BREAKING: Malik Nabers of LSU Has Skills That Are Similar to Those of This Former Giants Receiver

For years, the New York Giants have struggled to produce at wide receiver. The last receiver to surpass 1,000 yards in a season since Odell Beckham Jr. was traded to the Browns in 2019 is Darius Slayton, a wide receiver for the Giants who finished 2023 with 770 yards. The Giants’ potential moves in the first round of the draft are still up for debate. Some predict they will do whatever it takes to acquire a franchise quarterback, while others think they will stick with drafting a receiver. If the Giants are really serious about improving their receiving corps, some even think they may trade down a few spots to acquire additional draft picks.

Probably more than any other player this offseason, Nabers has been made fun of by the Giants on several occasions. The LSU graduate just finished a fantastic 2023 campaign in which he averaged 17.6 yards per grab while catching 89 passes for 1,569 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Nabers scored more than 100 yards in nine of the twelve games he participated in the regular season this past season. Against Mississippi State, he had his greatest game, catching 13 catches for 239 yards and two touchdowns.

The latest draft expert to project Nabers to the Giants is Gennaro Filice of NFL.com, who recently released his first mock draft of the off-season. On his board, Filice places the top three quarterbacks—USC’s Caleb Williams, UNC’s Drake Maye, and LSU’s Jayden Daniels—as the first three picks. Filice then had tight end Brock Bowers of Georgia and receiver Marvin Harrison, Jr. of OSU heading to Los Angeles and Arizona, respectively. That left Nabers as the Giants’ selection; a receiver who reminds people of Beckham’s ability to create plays while he was a member of the Giants.

A playmaking receiver who measured about 6 feet tall and 200 pounds was selected by the Giants ten years ago out of LSU. It’s a hard order to expect the strikingly comparable Nabers to duplicate Odell Beckham Jr.’s incredible NFL debut (see: 1,300+ yards and double-digit touchdowns in each of his first three seasons). Nevertheless, the 20-year-old would surely add the required spark to Brian Daboll’s passing attack. It would be nostalgic to see the Giants select an LSU receiver in the tenth round, ten years after selecting Beckham. Beckham caught 390 receptions (out of 622 targets) for 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns during his five seasons with the Giants.

With the exception of 2017, when an ankle injury ended the season four games into the campaign, Beckham had 1,000-yard seasons in four of his five seasons. This put him among the greatest at his position and set him up to be one of the best wide receivers in the history of the game. With 1,305 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns in just 12 games, he still maintains the Giants rookie records for receiving yards and touchdowns. The eventual Rookie of the Year winner missed the opening month of his rookie campaign due to a hamstring injury.

Nabers can definitely be likened to Beckham in terms of explosiveness and ability to create plays. Nabers leads all draftable receivers targeted in at least 80% of their team’s passing attempts with 14 receiving touchdowns, making him the #1 receiver prospect according to PFF this year.
Nabers was selected as a 2023 Consensus All-American. He led the SEC in receptions in 2022 and 2023 and set a record in 2023 with 1,569 receiving yards. That’s the kind of playmaker the Giants offense would probably be happy to have on board as it looks to improve as an explosive and more vertical passing approach.