My Time with Darius Slayton
Alright, let’s talk about Darius Slayton in dynasty leagues. Man, this guy. I remember grabbing him, probably off waivers or super late in a rookie draft, back when he first popped off with the Giants. You saw those flash weeks, right? Deep balls, touchdowns. I thought, “Okay, maybe I found something here.” You always chase that upside in dynasty, especially when it’s cheap.
So I got him on my roster. And then the rollercoaster started. Owning Slayton has been… an experience. He’d have a game, maybe catch like 5 passes for 90 yards and a score, and I’d get excited again. Thinking, “This is it, he’s finally putting it together.” Plugged him into my lineup the next week feeling pretty smart.
The Frustration Cycle
Then what happens? Crickets. Maybe 1 catch for 8 yards. Or just nothing. It was maddening. You couldn’t trust him week-to-week, not really. A lot of it felt tied to the Giants offense in general, and Daniel Jones. Sometimes they’d connect deep, other times it felt like they weren’t even on the same page. Or he’d just disappear from the game plan entirely.
- You’d see the athletic ability.
- You’d see the big play potential.
- Then you’d see the goose eggs.
I held him for a long time, longer than maybe I should have. Why? Well, partly because nobody ever really wanted to pay up for him in trades. When he had a good game, people figured it was a fluke. When he had bad games, well, his value was obviously low. So you get stuck. You see the potential, you remember the good weeks, and you think, “Maybe this year is different.”
Where He Stands Now (For Me)
He’s still hanging around on the end of my bench in one league. It’s like… you know what you’re getting. A guy who might give you a usable week once or twice a season when you’re desperate, but mostly just takes up space. He’s the definition of a JAG – Just A Guy – for fantasy, even if he has that deep speed.
Trying to trade him now feels pointless. What are you gonna get? A future 4th round pick, maybe? So he sits there. Maybe he has another random blow-up game someday. Maybe not. Holding Slayton taught me a bit about chasing those inconsistent flashes. Sometimes it’s better to just cut bait and use the roster spot on someone with a clearer path, even if their ceiling isn’t quite as high on paper.
It wasn’t some league-winning move grabbing him, that’s for sure. More like a constant reminder of “almost” in my dynasty journey. You live and learn, right?
