Darius Slayton excited about Giants' potential at wide receiver
Darius Slayton of the Giants catches the ball during training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, N.J., on Thursday. Credit: James Escher
Daniel Jones found tight end Darren Waller, who made a leaping reception near the sideline at Giants training camp on Friday. The pass didn’t have to be perfect; Waller corralled it with ease.
In that blink of an eye, it crystallized: These Giants are different.
Three practices into camp, Waller has been the standout. His catch percentage and radius are off the charts and his presence is meaningful, to say the least.
The Giants now have options when it comes to offensive playmakers. The cupboard appears stocked. Jones and Saquon Barkley won’t have to do it all.
Help isn’t just on the way. In the second year of the partnership of coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen, it seemingly has arrived, and just in time. The Giants' offense was 16th overall last season and didn’t score more than 20 points in nine of 17 regular-season games. They were last in explosive plays (pass plays of at least 20 yards).
That, especially in today’s NFL, is not going to cut it. Nor is it the plan for this Giants season.
At the onset of camp, receiver Darius Slayton, entering his fifth year with the Giants, said, “Today we had a good day. We didn’t start quite as fast as we wanted to from an execution standpoint, but we had good days.”
A reporter suggested that “you can’t just throw the ball deep every day in practice.”
Slayton interjected: “We could.”
And he’s right.
The Giants restocked their cabinet of playmakers in the offseason. That was apparent months ago and has become even more evident at camp. In particular, the Giants added speed — explosive speed.
With a group of receivers that includes several first-time Giants, Slayton has emerged as the group’s leader.
Slayton refers to the 6-6, 245-pound Waller as “a locomotive rolling real fast. Ain’t nobody tackling that.” He said receiver Parris Campbell is as fast as any veteran Giant.
“Just [the] ability to catch the ball and run with it and break tackles, they’re both strong guys, so I think they bring a good dynamic to our room,” Slayton said.
A Giant since 2019, Slayton was selected in the fifth round in the same draft that brought Jones to the team.
“I try my best [to lead] with our rookies or even maybe guys who are only in their second or third year that maybe haven’t played as much live football, you know,” said Slayton, who had 46 catches and led Giants receivers with 724 yards last year. “Just kind of making them aware of little things that can trip you up. Sometimes playing receiver, there are little ways to keep yourself off of the bad tape, so to speak, in the film room. I try my best to share those tips and tricks, and hopefully they absorb it and use it.”
Veteran receivers seem particularly willing to be helpful to rookie Jalin Hyatt, who has ridiculous speed (4.40 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine) but still is learning how to deal with press coverage. Game usually recognizes game. There’s no doubt these veterans know Hyatt has rare speed, with the promise of improving his entire repertoire.
Hyatt said he knows he’s going to see “a lot of press coverage,” which is different from what he experienced in college at Tennessee. “I think that’s going to make me better,” he said.
Told about that exchange, Daboll liked everything about it, from the veterans helping a rookie, to the rookie vowing to improve. That is the spirit the coach wants. on his team and in the locker room. “That’s important to [Schoen] and me and the people we bring in,” Daboll said.
“I think we have a lot of good people who don’t have an ego,” Daboll said. “Sometimes when a player says it, it carries a little more weight than when I say it.”
Hyatt seems dedicated to improving, but he clearly knows his greatest attribute is that he can outrun most defenders.
“I have a lot of respect for [veteran players] and what they’ve taught me,” he said. “We’re all getting together, we’re all learning the playbook and they just told me, do what you got to do. You can’t worry about anything else. You can’t worry about how many balls are getting thrown to you. You can’t worry if you aren’t getting the ball. They just told me to get open. Get open every rep.
“That’s one thing I took on in this training camp. The one thing I want to show Daniel and the quarterbacks is that I can get open every time I step on that field. That’s the biggest thing for me.”
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
