Resiliency the common thread among Giants receivers
Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton catches a pass ahead of Vikings cornerback Chandon Sullivan during the second half of an NFL game Saturday in Minneapolis. Credit: AP/Abbie Parr
The three starting receivers with whom the Giants will be heading into the end of this regular season -- and potentially the playoffs -- are all very different players. They have varying degrees of speed, shiftiness and size in their skill-sets. But Darius Slayton, Richie James and Isaiah Hodgins all have something in common, too.
They have all come back from playing time obstacles this season. Slayton and James were both benched at various points in 2022 and Hodgins was waived by the Bills before being claimed by the Giants in early November. In the last four games that trio has combined for 60 of the team’s 94 receptions accounting for 664 yards and four TDs.
“I think everybody in our room has ability, everybody in our room has talent, and this league is really just about waiting for your opportunity and when you get it capitalize on it,” Slayton said on Tuesday. “Those are the kind of guys we have playing for us now, people that might not have had as many opportunities as they would have liked to have in the past but now that they are getting them they are taking advantage of them.”
The rest of the team has noticed, too.
“They’re all resilient,” left tackle Andrew Thomas said. “When the game is on, they are ready to play.”
The Giants started the season thinking Kadarius Toney, Sterling Shepard, Kenny Golladay and Wan’Dale Robinson would be their go-to targets in the passing game. For a number of reasons that never worked out for any of them. Now that aspect of the offense is reliant on the former afterthoughts.
“I think we all have something to prove,” Slayton said. “I don’t think we have proven whatever it is we gotta prove yet. We still have to prove more. It’s definitely not a time for any of us to get complacent.”
NOTES & QUOTES: LB Tae Crowder signed with the Steelers off the Giants’ practice squad on Tuesday. A former starter who led the team in tackles last year, Crowder was waived by the Giants last week but returned to the practice squad. Crowder was “Mr. Irrelevant,” the 255th and final player selected in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
