I have a soft-spot for underdogs, second-tier players, etc. and I love to see them overperform.

Slayton's rookie year absolutely met that criteria, so I've been a fan ever since. I also give him a ton of credit for climbing back onto the roster after nearly being cut, years ago. He also comes off as a reasonable human being, in interviews, and it seems like he's genuinely tried to both acknowledge and address his shortcomings (specialized hands training, etc.).

Having established his positive points, I really wish that we could dial back the soul-crushing drops to maybe two or three per season. I feel like we are getting back to the seven to eight territory and it's maddening.

I probably just pay closer attention, because he's a giant, but I feel like his drops are more "dramatic" than most players: in the sense that there is often bobbling and near possession before he, ultimately, loses the ball. It's definitely more of a case of butter fingers than stone hands with him. He also manages to work in some genuinely acrobatic and impressive "hands catches", so there is always a stomach churning mix of anticipation. Like Ole Forrest Gump said, with Slayton: "You never know what you're gonna get.".

Anyway, I really hope that he can pull it back together, for next year.

30 comments

  1. Slayton has always been this guy.

    All Giants had to do was let Slayton leave in free agency and get a small comp pick back.

    Instead Joe Schoen has bizarrely twice given Slayton multi year new contracts to return while also avoiding upgrading on him as WR2

  4. He’s always been this way. Remember his key drop in the 2022 playoffs that would have iced the game in Minnesota? It ended up not hurting us, but this is what he does.

    Thinking he’s gonna change is foolish.

  7. Slayton is what he is at this point – someone you can stick at WR3 and live with. He’s been forced into WR1/2 throughout his career on some bad teams and has unexpectedly not done well enough in that role.

    Anyways, for a 5th round pick, his career has been a massive success. Over 30 million in career earnings with more to come. I wish him the best but I’m not going to miss him like I missed Sterling Sheppard, who performed everytimr he was healthy on the field.

  9. Great personality but his time here should be done. We gotta move on and build a good WR room for Nabers and Dart to succeed. Wandale is part of that group and should be resigned.

  10. They always say about defenders “if he could catch he would be on offense”

    Maybe that’s the problem.

  11. Been saying it for years, if he’s here he’ll be mid. Let him go to another team tho and he’ll go for 1k

  12. It’s really frustrating because I like him too but then this happens. 90% sure he took a pay cut a few years back just to keep playing here. Dude genuinely loves this team and that’s hard to find, but we can’t keep having this kind of play.

  14. Slayton is wr3 in any nfl team and shouldn’t be expected to be wr1 or wr2. He is inconsistent in his hands but a decent route runner.

  15. I have a soft spot for Slayton, and in his defense, he gets open frequently. But you gotta catch the ball!

  16. He cannot catch balls that he cannot square his shoulders too. He can handle slants and in routes just fine but if you ask him to do a corner or go route, he will drop it 75% of the time even if it hits his hands.

  17. Can we renew his contract and sign him for another 5 seasons? We should do it now before another team snatches him up

  18. He just isn’t a reliable receiver and doesn’t have a quality set of hands.

    He will always drop key 3rd downs, touchdowns and other game changing plays when the team needs it most. He’s completely peaked as a player and has solid speed, but only a fool would have given him 30 million.

  19. If by “cusp of success” you’re referring to occasionally during his career resembling a decent WR3, then sure, I guess

  20. That’s what separates the elite players from the players who just take up a roster spot.

  24. Agree with all of your sentiments. Not sure how many teams spend 12M AAV on a WR4, but that’s what he needs to be now. I think we need Wandale back, and we need another guy on the outside opposite Leek. Maybe having Dart on a rookie deal affords us that sort of luxury 

  27. Next week he’ll make an incredibly difficult contested catch in the second quarter to distract us.

    Then he’ll drop a gimme in the fourth. He’s been this way since Auburn.

  29. His rookie year he made a bunch of down the field big time catches. That’s pretty much disappeared

  30. He might be a nice guy, but if he caught half of his drops this team would’ve had probably 10 more wins

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