NFL
New York Giants 2024 Training Camp Preview: WR Isaiah Hodgins
Isaiah Hodgins quickly became a New York Giants fan favorite during the final stretch of the 2022 season, catching 33 passes for 351 yards and four touchdowns over eight games.
He even had a 105-yard, one-touchdown performance in the Giants’ 31-24 Wild Card victory over the Vikings–doing all this despite coming to East Rutherford midway through the season.
In 2022, the bottom fell out for Hodgins, whose role was vastly reduced in the Giants’ offense. His season numbers fell drastically–he finished with 21 receptions and three very important touchdown catches, each coming in a Giants win–despite his appearing in all 17 games.
This year, he’s in a very crowded wide receiver room with no assurance of making it. Hodgins, who had been an RFA, was re-signed late in the process, which could suggest the Giants might have been looking to move on from him.
Will there be a place for Hodgins on the 2024 roster? He’s looking at a crowded receivers room, but he does have some attributes that could give him a competitive edge.
Height: 6-3
Weight: 200 lbs.
Exp: 4
School: Oregon State
How acquired: FA-22
Hodgins wasn’t able to replicate his 2022 numbers but put up respectable stats considering his role and how dysfunctional the Giants’ offense was in 2023. He had 21 catches for 230 yards and three touchdowns.
He still was able to make his mark not just by scoring touchdowns (his total was second on the team behind Saquon Barkley and Darus Slayton) in the Giants’ winning efforts but also by proving himself to be the best blocking receiver of the lot.
Hodgins also has the most reliable hands on the team–of the six Giants receivers who had at least 20 pass targets, Hodgins only had one dropped ball, tying him with now former receiver Parris Campbell for the fewest drops on the team among the receiver group.
Hodgins re-signed with the Giants this offseason to a one-year, $1,035,000 contract with $300,000 guaranteed and a $25,000 workout bonus.
If Hodgins were to be cut, the Giants would eat $325,000 in dead money and gain $700,000 in cap space.
Hodgins is a complementary core player who doesn’t cost a lot and does a lot of little things well. He runs crisp routes and provides a big target for the quarterback.
But he’s not a starter because he lacks the speed and explosion to jump to the next level. And he might have trouble sticking on the roster because he doesn’t contribute on special teams.
The Giants are projected to have Malik Nabers, Darius Slayton, Wan’Dale Robinson, and Jalin Hyatt as their first four receivers. None of those guys give the Giants much in the way of special teams.
To carry a fifth receiver in Hodgins who falls into that category might be asking a lot, especially since Gunner Olszewski and Isaiah McKenzie can give them special teams snaps.
Hodgins will have a role somewhere in the NFL in 2024. It just probably won’t be with the Giants.
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