Philadelphia Eagles: Darius Slay finally gets shot at Kenny Golladay

Darius Slay seems like he knows how to bring it at practice.

He and DeVonta Smith have been mucking it up for months now at Philadelphia Eagles practices, suggesting that one could play the other’s positions with ease, and for the most part, the duo have made each other better, as their respective stat lines clearly indicate.

But before Slay was a member of the Eagles, he spent seven years as a member of the Detroit Lions, where he tested the mettle of wide receivers like Golden Tate, Calvin Johnson, and his soon-to-be Week 12 foe Kenny Golladay, who was drafted in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Northern Illinois. Though Slay and Golladay were only teammates for three years, the latter went from a part-time starter as a rookie to a legit Pro Bowler during his shared tenure with the team and earned a massive extension one year after the former was traded to the City of Brotherly Love.

So, as Darius Slay and Kenny Golladay prepare to face off for the first time in his career, let’s see what fans should expect from the former Detroit Lions Pro-Bowl receiver and see what the Philadelphia Eagles’ soon-to-be Pro Bowl cornerback has to do to slow him down.

The Philadelphia Eagles need to keep the top on the New York Giants offense.

Kenny Golladay has appeared in seven of the New York Giants’ 10 games so far this season. He’s caught 58.8 percent of the passes thrown his way, good for 322 yards on 20 catches, and has yet to see the endzone for an offense that has only scored 10 touchdowns through the air so far this season.

Fun fact: The New York Giants don’t have a single receiver or tight end who has appeared in every game, a fact that I would imagine makes Daniel Jones‘ life a whole lot harder.

When actually on the field, Golladay has averaged the second-most yards-per-reception of any Giants receiver behind reigning NFL combine 40-yard dash champion John Ross III, and has the second-highest yards-per-game on the team behind only slot receiver Sterling Shepard. While rookie first-round pick Kadarius Toney currently has the most receiving yards on the team, and Shepard is probably their most reliable offensive option, Golladay is undoubtedly the team’s most polished outside option, and thus should be looked at as such heading into Week 12.

Enter Darius Slay, who will surely be tasked with shutting that business down before it becomes a problem.

Measuring in at 6-foot-4, 213 pounds, Golladay is a strong, big-bodied receiver with good lateral quickness and 4.5 speed. Since 2018, Golladay has earned roughly 26 percent of his total yards after the catch, which is below average, but he’s a more than capable big-bodied receiver equally effective on 50-50 balls on the sideline as he is on slant routes across the middle of the field. While Slay is physically one of the better cornerbacks in the NFL to go toe-to-toe with Golladay, as his combination of height/length/speed is equal to or even better than his foe, Golladay still has an advantage in that he knows where the ball is going on any given snap and will be able to position his body in the perfect, well, position to make a play. For Slay to combat that, he needs to keep Golladay in his hip pocket, watch the eyes of Jones, and fight the would-be pass catcher throughout his route, especially at the line of scrimmage. Slay is much faster than Golladay, so he can afford to be a bit more aggressive around the ball and know that if he does mess up, his recovery speed should surface to prevent a massive gain after the catch, which, again, is not where Golladay shines.

But hey, none of that is anything new to Slay; I mean, he did go against the former Lion for years in practice, and still considers him a good friend to this day. If there’s anyone Jonathan Gannon should talk to before the game opens up in Week 12, it’s Darius Slay.

Will Jonathan Gannon actually put Darius Slay on Kenny Golladay for the entirety of the Philadelphia Eagles game against the New York Giants? Maybe, maybe not.  I mean, he certainly benefited from putting Slay on D.J. Moore when the team played the Carolina Panthers and has found success strategically placing the soon-to-be four-time Pro Bowler in the best possible position to succeed, as his defensive touchdowns show. But if Darius Slay does get to take on his former teammate, expect some seriously fun fighting between the NFL’s premier perimeter cornerback and a receiver looking to start his comeback versus an old friend turned foe.