New York Giants receiver Darius Slayton displays mental toughness in standout performance against Green Bay Packers
Darius Slayton epitomised Brian Daboll's New York Giants as he starred in Sunday's victory over the Green Bay Packers in London.
Tuesday 11 October 2022 14:24, UK
Darius Slayton joked two weeks prior to the season that he would not be surprised were he to be traded by the New York Giants such was his familiarity with the rumour mill; on Sunday he strapped an injury-hit receiver corps to his back and led the fight as a chief party-pooper to the Green Bay Packers' UK bow.
The 2019 fifth-round pick reeled in six catches for 79 yards at 13.2 yards per reception while playing 54.1 per cent of snaps in the Giants' 27-22 comeback victory at Tottenham, carrying the load through the air in the absence of last year's marquee free agency acquisition Kenny Golladay, second-year weapon Kadarius Toney, rookie receiver Wan'Dale Robinson and veteran leader Sterling Shepard. For context, he had not played more than 20 per cent of snaps in either of his first two games this season, before managing 60 per cent in Week Four.
He also came away with a PFF grading of 89.6, the highest of any Giants player on offense ahead of left tackle Andrew Thomas (75.3).
Where build-up during the week had massaged the penetrative field-flipping influence of Saquon Barkley, vindicated by a standout performance on the day, along with the toughness of quarterback Daniel Jones to shrug off an ankle injury sustained the previous week, a Big Blue receiver group projected as a defining hindrance executed Mike Kafka's gusty, shifty scheme to its desired effect.
Slayton's London exploits in turn combined with the early season prominence of an overlooked Richie James in further underlining a Brian Daboll and Kafka offense with no constraints when it comes to accommodating anyone and everyone who is up to the task, injuries and availability permitting.
"Mental toughness. It's not perfect. It's easy when everything is going great for people, everyone is saying good things about them," said Daboll. "This kid had a good mindset - I shouldn't say kid - young man and made the most of his opportunities when he had an opportunity to. When you make plays, you get more opportunities and he did that."
His role on the day was less inadvertent, improvisation or even make-shift, but more so a designed chunk-play wrinkle to the Giants playbook despite his inactivity early in the campaign.
A first half belonging to the Packers had seen efforts to jump Barkley to the outside on run or screen scenarios smothered by the lateral speed of linebackers Quay Walker and De'Vondre Campbell, while Rashan Gary was proven the backfield invader as advertised to the UK's NFL rookies.
The first inkling of a Giants receiver gaining separation, an art Jones has been starved of at times, came courtesy of Slayton as he earned a yard on Eric Stokes to collect a pass on his play-action crossing route for a gain of 26. It paved the way for the Giants' first points of the game through Graham Gano's 48-yard field goal in the final seconds of the opening quarter.
He escaped Stokes again at the sideline for a chain-moving 10-yard pickup and out-wrestled the Packers cornerback for a catch that turned third-and-nine into first-and-goal on Daniel Bellinger's second quarter touchdown drive, before logging back-to-back gains of 14 yards on third-and-three and 13 yards on the ensuing first down during the Giants' field goal possession to start the second half.
"In this profession it's always like that, it's football, somebody is going to get hurt eventually," said Slayton of staying ready for his moment. "You've always got to be ready but obviously we've had an abnormal amount of injuries recently so I think everybody is just trying to take advantage of their opportunities."
Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka again earned praise for his balance between 11 personnel and the heavier sets, including split backfield and wildcat looks, to limit the Packers' defensive variation.
"Kafka did a great job putting together a plan and obviously at the end of the day it's on us to go out there and execute it but he definitely does a good job of knowing everybody's strengths and putting us in a position to be successful," Slayton added.
"Sometimes it's just about executing what you've called, sometimes you have plays that could have worked in the first half but I made a mistake or somebody made a mistake, the big thing was we just needed to execute and we were able to do that in the second half."
An injection of red zone competence and creativity by way of Kafka was underlined on Bellinger's touchdown run as the Giants called a scripted double reverse capped by the rookie tight end side-stepping one tackler before scurrying into the end zone.
"I enjoy it a lot, I feel like these are the best coaches I've ever been around, they're brilliant coaches, they don't just help everybody, they keep us together as an offense, they play off the strengths of Daniel Jones, Saquon, when we lack in an area they help us improve," said Bellinger.
Slayton is no splash-play novice for the Giants having amassed 98 catches for 1,491 yards and 11 touchdowns at roughly 15 yards per catch over his first two seasons, but a 10.8 percent career drop rate has partially marred his stock in an already-tumultuous period for the franchise rebuild prior to Daboll's arrival.
While individual errors have dented his stock at times, what has never been denied is his ability to secure separation as an intermediate-to-deep threat in a way few other Giants can. He watched as the organization dug into their pockets to acquire a since ineffective Golladay, watched as they traded back to Draft the oft-injured Toney and watched as they welcomed trade partners to no avail.
Sunday was evidence there remains a place for him Slayton under Daboll, whose apparent success in building a relationship with players lacking their desired snaps is testament to the environment he has created.
The Giants are 4-1 for the first time since 2009 as they prepare to take on the Baltimore Ravens in Week Six, marking a reunion for defensive coordinator Wink Martindale with his former employers.
Sky Sports NFL is your dedicated channel for NFL coverage through the season - featuring a host of NFL Network programming. Don't forget to follow us on skysports.com/nfl, our Twitter account @SkySportsNFL & Sky Sports - on the go!
