And eight of those 13 were inside the 5-yard line. So the closer they get to the goal line, the more they look for Big Larry. It's also worth noting that the Giants are fairly likely to run the ball in the red zone and at the goal line. They had 96 pass attempts and 75 rush attempts inside the opponent's 20 last year."
Overall, Donnell finished last season with 63 receptions for 623 yards and six touchdowns. That resulted in 84 fantasy points in standard scoring leagues (12th among TEs) and 147 points in PPR leagues. Considering that Donnell is available in the later rounds of most drafts, he could prove to be a quality value pick and borderline top ten option at the position.
