The New York Giants have high expectations for WR Darius Slayton this season after he rose the depth chart and established himself as the team’s top receiver in 2022. Entering 2023, Slayton is looking to take a big step forward after training tirelessly all offseason with WR Coach Drew Lieberman, the Founder/CEO of Sideline Hustle.
In a recent interview with Fireside Giants, Lieberman shed insight on his offseason training with Slayton, detailing the “Hall of Fame Standard” that Slayton chose to hold himself to in an effort to make the 2023 season his best yet.
Drew Lieberman held Darius Slayton to a “Hall of Fame Standard”
Many NFL players strive for greatness, training hard to become the best player they can be. Slayton is no different. He adhered to a strict routine this offseason, aiming to improve his game and raise it to a Hall of Fame level.
“The first year is kind of just adjusting their lifestyle to like what I call the ‘Hall of Fame Standard.’ Not everyone in the NFL wants to be a Hall of Famer. Not all these guys actually want to put that much time and dedication in, and a lot of guys just want to get paid really well and make plays, which and there’s nothing wrong with that. The guys who want to do above and beyond and do the Hall of Fame type stuff. Those are the guys I really vibe with and once [Darius] Slayton kind of made that commitment, it’s like, ‘all right, we’re going to build this from the ground up then.'”
Drew Lieberman via Fireside Giants
Building Giants WR Darius Slayton into a more “complete” player
After a down year in 2021 where Slayton finished with a career-low 339 yards, Slayton linked up with Lieberman to get rid of his bad habits and commit to his craft.
“He was playing off speed, but a lot of his game was inconsistent, Lieberman said. “It was probably going to come crashing down for lack of a better term, whether it was because of some of the Joe j+Judge woes or what the status of the team was then. Either way, Slay was doing like a lot of things that were going to catch up to him. Bad habits and little things that he needed to shore up to be that Hall of Fame level player.”
Slayton worked tirelessly to improve his hands, but Lieberman also worked with him to improve his route-running skills this offseason.
“I really wanted to build around his strengths, his speed, give him tools to work around his speed, how to run and stop better, how to just play the game with more confidence,” Lieberman said. “And I think we built him more as a complete player.”
The Giants gave Slayton a two-year, $12 million contract extension this offseason after he totaled 46 receptions for 724 yards and two touchdowns in 2022. Slayton is now an established starter in New York’s offense. He will be entering the 2023 season more confident than ever after training in the offseason with Lieberman to prepare himself to take that next step toward becoming an elite wide receiver.