darius slayton

When you compare New York Giants’ wide receiver Darius Slayton’s route chart to 2019, the majority of his action came in the deeper portion of the field. A lot of streaks and hooks are his bread and butter, but in week one of the 2020 regular season, he displayed immense maturity in his route tree.

Slayton finished the contest and the eventual loss of the Pittsburgh Steelers with six receptions, 102 yards, and two touchdowns. He has quickly become quarterback Daniel Jones‘s favorite target and continues to produce on a weekly basis. From the contest, his chart includes posts, hook routes, drag routes, and more. This is a noticeable development in his ability to expand and improve his skill set — a very positive sign for a receiver that was drafted in the 5th round last year.

The New York Giants have a budding star:

With options on the roster like Sterling Shepard, Golden Tate, and Evan Engram, some might think that more talented players would bury Slayton. Nonetheless, he has turned into a cemented option and potentially a WR1 for Jones in the passing game.

In 2019, Slayton earned a 57.1% catch rate over 14 games. So far, in one contest, he has a 66.7% catch rate and 11.3 yards per target. His sample size is much smaller, but he’s trending in the right direction for the Giants. Dating back to his week 17 performance, Slayton finished his 2019 campaign with 154 yards and two scores. A majority of his routes were deep boundary routes.

Interestingly, Slayton only ran five routes that weren’t beyond 20 yards downfield. On Monday night against the Steelers, he ran seven routes that didn’t go beyond 20 yards. That is a clear indication that they see him as a smooth route runner who has improved during the off-season. That is a huge sign for Jones and his wide receiver corps. If he can continue to produce and improve on his skill set, the Giants might be set on the outside for years to come.

The New York Giants’ offense showed an abundance of potential in 2019. The Giants had young playmakers make an impact, like Saquon Barkley, Daniel Jones, and Darius Slayton. But they were never all on the field together at the same time last season. Each player dealt with an injury at one point or another, keeping the team’s offense from maximizing its true potential.

Entering 2020, everyone seems to be healthy. Even Evan Engram is healthy along with the rest of the offensive playmakers. Hopefully, it will stay that way. One of the Giants’ playmakers who stayed healthy for the majority of the 2019 season was Darius Slayton. Big Play Slay appeared in 14 games for the Giants and quickly emerged as one of the team’s best players.

Darius Slayton Stats And Highlights

The 2019 fifth-round pick out of Auburn was a true diamond in the rough in last year’s NFL Draft. Initially touted as a deep-threat receiving prospect, Slayton quickly expanded his game in the pros. At the beginning of his rookie season, Pat Shurmur utilized Slayton as a pure deep-threat. The overwhelming majority of Darius’s routes were vertical/go routes. But as the season progressed, so did Darius Slayton, and he really expanded his route tree. This lead to success for the speedster from Auburn.

Darius Slayton led the New York Giants in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns as a rookie in 2019. The rookie totaled 48 receptions for 740 yards and 8 touchdowns (tied for the most receiving touchdowns by a rookie in the NFL). Heading into his second season, Slayton looks prepared and ready to take that next step as the Giants’ WR1. Check out this fire touchdown catch Slayton made in training camp:

Darius Slayton lead the Giants in receiving yards AND touchdowns in 2019, as a rookie.

Love to see him making some nice catches in camp! #NYG

Video: @Giants pic.twitter.com/Zs2msvl7x7

— Alex Wilson (@AlexWilsonESM) August 14, 2020

New York has lacked a big-body outside receiver in recent years. Darius Slayton started to fill that role last season and looks ready to thrive in that role this season. The Giants will be implementing a new offensive scheme under Jason Garrett. Outside receivers were featured heavily in his offense in Dallas, such as Dez Bryant and Michael Gallup. Darius Slayton should fill that Bryant/Gallup role for the Giants in 2020.

Offense might be one of the bright areas for the New York Giants this year. That’s not to say that everything is perfect for them on that side of the ball. However, the future looks bright based on the pieces the Giants have there.

Quarterback Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley are major young pieces on the offense that will probably have better numbers next season. And of course, Darius Slayton has emerged as the top receiver on the team. Slayton is one of the players the most excited about the new offense the team has this year. While the personnel hasn’t changed entirely, the team has a new coaching staff and new schemes.

According to Slayton, there’s big things to expect from this new offense.

Slayton makes claims of an explosive offense

The Giants have a good chance to be explosive this year. At least, that’s what Darius Slayton claims.

“I think we just have a really good chance to be explosive. I think we have a chance to be an explosive offense, a really efficient offense. I just look forward to playing this year,” Slayton said to the team website, as training camp moved into its second phase.

He would go into more detail about what the Giants are doing right. That involves changes to the schemes from new offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.

“I think it just does a really good job of harnessing all of our weapons on our offensive skill set…  I think the offense does a really good job holistically of getting everyone involved. Everybody will have a chance to get the ball and have the opportunity to make plays,” Slayton continued.

Slayton led the team in touchdowns last season. This year, it looks like he’ll be in the running to do the same. And like the other receivers, Slayton may just have better odds under more competent coaching than the previous regime.

New York Giants General Manager Dave Gettleman has racked up a number of controversial moves so far during his time in the position, but one of the decisions that’s definitely been a hit instead of a miss has been the choice to draft Darius Slayton.

