Who Should I Start? Brandin Cooks or Darius Slayton

Sunday, June 7, 5:50 AM

New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton is slated to miss the entirety of the team's spring offseason program after undergoing surgery for a core-muscle injury in late April, but he is expected back for the start of training camp in what will likely be late July. When he does return to practice, the receiver room will look much different than the one he last occupied, with the Giants spending a 2026 third-round pick on Malachi Fields before doling out low-money contracts to Odell Beckham Jr., JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Braxton Berrios, to go along with the earlier free agent signings of Darnell Mooney and Calvin Austin III. While the depth chart could shake out in any number of ways, none of them particularly attractive for fantasy, the biggest question mark pertaining to the Giants receiver room is the health of 2024 first-round pick Malik Nabers, who continues to work his way back from the complicated knee injury that ended his sophomore campaign. With Nabers shelved for most of the year, Slayton finished second on the team with 538 receiving yards, but even with the Giants' leading receiver, Wan'Dale Robinson, departing in free agency, the situation has become far less conducive to fantasy success for the 29-year-old veteran. After a WR64 finish in 2025, Slayton has fallen to RotoBaller's dynasty WR136.