LSU’s Malik Nabers' Skillset Compares Favorably to this Former Giants Receiver

Nabers is projected to be in play for the Giants if they stay at No. 6 in this NFL.com mock draft.

Wide receiver is a position the New York Giants have failed to find production at for years. Since trading away Odell Beckham Jr to the Browns in 2019, they haven’t had a receiver crack the 1,000-yard mark in a season, the closest of the Giants wideouts to come close being Darius Slayton (770 yards in 2023).

As speculation continues to swirl as to what the Giants might do in the first round of the draft--some think they will move heaven and earth to get a franchise quarterback, some believe the Giants will stay put and draft a receiver, and some think New York could even trade down a few spots for additional draft picks--if the Giants are truly looking to boost their receiving corps to the next level, Malik Nabers of LSU could be the guy to help them get there.

Nabers has been mocked to the Giants numerous times this offseason, probably more so than any other player. The LSU product is coming off a monster 2023 season, where he caught 89 passes for 1,569 yards and 14 touchdowns while averaging 17.6 yards per catch.

In the 12 regular season games he played this past season, Nabers had over 100 yards in nine. His best performance was against Mississippi State, hauling in 13 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns.

NFL.com draft analyst Gennaro Filice, who recently put out his first mock draft of the off-season, is the latest draft analyst to project Nabers to the Giants, his board falling to where the top three quarterbacks--USC's Caleb Williams, UNC's Drake Maye, and LSU's Jayden Daniels--are the first three picks in the mock.

Filice then had OSU receiver Marvin Harrison, Jr and Georgia tight end Brock Bowers going to Arizona and Los Angeles, respectively. That left Nabers as the Giants' pick, a receiver who conjures up memories of Beckham's playmaking ability when he was with the Giants.

Ten years ago, the Giants drafted a playmaking receiver out of LSU who checked in right around 6 feet tall and 200 pounds. Asking the eerily similar Nabers to replicate Odell Beckham Jr.’s spectacular burst onto the NFL scene (SEE: 1,300-plus yards and double-digit touchdowns in each of his first three seasons) is a tall order. Still, the 20-year-old would undoubtedly give Brian Daboll’s passing attack a necessary jolt of electricity.”

The Giants drafting an LSU receiver ten years after taking Beckham would make for some fun nostalgia. In his five seasons with the Giants, Beckham caught 390 passes (out of 622 targets) for 5,476 yards and 44 touchdowns. 

In four of his five seasons--the exception being 2017, when he suffered a season-ending ankle injury four games into that campaign--Beckham recorded 1,000-yard seasons, putting him not only among the best at his position but also on a trajectory to be one of the best wide receivers in the game.

He still holds the Giants’ rookie records for receiving yards and touchdowns, recording 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns, doing all that in just 12 games because the eventual Rookie of the Year award winner missed the first month of his rookie year with a hamstring issue.

Nabers certainly has the explosivity and playmaking ability to be compared to Beckham. Graded as PFF's top receiver prospect in this year's draft, Nabers' 14 receiving touchdowns lead all draftable receivers targeted in at least 80 percent of their team's passing attempts.

Named a 2023 Consensus All-American, Nabers finished first in the SEC in receptions in 2022 and 2023, while his 1,569 receiving-yard mark was the best in the SEC during the 2023 season.

That's the kind of play-maker the Giants offense, which aspires to become more explosive and more of a vertical passing attack, would likely welcome to the team. 

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