The need for speed is always there, and the Giants caught up with a bunch of it Saturday by taking wide receiver Darius Slayton from Auburn with the second of their two picks in the fifth round.
Slayton ran the 40-yard dash in 4.39 at the scouting combine in Indianapolis, and if that speed translates to the field with the Giants, they will have uncovered a player they can use. Their receiving corps, now devoid of Odell Beckham Jr., has Sterling Shepard and Golden Tate as starters and not a whole lot of pure speed to throw at opposing cornerbacks. Slayton has it.
“I feel my biggest strength is my speed,’’ Slayton said. “I’m able to push the field vertically as well as catch the ball and have the ability to go and score. I hope to be able to help take the top off the defense and help us win games.’’
Slayton has good size, at 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, and caught 79 passes for 1,605 yards and 11 touchdowns in three years in an Auburn offense that struggled to throw the ball this past season. In 2018, he had 35 receptions for 670 yards and five touchdowns. He went wild in Auburn’s 63-14 Music City Bowl victory over Purdue, setting school records with three touchdowns and 160 receiving yards.
“I definitely think it was a nice exclamation point in my career, for sure,’’ Slayton said.
In high school in Georgia, Slayton was a top track performer, winning state titles in the 100 and 200 meters. At Auburn, Slayton had eight catches of 50-plus yards.
“He’s an outside receiver that has some inside characteristics and the 4.3 speed shows up on tape,’’ coach Pat Shurmur said. “He’s extremely fast, he can get behind the defense and we all know the effect that can have for an offense.’’
Slayton’s Giants career got off to an uncertain start moments before the team made the pick official.
“The phone just went off and it actually shows up as New Jersey,’’ Slayton said, “so my brain like didn’t register New York Giants at first.’’
When he realized where he was headed, Slayton recalled the Giants took a quarterback in the first round and still have Eli Manning. Soon enough, he will be catching passes from them and wants to prove he is more than two fast feet.
“Kind of through this process I was fighting people putting me in a box as just a deep guy,’’ Slayton said. “I have a complete game, I can run the full route tree, I can get in and out of breaks as well as beat people with my speed.’’
Kyle Shurmur, the Vanderbilt quarterback and son of the Giants’ head coach, was not drafted but immediately after the seventh round was signed by the Chiefs as a priority free agent.
“I think it’s terrific,’’ Pat Shurmur said. “Certainly my history with Andy [Reid] runs deep. As we’re watching the picks come off, certainly that was running parallel hoping that he was going to end up in a really good place, regardless of whether he was picked or not. He’s ended up in a really good place so he’ll go there, compete, he’s gonna be with a terrific team and what I consider to be an outstanding quarterback culture. I’m happy for him.’’
