Giants WR Isaiah Hodgins Faces Uphill Battle to Make Roster in a Crowded Wide Receiver Room

With 14 receivers under contract and versatile veterans in the mix, Hodgins must prove he's more than a depth option to survive final cuts.

Dec 28, 2025; Paradise, Nevada, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins (89) moves the ball after a catch in the first quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

This New York Giants wide receiver room has some familiar faces from the 2025 season, but it has also added a lot more talent, making it, overall, a room with volume right now, with 14 receivers currently under contract.

The top of the room should be mostly set for the season, with Malik Nabers, when healthy, Darius Slayton, and Darnell Mooney all having sizable guarantees to keep them on the roster.

That leaves about 10 more receivers, with Gunner Olszewski out for the season, competing for the final 3-5 spots in the room.

At the X, the Giants have built a stable of options with Nabers, veteran Isaiah Hodgins, second-year UDFA Beaux Collins, rookie third-round draft pick Malachi Fields, and Tanner Conner.

The X-receiver is generally the big-bodied option that, while they struggle to consistently create separation, excel at making tough catches through contact and stretching the field. These characteristics are among the main reasons that the X is valued so highly.

The Giants will likely keep two or three of those options at most. Nabers can play all over the formation, so it makes sense to keep two pure X options to maintain that flexibility.

If Nabers isn’t capable of playing at the start of the season, keeping two X receivers would likely be the direction that the Giants go.

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Isaiah Hodgins, WR

Height: 6-3
Weight: 200
EXP: 6 Years
School: Oregon State
How Acquired: FA-’25

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2025 in Review

Hodgins spent the 2025 season bouncing around the NFL, as he was with the San Francisco 49ers through the preseason before being released at final cutdowns.

A few weeks later, he would sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers for two months before the Giants signed him off the Steelers' practice squad.

Hodgins would make his regular-season debut in week 11 against the Green Bay Packers and would become a consistent part of the rotation for the remainder of the season, finishing with 10 catches for 115 yards and a touchdown on 19 targets.

Alignment-wise, Hodgins played215 snaps lined up out wide, 136 snaps in the slot, and 12 more snaps lined up in-line.

Contract/Cap Info

Hodgins is signed to a one-year contract worth $1,240,000 with no guaranteed money attached, so if the Giants decided to cut or trade him, there would be no dead cap penalty incurred.

Unfortunately for Hodgins, like many players near the bottom of the roster, he has a contract with major implications for his job security, on top of positional competition.

Because Hodgins doesn’t make much and is on a one-year deal, the likelihood of him being released to create contract space is fairly slim. He also has the positive of making a similar amount to six other receivers with no guarantees.

On the flip side, no guaranteed money means that if the Giants are considering releasing him at any point, there’s no security blanket of guarantees to keep him on the roster.

2026 Preview

Hodgins has a bit of an uphill battle in front of him to make the Giants roster, in my opinion.

With the possibility that the Giants only keep one X receiver behind Nabers and opt to have more versatile players like Odell Beckham Jr. and JuJu Smith-Schuster, it’s important to solidify himself atop the position.

Considering his NFL experience and contract situation, Hodgins is most likely to compete with Collins more than with Fields for a spot, since Fields is a third-round rookie the Giants traded up for.

Collins’ youth will likely work against Hodgins, but the Giants could think that there’s also a possibility that they could store Collins on the practice squad and keep Hodgins on the main roster.

Hodgins has been productive through most of his career when the opportunities are there, but there’s a reason that he hasn’t consistently been on rosters to get those opportunities.

Unfortunately for Hodgins, special teams could play a part in those decisions at the bottom of the room, and that’s an area he’s only played three snaps through his career.

This new Giants offense will likely require outside receivers to make tough catches in the short and intermediate range with digs and hitches, but working vertically is a must.

Throughout his career, Hodgins has carved out a role for himself attacking vertically, with a career average depth of target of 9.0 yards, but he lacks the ability to consistently create yards after the catch, which could limit his chances of making the roster.

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