Giants’ 90-man roster: Don’t forget about WR Cody Latimer

When it comes to depth behind wide receivers Golden Tate and Sterling Shepard, the New York Giants have a lot of intriguing options. Rookie fifth-round pick Darius Slayton opened some eyes with an impressive spring. Corey Coleman and his blazing speed should benefit from a full offseason with the Giants. Bennie Fowler had a good spring. Russell Shepard is a core special teams player. Undrafted free agent Reggie White Jr. flashed some promise in spring workouts.,

Don’t, however, overlook Cody Latimer. At 215 pounds, he is the biggest of the Giants wide receivers. That makes him a red zone option. He has averaged 15.1 and 17.3 yards per catch the past two seasons. He can return kickoffs and is an option as a punt gunner.

Let’s talk a little more about Latimer as we continue player-by-player profiles of the 90-man roster the Giants will bring to training camp in a few weeks.

The basics

Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 215
Age: 26
Position: Wide receiver
Experience: 5

How he got here

A 2014 second-round pick by the Denver Broncos, Latimer signed with the Giants as a free agent last season after a disappointing run in Denver. He played in just six games, catching 11 passes for 190 yards (17.3 yards per catch) and averaging 24.6 yards on five kickoff returns.

Perhaps Latimer impressed the Giants most by working diligently to put himself in position to return from injured reserve after suffering a serious hamstring injury early in the season. He was activated for the season’s final two games, and caught a season-high four passes for 72 yards in the season finale against the Dallas Cowboys.

Latimer returned to the Giants this season on a one-year, $1.5 million contract.

2019 outlook

As mentioned above, the Giants appear to have an abundance of useful wide receivers who could provide the team with depth, each with strengths of their own. Latimer is in that group.

During spring workouts, Latimer often showed up as a red zone weapon. Occasionally, he was able to use his deceptive 4.4 speed to get open deep, as well. Latimer seemed to form a nice connection with Daniel Jones while often working with the second team.

If everyone is healthy, the Giants figure to have to let at least one talented wide receiver go. That doesn’t figure to be Latimer. The guess here is that he emerges as a constant presence in the wide receiver rotation, and as a valuable special teams player.