Preseason Week 2 Fantasy Football Game Recap: Carolina Panthers vs. New York Giants

• Darren Waller impresses right off the bat: The Giants' new tight end was targeted on each of his first three plays and on 50% of his total plays during the game.

• Darius Slayton, Parris Campbell and Isaiah Hodgins start: The Giants seemed to have a crowded wide receiver room, but these three appear set to start in Week 1.

• Jonathan Mingo confirms his starting status: Mingo played all but one snap with Carolina on the first two drives.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

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Carolina Panthers @ New York Giants

Darren Waller thrives in his first game with the Giants: The former Las Vegas Raider was targeted on each of his first three plays.

• Waller was among the Giants veterans who took preseason Week 1 off.

• He took the vast majority of snaps on the first drive, leaving the field for just two snaps after securing catches. 

• He caught three passes on four targets for 30 yards.

• His backup, Daniel Bellinger, scored a touchdown on the first drive out of a two-tight end set, but that isn't an indication that Bellinger will take touchdowns away from Waller.

• Daniel Jones, Matt Breida and Waller all stopped playing after the first long drive.

• His performance was unsurprising, considering the constant praise he’s received throughout training camp. However, this is more evidence that Waller should be picked as a top-five tight end.

Giants wide receiver rotation becomes clear: The Giants' WR depth chart remains similar to last week.

• Darius Slayton and Parris Campbell were the two healthy veterans who took last week off, and they started this game alongside Isaiah Hodgins. These three should be the Giants receivers to target in fantasy leagues.

• Campbell is typically a slot receiver, but he did play a snap in 12 personnel, something he also did with the Indianapolis Colts at times. The additional potential playing time is a good sign of his fantasy potential.

• All three players continued to play even after Jones' night was done.

• Third-round rookie Jalin Hyatt played three snaps with the starters, which is a good sign that he should get at least some playing time with the starters early in the season. It's also an indication that he’s fourth on the depth chart.

• Hyatt dropped a pass and caught a touchdown the following play in the second quarter with the backups.

• Sterling Shepard, who missed most of last season as well as the first preseason game, played on the third drive in place of Slayton. He seems likely to be a versatile backup at this point.

• Cole Beasley started last week’s preseason game but missed this game with a leg injury.

• Giants second-year wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson remains on the PUP list after tearing his ACL in the middle of last season, but Giants GM Joe Schoen mentioned that he could be back to practice soon.

• Beasley will probably only make the roster if Robinson starts the season on the PUP list.

Jonathan Mingo may be the Panthers wide receiver to target: Mingo was the main bright spot for Carolina with the starters.

• Mingo started the game with D.J. Chark Jr. and Adam Thielen, similar to last week.

• Carolina had rotated wide receivers by drive in the first game.

• Terrace Marshall Jr. is currently fourth on the depth chart, but he’s been dealing with a back injury that kept him out of this game.

• Mingo was the player off the field in 12 personnel, but he was also the only wide receiver on the field for 13 personnel for a play that didn’t happen due to a pre-snap penalty.

• He forced a missed tackle and moved the chains on a 15-yard catch and was Carolina's receiving yards leader when the starters were on the field.

• We know what Thielen and Chark are capable of, giving Mingo the most upside of the group as it becomes more and more clear that he's in the mix to start.

Hayden Hurst dominates playing time again: Hurst played nearly every snap with the starters for the second straight week.

• Hurst played all 11 snaps with Bryce Young in their first preseason game.

• He played in the first 14 snaps against the Giants, leaving the field only because he had played 11 straight snaps in what ended up being a 15-play drive.

• At his peak, he was a top-10 fantasy tight end with the Atlanta Falcons.

• It looks like he should get the playing time in Carolina to reach that peak again, but will ultimately depend on the quality of the Panthers offense and his target share. 

• He was not targeted in this game after catching one pass last week.

Miscellaneous Notes

• Both starting running backs — Giants’ Saquon Barkley and Panthers' Miles Sanders — sat out of this game.

• Giants fifth-round rookie running back Eric Gray began playing at the start of the Giants’ second drive. He could see some playing time on offense this season.

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.