The New York Giants started a new era on Sunday with Jaxson Dart at QB in place of Russell Wilson. While Dart led the team to a big win, it came at a huge cost since Malik Nabers was lost for the season after tearing his ACL. With Nabers out, can Darius Slayton step up and be a viable fantasy option the rest of the season?
Let’s take a look at the Giants’ wide receiver options now that Nabers is out and see how the targets and production will be divided in Dart’s new offense.
Is Darius Slayton the replacement for Malik Nabers?
Slayton was already playing just about every snap for the Giants before Nabers’ injury, but he matched his season-high with four targets in Week 4 and hauled in three catches for 44 yards and 7.4 fantasy points.
After going catchless in Week 1, Slayton has at least 7.0 fantasy points in each of the last three weeks.
When Nabers missed two games last season, Slayton stepped up with 11 targets in back-to-back games. He hauled in eight catches for 122 receiving yards and a touchdown against the Seahawks and followed that up with six catches for 57 yards the next week against the Bengals.
He had a 29.3% targets share and 56.9% air-yard share in those two games along with a 36.5% first-read share.
However, that was in a different offense with a different QB. With Dart and rookie Cam Skattebo in the backfield, the offense will likely be conservative and run-heavy, which could limit Slayton’s ceiling in most matchups.
That being said, he’s still worth adding in almost all leagues to see how he clicks with Dart and if he can be a down-field threat. He has a WR2 ceiling, but he’s better used as a flex play and a bye-week fill-in in favorable matchups.
The rest of the receiving room
Wan’Dale Robinson will also likely get more attention without Nabers, but he only had three catches for 14 yards in Dart’s debut.
Jalin Hyatt had played just six snaps all season before playing 29 snaps in Week 4, mostly after Nabers left. He didn’t have a target or a catch, but he has flashed upside in very limited work.
Dart’s one touchdown pass went to tight end Theo Johnson, who is a strong TE2 pickup since he typically gets plenty of PPR production, even though he’s less of a dynamic downfield threat.
Skattebo will also catch plenty of passes out of the backfield as a two-way threat.
The Bottom Line
Dart has the upside to be a dual-threat QB1 as he learns Brian Daboll’s offense, and he and Skattebo will be the focal point of the attack.
Both Robinson and Slayton will have upside that could make them flex plays, but could be inconsistent as the offense grows with Dart.
For one-week contests, like this week’s NFL $2.75M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st] on DraftKings, the Giants are in a good spot, though, since they take on the Saints. If you need a value play, Slayton could be a steal at only $4,300 and Johnson is a great tight end to consider at only $3,400. While they may not be reliable the rest of the way, at least for this week’s soft matchup, they should be good DraftKings values.
