New York Giants: Darius Slayton primed for much bigger role
The New York Giants are already well into the Daniel Jones era, and now he may need fellow rookie Darius Slayton to emerge as a top target.
The New York Giants are preparing on a short week for the New England Patriots, and they’re extremely short-handed.
Not great.
The Giants got Golden Tate back in week five after his four game suspension and he caught a modest three passes for 13 yards in his 2019 debut.
Daniel Jones is probably hoping and praying he will have Saquon Barkley back, even if Barkley isn’t at 100 percent for this game. The Giants’ offense will be missing their top two offensive playmakers outside of Barkley in this game against the Patriots with Sterling Shepard in concussion protocol and Evan Engram nursing a sprained MCL.
In addition to WR Sterling Shepard being out Thursday at New England and RB Saquon Barkley being unlikely to play, there’s also a real chance the Giants will be without TE Evan Engram, who is dealing with a sprained MCL, per source. It’ll be a challenge for Engram to play at NE.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 8, 2019
So, if Barkley, Shepard, and Engram are all out for the Giants, who besides Golden Tate is going to be out there catching passes from Daniel Jones?
Darius Slayton, that’s who.
Slayton, a fifth-round pick out of Auburn in this year’s draft, has absolutely blazing (4.39) speed, and he put it on display in his most recent game against the Minnesota Vikings on this touchdown grab.
https://twitter.com/NFLonFOX/status/1180902144037122048
Plus, rookie Darius Slayton (45 snaps) is ascending and was more effective on the field (4 receptions for 62 yards) than Tate (3-13). There is plenty of time for Tate's role to increase. https://t.co/JvMtyBLyIu
— Paul Schwartz (@NYPost_Schwartz) October 7, 2019
It’s very interesting to see Daniel Jones actually elevating players like Slayton, even this early on in his career. Slayton was obviously a talented prospect coming out of Auburn, but many felt like he was a late day two, early day three guy based on a lack of refinement overall, despite his elite athletic traits and big-play capabilities.
Pat Shurmur is also doing a very nice job considering all of the injuries the Giants are dealing with at the skill positions, scheming ways for Jones to get the ball to this current lack of playmakers.
But because of the injuries the Giants have suffered, we now get an opportunity to see what Slayton can do with a lot more reps and a lot more attention from a defense.
A Bill Belichick defense going up against a rookie quarterback just sounds unfair, but I think the Giants will have their moments in what will likely be a loss, and I want to see Slayton’s playmaking ability on display as well as his development as a route runner and downfield ball tracker.
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Tate is still good enough to draw a good amount of attention in the passing game, so perhaps we’ll get to see Slayton working some one-on-ones against the Patriots’ solid defensive backfield.