The New York Giants have faltered in recent seasons, and one team great thinks that their underwhelming receiving corps is part of the problem.
Amani Toomer, the Giants’ all-time leading receiver, was critical of the team’s wideouts in a recent interview with Paul Schwartz of the New York Post.
“I think it’s lacking,” said Toomer of the Giants’ receiving talent. “I’m a little disappointed with [Sterling] Shepard, I don’t know. My dad always used to tell me, ‘He’s hell when he’s well, he’s just sick all the time.’ That’s what I think when I think of him. He’s just always, there’s always something hurt, or something. I think Golden Tate is just a tougher version of him. Basically they’re the same receiver, but Golden Tate is a tougher version of him.
“I’m still confused on why they got rid of Odell [Beckham Jr],” Toomer added. “Really confused. And every time I ask somebody in the office, it’s like, ‘Well, it was a fit thing’ and all this nebulous, circumstantial stuff. Or, ‘Oh he wasn’t a good fit in the locker room.’ But everybody I talked to loved him. Even the trainers all loved him. So I don’t know. They went from having a strength to now it’s a position where they need something else.”
Toomer did also say though that he thinks 23-year-old Darius Slayton is “the guy that has the most upside” of the team’s receivers.
Receiving talent was indeed a strong point for the Giants back when Toomer played for them, especially when he was alongside the likes of Plaxico Burress and Steve Smith. Eli Manning also enjoyed a number of other quality weapons to throw to over the course of his career including Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, and, more recently, Beckham.
Now that the team has moved into the Daniel Jones era though, the same can no longer be said. As for the Beckham trade, Toomer is not the only former Giant who was unpleased about the team making that move.
