Giants nab Malik Nabers to lead WR corps

The Giants drafted WR Malik Nabers sixth overall. Nabers is an explosive athlete, confirmed by a 4.35-second 40 time and 42-inch vertical at his Pro Day. Those are 91st- and 97th-percentile marks for his position. A big play waiting to happen both after the catch and going deep, Nabers averaged 15.9 yards per catch for his college career. He flashed as a freshman at LSU and then broke out as a sophomore, leading the team with 72 catches and 1,017 yards. Then came a massive junior season: 89 catches, 1,569 yards, and 14 TDs. Nabers led the FBS in plays of 20+ yards (34) and 30+ yards (17). He also led all 286 qualifying WRs in Pro Football Focus receiving grade and ranked third in yards per route. In many ways, his 2023 season was better than Marvin Harrison Jr.’s. Nabers isn’t as polished as Harrison, needing work on his route running and ball skills. But his pure athleticism should create plenty of 2024 fantasy value. And his long-term fantasy ceiling might be higher than Harrison’s. The Giants present opportunity for Nabers to immediately lead the team in targets. The team picking him instead of a QB in Round 1 also bodes well for the 2024 fantasy outlook of QB Daniel Jones, who has been going at the bottom of QB3 territory in early best ball drafting.