The team that led the NFL in passing touchdowns out of three-receiver sets last year was not the Kansas With Chiefs as one would think. It was the New York Giants (25) with their terrible quarterback, Daniel Jones, and his awful receiving corps.
That’s what people think about the Giants. Their offense gets no respect from the shoddy offensive line on down. But the truth is, their offense is respected within the business. Teams know how good Saquon Barkley is and many coaches around the league are quietly (and some not so) wishing they had young quarterback like Jones. Now that the offensive line has gotten a huge shot in the arm, expect things to ramp up even further.
One thing the Giants are good at is those three-receiver sets as mentioned above. The main reason is they have not one, but two excellent slot men in Golden Tate and Sterling Shepard. Things get even more interesting when they line Barkley or tight end Evan Engram in the slot.
But it is Tate that plays that role the best. In fact, he’s one of the best in the NFL at it as per Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar, who ranked him seventh overall in a new article listing the NFL’s 11 best slot receivers.
“Per Sports Info Solutions, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones threw 10 touchdowns to his slot receivers in 2019, and Tate caught five of those, with 41 catches on 67 targets for 552 yards,” writes Farrar. “As has been the case throughout his career, Tate was able to get open on those plays with a nice combination of speed through the route and the strength to separate, but over the last few years, his route awareness — a problem during his time in Seattle — has really advanced.”
The Giants will likely use Tate exclusively in the slot this year with Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton on the outside.
