NY Giants roster: Ranking the wide receivers as training camp nears
By Carly Mersky
The NY Giants will field a revamped wide receiving corps, following the additions of Kenny Golladay, John Ross, and rookie Kadarius Toney in 2021
By adding new faces in free agency and the NFL draft, the NY Giants’ are loaded and have a lot of depth at the wide receiver position. Here’s a look at where they rank based on projected production:
Starters:
1. Kenny Golladay
Daniel Jones finally got his WR1. He is a big-play threat with a long catch radius. He is one of the best contested-catch wide receivers in the league. In 2019, he led the NFL in receiving touchdowns with 11, and 65 receptions for 1,190 yards. Pairing a guy like Golladay with Jones, who was the best deep-ball passer in 2020 can go very well this upcoming season.
2. Sterling Shepard
Being teammates with Odell Beckham Jr. made Shepard the WR2, and it looks like he will fit into that role again with the addition of Golladay. Although he is injured a lot, Shepard is still a reliable receiver, and is the longest tenured player on the team. In his career so far, he has 313 receptions, giving him the 11th spot on the team’s career receiving list.
3. Kadarius Toney
Toney was picked 20th overall by the Giants in this past draft. He brings major speed to this receiver group. During his senior year at Florida, he finished with 984 receiving yards and 10 receiving touchdowns (eighth in the nation). He also only had three career drops on 123 career passes according to Pro Football Focus.
4. Darius Slayton
Slayton is going into this third year in the NFL and with the Giants he has had 98 receptions, 1,491 yards, 11 touchdowns and 15.2 yards per catch. Slayton was a fifth round pick in the 2019 draft, and he has already put up big numbers. He had a rocky season last year, but will improve this year because adding Golladay takes off the pressure for Slayton having to face the top cornerbacks.
5. John Ross
The Giants’ added Ross in free agency. He has had a long injury history in his career. The bright side to Ross is that he is an explosive playmaker. He holds the fastest 40-time in combine history with a 4.22.
Depth:
These are players who could face an uphill climb to make the NY Giants’ roster out of training camp.
Here is a best guess of how their chances of winning a job stack up.
1. Dante Pettis
2. Austin Mack
3. David Sills
4. CJ Board
5. Derrick Dillon