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Darius Slayton Reveals How He Never Lost Hope of Contributing to Giants' Offense

Despite being somewhat forgotten at the start of the season, receiver Darius Slayton never stopped working to better himself.

Patricia Traina

New York Giants receiver Darius Slayton is the type of player who won’t let himself get too high or too low.

That’s probably a good thing as Slayton, who in 2019, his rookie season, was the giants’ leading receiver with eight touchdowns. He was so effective that there was some early chatter that perhaps the Giants had found their No. 1 receiver of the future in the former Auburn star.

Unfortunately, Slayton’s star came crashing back to earth in his second and third seasons. He saw his catch percentage and touchdowns scored drop and his dropped passes rise. 

Given a fresh start this year by the new coaching staff, at one point, it looked as though Slayton just didn’t fit into the team’s plans. He was a healthy scratch in the team’s Week 1 regular-season opener against the Titans. 

Even as injuries piled up in the Giants’ receiving corps—New York lost Sterling Shepard to a season-ending ACL and have been unable to get Kadarius Toney or Wan’Dale Robinson on the field for most of the season—Slayton was often an afterthought. 

In Weeks 2 through 4, he got just two pass targets thrown his way, both coming in a Week 4 win over Chicago.

When No. 1 receiver Kenny Golladay joined the Giants’ walking wounded ahead of last week’s game in London against the Packers, Slayton’s number finally was called, and he made sure he was ready. 

Slayton delivered. He caught six of seven pass targets for 79 yards against the Packers, six of those going for first downs.

“I thought he had a great game on Sunday,” said quarterback Daniel Jones of Slayton. “I have a lot of trust and confidence in him. I’ve said it. We’ve been here since we were both rookies. I’ve played a lot of football with him and built up trust. To see him go out there and have that good of a game was exciting, and I was happy for him. We’ll continue trying to get him the ball, but he was big on Sunday.”

Head coach Brian Daboll agreed.

“I was proud of the way Slay (wide receiver Darius Slayton) competed and produced,” he said.  

While waiting for his opportunity, Slayton has focused on the important stuff: his craft.

“Yeah, you just focus on your craft—focus on bettering myself, making sure that all my skills are sharp and that I know my plays,” he said. “That way, I’d be ready for whenever my opportunity came. 

“I feel like you can’t always be like what you do and don’t deserve because you can’t ever get too high and can’t ever get too low. So, I take opportunities as they come and take advantage of them.”

The other factor that’s made a difference for Slayton has been that he’s having fun, regardless of the role he’s asked to fulfill each week.

“Yeah, for sure,” he said. “I know I love coming here. I love my teammates. I love playing ball. So, I think having a positive work environment definitely helps. 

“At the end of the day, the NFL’s a business. Everybody at some point in their career goes through something, but having good guys around you helps a lot.”  

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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