Giants' wide receivers room could be the deepest it's been since 2016

Darius Slayton looks around the Giants’ wide receivers room and draws this conclusion: This group is the youngest and most talented one that he has been a part of.

That would figure.

Perhaps not since Victor Cruz, Odell Beckham Jr. and Sterling Shepard were catching passes from Eli Manning in 2016 have the Giants had a roster of wideouts with so much promise.

Slayton, in his sixth season, is the veteran of the group. Wan’Dale Robinson, fully recovered from an ACL tear in Week 11 of 2022, has looked particularly spry during training camp. Jalin Hyatt isn’t a rookie anymore and seems a lot more comfortable in Year Two. And this season’s rookie, Malik Nabers — drafted sixth overall — projects to be the best of the group.

For Nabers, his first NFL training camp understandably was a learning experience. He gained knowledge of what is expected in the NFL, how his fellow receivers operate and how to not dwell on his mistakes.

Although it’s pretty much impossible, Nabers expects to make every play and catch every pass. But the mental challenge remains. “Sometimes,” he said, “I want to go back in time and try to see if I can make the catch.”

During training camp, he seemed up to every task. He had an ankle issue but bounced back quickly. He chided himself for not securing more catches when the Giants and Jets had a one-day practice in Florham Park.

Accountability can go a long way in winning over teammates, and Nabers seems to recognize that. He may be the missing piece in the Giants’ puzzle when it comes to putting more points on the board this season.

The Giants scored 15.6 points per game in 2023-24, ranking 30th in the NFL, ahead of only New England and Carolina.

Slayton said the Giants’ younger receivers “can all play and haven’t reached their ceilings yet.” He also has said he’s seen growth from Robinson and Hyatt.

“I think being [here] for another year, not having to learn a new system, that helps a lot when you’re looking to play fast,” Slayton said. “That in itself helps you make strides, and I think they’ve both done a great job with that.”

Robinson said it was imperative for him to be at 100% for training camp. His return from his knee injury is complete, he said. He added that regaining his explosiveness took time, but he believes he is back to feeling like himself.

Pro Football Focus rated receivers in the 2023 season by their ability to get open. Robinson ranked second in the site’s evaluation. (Kalif Raymond of the Lions was first.)

“There would be times last year I wasn’t all of the way confident in doing what I had to do out there,” Robinson said.

It wasn’t until the Green Bay game in November that he was confident in his knee.

“I’m just really excited for this full year and being healthy,” he said. “I’ve kind of tried to take it upon myself just to do whatever I can out there on the field, teaching the guys how we do things around here. It’s nice for them to know that I can do that.”

In his sixth season, Daniel Jones has a collection of receivers who have displayed plenty of speed and quickness during training camp.

“I think we’ve got a lot of talented guys,” Jones said about his wide receivers. “A lot of guys who can step up and make plays for us and guys who bring different skill sets to the table, so I’m excited about the group of guys. I think we got a lot of speed on the field, so my job is to get it to them and let them do their thing.”

Hyatt seems to have refined his game coming off a rookie year in which he did not catch a touchdown pass. He’s been working on toe tapping and his footwork.

Asked about that, Hyatt said, “Doing your job, catching the ball when you need to catch the ball. When it hits your hands, we need to catch it. It’s our standard here. So just making the play.”

Hyatt said he feels more confident in himself and in his game.

“When I’m out there on the field, knowing the offense, knowing where the ball is going, in and out the huddle quicker, seeing defenses, knowing their coverages,” Hyatt said. “A lot of things that I’ve worked on that I still need to improve on. But we’re getting there.”

By Kimberly Jones

kimberly.jones@newsday.comkimjonessports

Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.