Giants WR Malik Nabers Accomplished Another Notable Milestone

Nabers became the first receiver this season to excel in this advanced statistical metric.

Sep 22, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns cornerback Greg Newsome II (0) breaks up a pass intended for New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers (1) during the second half at Huntington Bank Field. / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

New York Giants fans will probably never get tired of watching first-round draft pick Malik Nabers torching defenses with his speed, route  running, and veteran-like sophistication, all of which is part of his game.

As Nabers continues to rack up the stats and make NFL history, now comes another unique accomplishment for the 21-year-old. According to NFL NextGen Stats, Nabers is currently the only receiver in the NFL to account for over half of his team’s air yards (57.6%) this season.

For the second week in a row, Nabers, who is sure to be nominated for his third straight Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week award and who could even be a NFC Offensive Player of the Week candidate, received double-digit targets in the passing game, catching at least 55 percent of them. This week, he recorded eight receptions on 12 targets for 78 yards, two touchdowns, and 24 yards after the catch.

Nabers’s presence has opened up the Giants offense and has definitely had a positive effect on quarterback Daniel Jones, the offense now starting to look like a modern NFL offense.

“There's a trust element to a quarterback and a receiver,” head coach Brian Daboll said when asked about the growing on-field bond between the quarterback and Nabers, adding that the trust element extends to the other receivers as well. 

“The amount of work that he puts into it: the extra individual periods, the routes on air, the times where the defense is going and they go over during practice and throw extra things, the communication in the film room and they meet together quite often… that's an important part of the passing game.

“The trust that you're going to be where you're supposed to be, your body language is going to be good, you can do a good job of coming back to the ball, going up and getting it and making a play.”

The scary part, according to Daboll, is that Nabers has barely scratched the surface of what he can do with Jones as his quarterback.

“It’s still a work in progress,” Daboll said. “It's early, but they've worked hard at it.”

---

• Follow and like us on Facebook.
• Submit your questions for our mailbag.
• Follow on Instagram.
• Check out the Giants Country YouTube Channel.