The Giants ended up with a player that was considered a steal but was only supposed to play a role in the rotation of receivers, but what they got in the end was a rising star who led the team in receiving after stepping up for Sterling Shepard when the more experienced veteran had concussion troubles.

Slayton racked up 8 touchdowns and was one of the reasons Daniel Jones was able to have a breakout season even with some of his top weapons having trouble staying on the field last season. According to Bleacher Report, that makes his contract the one that has the best value for the team.

Slayton provided the Giants with something they didn’t previously have on the roster: an outside threat. Veterans Golden Tate and Sterling Shepard are more effective working out of the slot, whereas Slayton is a slightly bigger target (6’1″, 190 lbs.) with the ability to stretch the field and demand safety help… The thought of Slayton’s continued development as New York’s WR1 without a salary-cap number over $1.02 million at any point during the next three seasons is exciting.

The Giants have been mocked to select Ja’Marr Chase for the 2021 Draft by a number of sources so far, and Chase has an impressive resume as the top receiver in the country during LSU’s championship season. However, depending on Slayton’s performance this year, they may not need a receiver enough to draft one with their first pick.

Slayton will face tougher competition this season, of course, as opponents learn more about his playing style and realize that they need to scheme against him to neutralize his threat rather than dismissing him as an inexperienced rookie. But his destiny largely rests in his own hands.

The team is getting a great value out of his contract and if he can keep it up, the Giants will likely have no problems rewarding his good play with further time in the spotlight as one of their top weapons.

The gap left by Odell Beckham Jr. at receiver was noticeable coming into last season. But for now, it still remains to be seen whether that gap will be filled by Slayton or Shepard or someone else entirely.

The New York Giants are entering the 2020 season with an unpredictable wide receiver corps. Currently, the unit consists of Sterling Shepard, Golden Tate, Darius Slayton, Corey Coleman, and a bevy of undrafted free agents.

Predicting what the production will look like from this group is difficult since Shepard is one concussion away from potentially ending his career, Tate will be 32 years old, and Slayton is coming off his rookie campaign.

However, Slayton had a fantastic first season in the NFL, posting 740 yards and eight touchdowns in 14 games. He played in just 66% of offensive snaps, and expecting an increase in 2020 is predictable. If he can build off his first year numbers, Slayton can quickly become the Giants’ top wideout.

While at Auburn, Darius was known for his straightaway speed and ability to blaze by opposing cornerbacks. Having one move simply doesn’t work in the NFL, though, and he started his rookie minicamp, dropping everything in sight. He quickly left those issues behind, shaking off the jitters and adapting to a more physical style of play. He added several routes to his repertoire, including slants, out, and post routes, which saw smoother transitions into his break.

The Giants retained Tyke Tolbert, their wide receiver coach, who helped Slayton develop last season. This was a fantastic decision considering the excellent work he constructed with the former Auburn standout.

Good luck stopping Darius Slayton this season 😤 @Young_Slay2

(via IG/routeking_1) pic.twitter.com/vD7Kgvcg0G

— Giants Videos (@SNYGiants) June 25, 2020

On Thursday, he posted a video on Instagram running an out-route with an inside step. He looks good in his transition into his break, stopping on a dime and accelerating quickly toward the boundary. The speed and change of direction really stand out here.

Improving his fundamentals will be a priority for the young pass-catcher moving forward, but he has all the potential in the world to develop into the Giants’ number one wide receiver.

Last season, the New York Giants expected Sterling Shepard and Golden Tate to be their leading receivers, and ended up with a surprise as Darius Slayton had a breakout performance filling in for both players at different points in the year.

Slayton was the leading receiver on the team as a rookie, during their first season in recent years without Odell Beckham Jr. headlining the wide receiver position as the number one option. While no Giants receiver broke 1,000 yards receiving last year, Slayton came the closest with 740 yards and also led the team in touchdowns with 8, after appearing in 14 games and starting 9 of them.

To make the numbers more impressive, it’s worth noting that Shepard, Tate, and Corey Latimer each had one more start than Slayton did. Going into the second season, of course, it looks like the young receiver is primed for a jump forward as one of the main weapons on a team that’s still looking for a prolific option at wide receiver.

“My confidence is something that built as the year went on last year. Hopefully this year, I’ll be able to hit it Week 1 running. It’s mostly internal. It’s just all in your head to me. Especially for receivers, to get the ball you’ve got to catch it, catch it low, high, behind you. I think it just starts from having unwavering faith in your hands basically,” Slayton said in an interview with Giants.com. 

Unfortunately, the usual offseason training for both Slayton and other members of the Giants has been disrupted by the current pandemic. While training camp is set to happen next month, the Giants have had to run a virtual offseason program up to this point, and it remains to be seen how the lost in-person training time will affect the team when the season does finally come.

“You just start to feel the need for it,” Slayton said, referring to the face to face training that’s been skipped so far during the offseason. “Even with fans, I think you start to feel the need for it after a while. So my body is itching to get back out there, itching to compete and just trying to see and meet my teammates in the flesh and be able to hang out with them again – all those things that come with it.”

He says that both he and Daniel Jones are working hard and that both players will be ready when they make it back to the training facility.

Whether the duo will improve through the 2020 season remains to be seen, but with the Giants not having fully replaced Beckham yet and with Shepard’s concussion problems from last year, it’s not unreasonable to think Slayton does have a big chance to assert himself as the team’s top receiving threat this year.