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In Selecting Explosve Talent Malik Nabers, The New York Giants Have a #1 Wide Receiver Again

Originally posted on Gridiron Heroics | By James Foster | Last updated 4/26/24

Malik Nabers is waking up this morning a member of the New York Giants. Night one of the 2024 NFL Draft was a wild affair, yet the Giants made perhaps one of the least surprising selections of the entire evening. Joe Schoen and the Giants’ Front Office pushed hard for Drake Maye, but the team ultimately stayed at the 6th selection.

In doing so, the Giants also defied other expectations of taking National Champion quarterback JJ McCarthy to bring home the team’s first true #1 Wide Reciever since another LSU product was selected 12th by the club in 2014. With the team having secured their new top target at the position, what will he bring to New York and how much of an impact can he make on the much-criticized Daniel Jones?

What Will Malik Nabers Bring to New York?

Malik Nabers spent three seasons at LSU, and while his career started slowly, 2023 was his true breakout campaign for the Tigers. In the 2023 campaign led by his Heisman-winning teammate Jayden Daniels, Nabers hauled in 89 passes for just short of 1600 yards and 14 touchdowns. While LSU fell short of a trip to the College Football Playoff, Nabers joined his teammates Daniels and Brian Thomas Jr. in hearing their names called on Thursday evening.

The number one thing to know about Malik Nabers is that he would not have fallen to the sixth selection in any other draft. Nabers can create space for himself in the short and middle-range passing game and turn the short plays into much more for an offense that finished 2023 as one of the league’s worst, and his deep play abilities need no introduction. Despite the quarterback situation still being rather ambiguous overall, Nabers will step right in and be a dependable target for Daniel Jones–or whoever else might be stepping into the starting mantle from day one.

Giants’ Front Office Reaction

Joe Schoen and his contingent did heavy work throughout this draft process. Most of it was centered on the quarterbacks, but significant attention was also paid to the wide receiver group. Schoen had personally witnessed some of LSU’s contests this past season, and here is what the third-year GM ultimately said about the selection and why Rome Odunze, who went three selections later to the Chicago Bears, didn’t:

“We have a lot of meetings throughout the season. At the end of the day, we just thought Malik’s toughness, separation speed, not that Rome doesn’t have those things when we came down to it, Malik checked all those boxes,” Schoen explained. “As a person, his toughness, competitiveness, production and the versatility that he will bring to the table.”

Malik Nabers ran a 4.35 40 time, while Odunze could only manage a 4.45. Days 2 and 3 of the 2024 NFL Draft are sure to be as spectacular as the first, and the Giants will have five selections remaining to find their next man up at quarterback or fill the other substantial roster holes they presently possess.

This article first appeared on Gridiron Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

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