Hodgins’ contributions helped the sixth-seeded Giants advance to the divisional playoff game vs. the top-seeded Eagles on Saturday. That is quite a rapid rise for someone who was a relative unknown when he arrived 11 weeks ago.
“I would definitely say it’s a surreal moment,” Hodgins said today. “I never look past it. I knew that I could do this, but just to be there sitting back looking at a couple months ago, I was getting cut from one team. And now, I’m playing in the second round of the playoffs. Sometimes I get that overwhelming feeling of just like, ‘Man, I’m so blessed to be here and I’m so thankful.’ I just try to remind myself of that every day.”
Hodgins has teamed with Darius Slayton and James to give the Giants a surprising but valuable trio of wideouts. Against the Vikings, they combined for 16 catches for 224 yards. In the eight games from Hodgins’ debut through the Jan. 1 victory against Indianapolis that clinched the Giants’ berth in the postseason, they totaled 100 receptions for 1,599 yards and eight touchdowns.
“Those guys have done a great job,” quarterback Daniel Jones said. “I’m certainly not surprised. I don’t think guys on this team are surprised by that. They’re really good players who have the ability to impact the game in a lot of different ways. They’ve all played at a really high level throughout this season m, so a lot of credit to them. They’ve showed up time and time again making plays.”
Hodgins entered the NFL out of Oregon State as a 2020 sixth-round draft choice by the Bills. At the time, Buffalo’s assistant general manager was Joe Schoen and the offensive coordinator was Brian Daboll, the two figures who now head the Giants’ football decision-making.
As a rookie, Hodgins spent the entire year on injured reserve and underwent shoulder surgery on Dec. 4. His 2021 season consisted entirely of four snaps at New England on Dec. 26. When the Bills released Hodgins on Nov. 1, they hoped to sign him to their practice squad the following day. But Schoen and Daboll had always been impressed with Hodgins’ skill and work ethic and quickly claimed him.
“On that day, it was definitely a roller coaster,” Hodgins said. “I was just at home kind of relaxing, thinking, ‘Dang. I just got cut. Hopefully I get brought back onto the active in a couple of weeks. And I got to work my way back up.’ And then I started getting all the Facetime calls and texts from Daboll like I was coming over here. And a couple hours later, I was on the flight,…
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