Meet the New York Giants' "Comeback Kids"

Receivers Darius Slayton, Richie James, and Isaiah Hodgins have risen to the occasion for the Giants as they continue a push toward the playoffs.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Dec 27, 2022 4:08 PM EST

In this story:

New York Giants

Things could have been worse for the New York Giants' passing game, which began the year hoping for big things from receivers Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney, Sterling Shepard, and rookie second-round draft pick Wan'Dale Robinson.

New York was likely hoping that Collin Johnson, a 6-foot-6 skyscraper of a receiver who was a holdover from the previous coaching staff's roster, would provide some additional firepower.

Instead, the Giants' worst nightmare came to fruition. Johnson suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in training camp. Golladay again dealt with injury issues, but there were questions about his practice efforts which have since led to his banishment from the offense--he's played in just three offensive snaps in the last two games.

Toney, the oft-injured first-round draft pick by the Giants in 2021, was sent packing just before the trade deadline.

And Shepard, who had bravely battled his way back from a torn Achilles suffered late in the 2021 campaign, ended up tearing his ACL.

All of that could have been enough for the Giants to throw up their hands and call it a season. Still, thanks to contributions from the most unlikely sources, the passing game, which no one will mistake for a juggernaut, has held its own thanks to the comeback stories of Darius Slayton, Richie James, and Isaiah Hodgins.

"I think we all have something to prove," Slayton said. "I don’t think we’ve proven whatever it is that we’ve got to prove yet. We still got to do more. So, it’s not a time for us to get complacent."

Darius Slayton: Perseverance

Slayton's four-year NFL career can best be described as a rollercoaster. After recording an impressive rookie season in 2019 in which he led the team in touchdowns with eight, the next two seasons saw him struggle with injuries--and with that, a loss of confidence.

Things got so bad for Slayton that at the start of the year, after having earned a pay increase due to the league's performance escalator clause, Slayton had to either take a pay cut or lose his roster spot if he wanted to remain with the Giants.

He chose to take the cut and just continue to work at his craft, hoping that he'd get his opportunity to show what he could do at some point.

After being inactive for the first game and then not seeing any pass targets in the next two games, Slayton's chances began to come when the top three guys ahead of him began to fall off the scene. He's averaged 5.6 pass targets in his last 12 games, catching an average of 3.66 of those balls for an average of 37.5 yards per game.

Although he currently has a career-high seven dropped balls, Slayton's 12 deep receptions of 20+ yards puts him in good company with the likes of 49ers tight end George Kittle, Patriots receiver Jakobi Meyers, Saints receiver Chris Olave, and Chiefs receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

He's also averaging 16.1 yards per catch, 11th among all NFL receivers with a minimum of 17 receptions, and leads all Giants receiving targets with 710 yards.

Earlier this year, Slayton revealed that the key to staying locked was to block out the outside noise and focus on what's important.

"Yeah, I credit my parents for that," Slayton told Giants Country earlier this year. "You know, they always instilled humility, but also like self-confidence. You can't feed into the outside noise, good or bad--you believe in yourself."

Richie James: Resiliency

James has also been authoring a comeback story of his own. Cast aside by the 49ers after dealing with a season-ending knee injury suffered last year, James began the season with the Giants as a potential backup slot receiver option for Toney, who often found himself pressed into duty.

James was reliable early in the season as a receiver, catching 88 percent or better of his pass targets each game. But his world nearly came crashing down when against Seattle, he fumbled away two punts that were instrumental in the Giants losing that game and which put James's future with the team in jeopardy.

Facing a temporarily reduced role, James never let himself get down and kept grinding away. When Adoree' Jackson, who had taken over the punt return duties for him, suffered a knee sprain, James returned to the role and has been mostly pristine with his ball security since.

As a receiver, he's caught 30 of 38 pass targets for 302 yards and three touchdowns since Week 11.

James told Giants Country earlier this season that he had the benefit of a strong support group around him when he was going through the injury issue and might have had doubts about his NFL future.

“I had people around me that I trust and who believed in me, telling me to go out there and be the best I can be," he said. "So all that helped motivate me in working back from that injury.”

Currently, James is second on the Giants with 494 receiving yards, behind Slayton, and his 83.3 percent catch rate is second behind tight end Daniel Bellinger among Giants receiving targets with at least 30 targets.

James and teammate Hodgins share the team lead with three receiving touchdowns each, and he's been the third-most targeted player in the Giants' passing game behind Saquon Barkley and Slayton.

James credited teammate Tyrod Taylor for helping him through his ups and downs.

”Just from listening to Tyrod, the dude's been through everything in his career, and I’m like, ‘How do you stay in this so long?’ He’s like, ‘Man, just understand, bro. You gonna have good times and bad times, but as long as you stay the course and just work on yourself and believe in yourself, you’re good,” he said.

Isaiah Hodgins: Determination

Hodgins, the son of former NFL fullback James Hodgins, a Super Bowl champion with the St. Louis Rams's "Greatest Show on Turf," is the latest of a series of guys that were no longer wanted by a previous team but who have flourished since being picked up by the Giants.

Initially scouted and drafted in the sixth round of the 2020 draft by the Buffalo Bills (then the employer of Giants general manager Joe Schoen), Hodgins had the misfortune of missing his rookie campaign with a shoulder injury and then dealing with a knee injury for most of 2021.

He was finally healthy in 2022, appearing in two games for the Bills, but became expendable on a team whose receivers included Gabriel Davis, Stefon Diggs, Isaiah McKenzie, and rookie Khalil Shakir.

Schoen and the Giants wasted no time picking up the 6-foot-4, 210-pound Hodgins, and he's been nothing short of a "johnny on the spot" for a Giants receiving corps that at one point looked desolate.

"He’s been very consistent for us. He’s done a great job moving the sticks," Slayton said of his young teammate. "He’s a little bit bigger-bodied of a guy. And he does a good job of making contested catches and catches in the middle of the field.

"But as he showed the other day, he hit (Vikings cornerback) Patrick Peterson with a double move, and he got down the field a little bit, too. Sometimes, he tends to maybe overthink his speed a little bit (laughs), but he can run. So, he’s been a good addition to our team, and I’m glad to have him."

In seven games with four starts, Hodgins has caught 29 of 36 pass targets (80.6 percent) for 309 yards (10.7 yards/reception) and three touchdowns.

Although Hodgins was already familiar with the Giants offense after having played in Buffalo when his offensive coordinator was Brian Daboll, the Giants head coach, what's been particularly impressive about his performance is how quickly he's been able to find chemistry with quarterback Daniel Jones.

"I think he’s smart, tough, dependable," Daboll said. "He works extremely hard. In between periods, he’s usually throwing there with Daniel on a variety of routes, or they’re talking about things that we’ve installed and make sure that he sees it through the eyes of a quarterback. So, he’s done a good job for us since he’s been here."

Preparing for a Big Role

After contributing to quarterback Daniel Jones's second-highest passing yardage total (334) of the season last week, this weekend, the trio of Slayton, James, and Hodgins will face a Colts pass defense that currently ranks 11th (206.1 yards/game) and 13th in average yards per pass play allowed (6.53).

Slayton is confident that he and his fellow receivers will be up for the challenge, which, if they can contribute as they believe they can, will go a long way toward helping the Giants capture their first postseason berth since 2016.

"I think everybody in our room has the ability; everybody in our room has talent," he said. "This league’s really just about waiting for your opportunity and, when you get your opportunity, capitalizing on it."