With the Eli Manning era officially over for the Giants, everything is now in the hands of quarterback Daniel Jones.
Moving forward, Jones will have at least one go-to option in the coming years in a fellow rookie from 2019 in WR Darius Slayton.
Speaking on the latest happenings with the Giants' quarterback room, the wideout expressed loads of confidence in his QB heading into the offseason.
"I think he did really well as a rookie. The hard part is you come to find out that every single week, you're learning something new with each new opponent," Slayton told The Daily Gazette. "He's got a year under his belt. I think he's going to take off next year."
Jones jumped in for Manning much earlier than most anticipated, with former head coach Pat Shurmur electing to give the starting quarterback duties to the rookie in Week 3. Despite his rawness, Jones impressed and in 13 games played, completed 61.9 percent of his passes for 3,027 yards, 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He also added a different element to the Giants offense, rushing for 278 yards as well.
Jones previously raved about Slayton and the growing chemistry between the two, calling him a dependable playmaker.
"He's a really good player. I think he's come up for us and made a lot of big-time plays. I think we all have a lot of trust in him. He's super talented and has speed and athleticism, but he's shown to make those contested catches, the tough catches with people on him," Jones told reporters in October.
But while optimistic about his future with Jones, Slayton also looked back fondly on some of his limited playing time with Manning.
"He's a legend of the game. A New York legend, somebody I have a tremendous amount of respect for," Slayton added. "Not everybody has the opportunity to play with someone of that caliber. It's an honor."
Slayton, ended up catching the final touchdown pass of Manning's career in the later stages of the season. The wideout said he let Manning take that game ball home.
"I wanted to keep [the football], but I think [Eli] has it," Slayton said.