Of the rookies for the New York Giants who featured in game time this season, two of the most notable are Darius Slayton and Daniel Jones. The former was one of the top receiving targets for the latter, of course, despite not coming out of college as a hyped prospect. Since joining the Giants, though, Slayton has become a regular part of the offense after initially getting playing time thanks to injuries and suspensions.
Sterling Shepard missed part of the year with concussions and Golden Tate missed the first four games due to suspension, but Slayton made the most of his time on the field after getting several starts and would of course build chemistry with rookie quarterback Daniel Jones once Jones replaced Eli Manning a few weeks into the season as starter.
It’s one of the subjects he spoke about with Sports Illustrated in a recent interview.
“The amount of time we spent together played a big part coming in at the same time. We started on the second and third team in practice until we worked our way to the first team. We took a lot of the same reps and were always in the same place at the same time,” Slayton said about his chemistry with Jones.
“One thing about Daniel, he proved a lot of people wrong after they said he was drafted too high,” Slayton continued. “He proved he was worthy of that selection. He took a lot of shots this year and kept standing in there and making throws, which says a lot about his toughness… I also wanted to come in and show I was among the best receivers in the draft class.”
Slayton definitely was one of the best value receivers in the draft, finishing the year with an unexpected 740 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.
There’s been talk about how the Giants need a new wide receiver thanks to the injury prone nature of Shepard and the departure of Odell Beckham Jr., but if the Giants don’t spend their first round pick on the position, there’s a good chance that Slayton ends up taking on more responsibility going forward.
Time will tell if the second year player is ready for it.