Former Giants WR Amani Toomer rips current receiving corps: 'I think it's lacking'

The current trio of Tate, Shepard and Slayton has flaws to the Super Bowl champ

6/2/2020, 10:42 PM
Ex-New York Giants' Amani Toomer waves before the NFL football game between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009, in New York. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams) / Henny Ray Abrams/AP
Ex-New York Giants' Amani Toomer waves before the NFL football game between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009, in New York. (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams) / Henny Ray Abrams/AP

Former Giants WR Amani Toomer, the franchise's record holder in career receptions, isn't a big fan of the current wide receivers the team has on its roster. 

"I think it's lacking," he told the New York Post's Paul Schwartz

Toomer was a part of a great starting group that included Plaxico Burress and Steve Smith. It's a group that helped New York win Super XLII. 

The current trio of Golden Tate, Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton doesn't impress Toomer in the slightest. But there's nothing to do about changing that with the Giants not addressing the position this offseason. 

Toomer targeted the receivers in his explanation as to why, starting with Shepard, who is coming off a disappointing year that saw concussion issues hurt his time on the field. 

"I'm a little disappointed With Shepard, I don't know," Toomer explained. "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."

Shepard has been great for the Giants since coming in as a second-round pick back in 2016. His numbers consistently rose for the first three seasons, as he built chemistry with Eli Manning and worked as a perfect complement to No. 1 receiver, Odell Beckham Jr. However, last season was entirely different, with concussions not allowing him to get in a groove with new quarterback Daniel Jones

He had 576 yards over 10 games, and that must hurt in a season where Beckham was gone and he was expected to take a big step forward into a possible No. 1 receiver role. But that role went to Golden Tate, who the Giants signed immediately after Beckham was traded to the Browns. And that really wasn't the case either.

Toomer doesn't see anything different in Tate than he does in Shepard. Their games are eerily similar. 

"I think Golden Tate is just a tougher version of him," Toomer said. "Basically they're the same receiver, but Golden Tate is a tougher version of him."

Finally, there's Slayton, the Giants' fifth-round pick a year ago that looks to be a late-round steal after his rookie performance of 740 yards on 48 receptions with eight touchdowns. His speed and big-play ability gives Toomer some hope for the group. 

"I think he's the guy that has the most upside," he said. 

At the end of the day, he still thinks they need more. And that's because they gave away their biggest strength in Beckham.

"They went from having a strength to now it's a position where they need something else," Toomer said. 

Is that really the case? Maybe so. But this group also had a tough time staying on the field last season due to injury. In fact, this starting trio never once played a single game together. Someone was always hurt or, in Tate's case at the beginning of the year, suspended. 

Maybe that's why the Giants believe they are well equipped at wideout in 2020, where they will hopefully see all three of these receivers working alongside one another as well as Saquon Barkley and Evan Engram (another player stymied by injury last year). 

For Toomer, he'll have to see it to believe it.

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