PFF stats, snap counts: WR Darius Slayton shines for Giants

After watching Darius Slayton catch six passes for 79 yards Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, by far the most productive game of any New York Giants wide receiver, the obvious question is what took the Giants so long to take the shackles off the fourth-year receiver.

Monday’s Pro Football Focus grades from the Giants’ Week 5 victory over the Packers only exacerbate the question. Slayton (89.6) finished with the Giants’ highest offensive grade against Green Bay.

Head coach Brian Daboll said after Sunday’s game that Slayton “made the most of his opportunities when he had an opportunity to. When you make plays, you get more opportunities and he did that.”

Left tackle Andrew Thomas was the second-highest-graded offensive player at 75.3. For the second straight week, Thomas did not allow a single pressure while pass blocking.

Three Giants’ offensive linemen, Evan Neal (56.4), Ben Bredeson (55.1) and center Jon Feliciano (39.4) were among the team’s four lowest-graded offensive players.

The most interesting note from offensive snap counts is that Marcus Johnson, elevated from the practice squad for Sunday’s game, led all receivers with 47 snaps played.

On the defensive side, the top five PFF grades were:

Oshane Ximines (80.6/31 snaps); Kayvon Thibodeaux (75.0/51 snaps); Jaylon Smith (73.3/41 snaps); Dexter Lawrence (70.6/57 snaps); Julian Love (70.5/63 snaps).

The lowest-graded players were rookie safety Dane Belton (34.1/21 snaps) and rookie linebacker Micah McFadden (26.9/just four snaps).

Quick takeaways: You have to love what Smith is bringing to the defense. Also, while Thibodeaux does not yet have a sack, he did play well on Sunday.