The Giants have 14 wide receivers on their roster, but do they have a WR1? Darius Slatyon answers emphatically, believing he is a No. 1 receiver who merely hasn’t gotten his opportunity.
“I wouldn’t say it bothers me, because everybody doesn’t know what I know,” Slayton told Ryan Dunleavy of The New York Post. “Everybody is not in the Giants’ building. At the end of the day, you can only judge based on what you see from afar.”
Slayton re-signed with the Giants in the offseason, joining Sterling Shepard, Isaiah Hodgins, Parris Campbell, Wan’Dale Robinson, Jamison Crowder and third-round pick Jalin Hyatt in the receiver room. Slayton has led the Giants in receiving three of the past four seasons, but his career highs were 50 catches for 751 yards in 2020.
Slayton caught 46 passes for 724 yards last season.
Odell Beckham was the team’s last receiver to top the 1,000-yard mark, going for 1,052 yards on 77 catches in 2018.
“You see this guy go for 1,010 [yards] or see a guy go for 100 yards every week, and you go, ‘He’s really good,’” Slayton said. “Some of these guys play with nobody. I play with Saquon [Barkley]. Where do you think the ball is going first? Not me. We had [Shepard], Evan Engram and now Darren [Waller].
“I didn’t play with just a bunch of bums. That’s a little annoying, because at the end of the day, it’s not like I’ve ever been the only person or one person to get the ball, whereas somebody [else] is. It is what it is. At the end of the day, I just play to win. As long as the Giants win, I’ll be all right.”
The Giants aren’t paying Slayton WR1 money as he signed a two-year, $12 million contract, but Slayton believes given the opportunity, he can be just that.
“I believe in myself. I believe in my ability. I believe in the work I put in the offseason,” Slayton said. “Whether we add 10 guys, whether we add all of you guys, I believe I’ll find my way on the field.”