Super Bowl champion WR shares advice for Giants' Malik Nabers

Long before the New York Giants made wide receiver Malik Nabers the sixth overall pick of this year's draft, wideout Hakeem Nicks joined the organization as the 29th choice of the 2009 player-selection process. 

"Focus on the task," Nicks told Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post about what Nabers must do as a rookie. "The main thing is you got drafted to be a wide receiver and play football. Everything else that comes, don’t jump on the wave. That’s my advice. Because if you ride it when it’s up, you better be able to take it when it goes down. Just do what you do that got you to this point." 

Of course, the Giants of roughly 15 years ago are quite different from the team Nabers is part of this spring. Nicks ultimately became a vital part of the squad that featured quarterback/franchise legend Eli Manning and that won Super Bowl XLVI. Meanwhile, current New York signal-caller Daniel Jones could be shown the door by general manager Joe Schoen as soon as next March. 

It's also possible that Nabers could help Jones reclaim the form that resulted in the 2019 first-round draft pick signing a four-year contract last offseason. 

"He kind of reminds me of myself, looking at his run-after-the-catch," Nicks said about Nabers. "Not one person is going to bring him down. He showed on his film that he can take a little slant and take it to the house, kind of Odell Beckham-style. LSU, they breed some good wide receivers down there. I’m happy with that pick." 

The Giants explored moving up from what became the Nabers pick to get quarterback Drake Maye but didn't offer the New England Patriots enough to stop them from taking Maye at No. 3. Schoen and company then grabbed Nabers when signal-callers Michael Penix Jr., J.J. McCarthy and Bo Nix were all on the board.

Some fans inevitably will compare Nabers to the four quarterbacks who potentially could've ended up with the Giants on April 25. Nicks reminded Nabers to block out such potential distractions over the next several months. 

"You can’t put too much emphasis on being that first-round pick," Nicks added. "You put emphasis on being the best team player you can be."