This story was originally published by Dead Spin
Kadarius Toney. Kenny Golladay. Sterling Shepard. Richie James. Isaiah Hodgins.
At one point or another in the past several years, these are the guys the New York Giants have asked to shore up their receiver corps. Giants fans don’t need me to tell them that group is pretty hard to stomach.
Toney was a major headache and a first-round flop of the highest order. Golladay was a flash in the pan with the Lions, who became one of the biggest free agent busts of the decade in New York. Shepard’s career with the G-Men started out promising before embarking on an injury odyssey that cost him 34 games from 2019-22.
By 2022, James and Hodgins were getting starts and running routes for this team, which made the playoffs in spite of such a low-wattage passing game. Neither guy is on an active NFL roster right now.
Leaving aside Darius Slayton—a fine option who’s led the Giants in receiving in four of the past five years and doesn’t deserve that same mockery—this is who Daniel Jones has been throwing to.
So while the debate over Jones himself rages on, everyone can acknowledge that Malik Nabers is a breath of fresh air, a superstar in the making compared to what came before him. Drafted sixth overall out of LSU, Nabers’ heroic eight-catch, two-touchdown game last week finally got New York in the win column with a 21-15 victory at Cleveland.
The Giants haven’t had a 1,000-yard receiver since Odell Beckham Jr.’s final season there in 2018. Three games into his rookie year, Nabers is more than a quarter of the way to that milestone. He’s the first player in NFL history with 20 receptions and three touchdown catches in his first three career games; he ranks fifth in the league in yardage (271), second in catches (23) and first in targets (37).
Yep, Jones has found a receiver he likes and started spamming him with passes. And reporters have started asking if the Giants need to spread the ball around better to be less predictable. But what do you want them to do—call Hodgins up from the practice squad and start forcing balls his way?
“I think he’s confident in his skill set,” coach Brian Daboll said of Nabers. “I’m confident in his skill set. We spent a lot of time with him leading up to the draft, and then you really get to know him throughout OTAs, minicamps and training camp, where he excelled in those areas. So, I think we target him a fair amount, but I think he’s earned that.”
Something Giants fans should be excited about, and certainly not take for granted, is Nabers’ apparent mental toughness. He dropped a crucial fourth-down pass late in Week 2 against Washington, giving the Commanders their eventual game-winning possession. It didn’t stop him from bouncing back against the Browns.
Daboll also praised the way Nabers knocked down an errant pass in the fourth quarter of the Cleveland game to prevent a potential interception.
“That play says more to me about Malik than some of the other things,” Daboll said. “Everyone can see the touchdowns, but the unselfish play, the smart play he made, was a huge play in the game. Huge.”
Whether the Giants should stick with Jones at quarterback, in the near or long term, is another question entirely. But it’s not hyperbolic to say Nabers has the makings of a Justin Jefferson, someone who’ll show out no matter who’s throwing the ball. Or maybe it would be more apt to name a different former LSU star—Beckham.
Just don’t let Jake from State Farm get near him. I’m sick to death of those commercials, but even I have to admit “Like a good Nabers, State Farm is there” is right there for the taking.
