SI All-American Candidate Malik Nabers Highlights and Evaluation
Prospect: WR Malik Nabers
Projected Position: Wide Receiver
Status: SI All-American Candidate
Vitals: 6-foot, 190 pounds
School: Lafayette (La.) Comeaux
Committed to: Mississippi State
Frame: Adequate height with broad, developed shoulders. Good length with room to fill out in chest, upper body. Developed trunk.
Athleticism: Serious 0-100 ability, gets to well above-average top speed in just a few strides. Runs with good lean. Solid quickness and efficiency in open space, complimenting decisive style. Powerful vertical leap and rare body control, especially in the end zone.
Instincts: High School offense provides plenty of jump ball opportunities and he makes the most of them. An artist in the air with timing, leaping ability and finishing skill. Catches the ball away from his body with relative ease. Dynamic after the catch ability with splashes of vision and elusiveness mixed in.
Polish: When the ball is in the air, most boxes are checked. Few nationally have the deceleration, tracking, anticipation, leaping ability and ball skills he does. Route tree is limited in high school, mostly verticals, slants and screens due to YAC and 50/50 ball strengths, so leverage and release improvement are to be expected.
Bottom Line: Nabers projects as a scheme-versatile fit in today’s pass-happy college football. He can hold his own in the back-shoulder and timing department while possessing the natural instinct and burst to make considerable plays after the catch. He plays bigger than his size suggests with the chunk ability of a player much smaller than he. As he develops in the route tree there won’t be much keeping him sidelined in college.