Drops have been the story of New York Giants receiver Darius Slayton’s career, even dating back to his first training camp in 2019.
Unfortunately for Slayton, his continued problems securing the ball could be symptomatic of a far greater issue.
The Athletic’s Dan Duggan believes that Slayton has developed the “yips” after another season marred by drops. Pro Football Reference credited Slayton with five drops on 63 targets; that’s nearly an eight percent drop rate, up from his career 6.3 percent average.
“[Slayton] needs to fix the problem to retain a prominent role in the offense,” Duggan wrote ($).
For what it’s worth, Slayton has never publicly acknowledged or hinted at having the yips or any confidence issues.
Regardless, we’d say the Giants need Slayton at his best, but he must go above and beyond given the team’s current receiver issues.
The Giants are in big trouble if Darius Slayton truly has the 'yips'
For the unfamiliar, the best way to explain the “yips” is to imagine a kicker who, after a missed field goal, has a mental block and struggles to have the confidence required for even a short kick.
Older baseball fans will remember former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Rick Ankiel having the yips in the early 2000s. Ankiel later became a full-time outfielder and, interestingly, finished his career with the New York Mets.
Put simply, the yips are no joke and incredibly difficult to overcome.
Ex-Minnesota Vikings kicker Blair Walsh was never the same after his infamous missed chip-shot field goal in a playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Former Dallas Cowboys kicker Brett Maher missed four extra points and had another blocked during the 2022-23 postseason. Maher was out of the league by 2024 and is now Nebraska’s special teams coordinator.
There have been no credible updates regarding Malik Nabers potentially being ready for Week 1. Neither Darnell Mooney nor Calvin Austin III turned heads during OTAs despite the absences of Nabers and Slayton, the latter of whom was recovering from offseason sports hernia surgery.
The 29-year-old Slayton is expected to be a full go when training camp begins later this month.
But Slayton’s health is only part of the battle. The Giants cannot afford for him to continue dropping easy passes, especially in an NFC East that feels surprisingly winnable. There is no margin for error, and it’s time for Slayton to prove why he’s the Giants’ longest-tenured player.
Otherwise, Slayton might have trouble catching on elsewhere — and, yes, that might just be a pun.
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