Giants Roster Rebuilding Season: Receivers

The Giants can always use some additional speed at receiver, but here's why they probably won't spend premium resources to get it this year.

Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

When the Giants traded away Odell Beckham Jr last March, the coaching staff at the time kept preaching about how it planned to deploy a village to generate the desired production Beckham by himself was capable of generating.

It sounded good on paper, but what the coaching staff didn’t count on was two things.

First, there was a matter of availability. Of the team’s top five receivers—Golden Tate, Sterling Shepard, Darius Slayton, Russell Shepard, and Cody Latimer—they missed a combined 22 out of 80 games, or 27.5%, not including the four-game suspension Tate had to serve at the start of the year.

The other area in which the receivers fell woefully short was in yards after the catch. In 2019, the Giants wide receivers racked up 2,589 receiving yards, but only 831 of those yards (32%) came after the catch. And if that’s not disappointing enough, out of 212 receptions, the Giants receivers managed to break just 19 tackles with the ball in their hands.

And if we’re talking about separation, according to NFL NextGen Stats, Sterling Shepard averaged 3.1 separation yards, a team-best among his fellow receivers, with Tate and Slayton each averaging 2.2 yards. And after overcoming a hamstring injury at the start of the year, Slayton finished second on the team in average YAC (4.1 yards), behind Tate, the team leader with a 5.9 YAC average per reception.

Is receiver a glaring need for the Giants? If they can cut down on the games missed due to injury, then it’s not as glaring of a necessity as some might think.

Could they use a little more speed at the position? If the team is looking to install more concepts from the Air Coryell system, then it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to add another receiver with some speed, especially if the injury bug continues to affect availability.

Free Agency or Draft?

From a value perspective, the Giants are probably better off drafting depth at this unit. 

They appear set with Golden Tate, Sterling Shepard, and Darius Slayton as their top three receivers. Tate and Slayton are both capable of generating YACs in a vertical passing game, as is Shepard, whose numbers took a dip primarily due to his missing time to injury.

Although there are several top receiving options that as of now are set to hit free agency—Amari Cooper, A.J. Green, and Robby Anderson all come to mind—the Giants spending big money on a

free-agent receiver is likely more of a fantasy at this point (though it’s not out of the question for them to add a veteran who might be able to give them snaps on special teams).

So what about the draft? Texas receiver Collin Johnson, 6-foot-6, 220 pounds, is an interesting prospect for a Day 3 pick. Although he doesn’t offer elite speed, Johnson’s height and power are intriguing for the sole reason of red-zone matchups, and potential special teams play, which is what would likely be expected from a receiver at the bottom of the depth chart.

Johnson’s best season was in 2018 when he appeared in 13 games for the Longhorns. He recorded 68 receptions for 985 yards and seven touchdowns, finishing seventh in receptions in the Big 12 and ninth in receiving yards in the division that season. 

He dealt with an injury in his senior season, which limited him to just seven games played, in which he had 559 receiving yards on 38 receptions and three touchdowns.

Johnson plays a physical game that would make him a nightmare for smaller cornerbacks to defend. Although he’s somewhat limited right now with comeback routes, Johnson, who also has experience in the slot, has some intriguing tools with which to work.

According to Pro Football Focus’ draft guide, Johnson is a projected fourth-round pick. Johnson might be worth taking a flier on to see if he can be coached up in some of the areas where his game currently lacks (including facing press coverage).