3 Stats That Explain Why Giants Receivers Have to Be Better in 2026

From drops on second down to a red-zone unit that ranked near the bottom of the league, New York's wideouts have real work to do this training camp.

Jun 9, 2026; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Braxton Berrios (87) waits to run a drill during the minicamp activities at Quest Diagnostics Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

One of the biggest questions of the upcoming New York Giants training camp will be what the receiving corps ends up looking like.

That answer will ultimately be heavily swayed by whether Malik Nabers is ready to go at some point in camp, as both head coach John Harbaugh and general manager Joe Schoen are hoping will be the case.

But regardless of who makes up the group, there’s little question that the unit has to perform a lot better than it did a year ago–and that’s with or without Nabers in the fold.

Here is a look at three statistical categories in which the Giants' wide receivers need to vastly improve from last season.

Better Hands

New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton led the Giants wide receivers with six dropped balls, per PFF. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Last season, the Giants' receivers, regardless of where they lined up (outside or slot), dropped 13 passes. That might not seem like a lot, given that the quarterbacks attempted 301 passes to the wide receivers, but upon closer inspection, what matters most is that the most drops (eight) occurred on second down.

Why is that significant? The Giants averaged 5.4 yards per play on first downs, which isn’t bad. But instead of creating a third-and-short, a dropped pass almost always limited what the Giants could do on the money down, thereby making them more predictable.  

The bottom line is that the receivers get paid to catch the ball. Even if the pass attempt doesn’t hit the receivers squarely in the numbers, so long as it’s in their radius, they need to do a better job at cutting down the drops, particularly on key downs.  

Better Routes

New York Giants wide receiver Jalin Hyatt was the intended target on three interceptions thrown by Big Blue quarterbacks last year. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Mistakes are bound to happen, but last year the Giants' wide receivers, according to Tru Media via the Locked On Giants podcast, were charged with 20 incompletions they were to blame for, whether due to running a poor route, cutting off a route, or misjudging a ball.  

That averages out to a little more than one mistake per game by a receiver. Considering that all it often takes is one play to sway the outcome of a game, the Giants' wideouts–whoever they might be–need to eliminate receiver errors in the passing game.  

More Red Zone Production

Former New York Giants wide receiver Wan'Dale Robinson, now with the Titans, was the Most targeted Giants WR in the red zone. He had one score on 11 RZ opportunities. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

When it came to red zone scoring, the Giants were abysmal, finishing tied for 27th in the league (47.46% TD conversion rate), ironically the same conversion percentage Baltimore had in what was Harbaugh’s final year as the Ravens head coach.  

The Giants' receivers obviously didn’t help Big Blue’s red-zone production last year. New York’s receivers caught 6-of-30 pass attempts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. Of those six, only two went for touchdowns, and one went for an interception.

It’s still to be determined if the tight ends get a bigger slice of the pie as red zone receiving targets given the size advantage they present. Regardless, it behooves the receivers to do their part when opportunities arise.

• Previous Installments: Quarterbacks

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