‘Ready to prove what we can do’: How NY Giants turned WR group into potential strength
Then Malik Nabers went out and taught everyone watching the session a lesson of just how good he can be.
It was the Nabers show at the Giants’ ninth OTA practice last Thursday, and he showed off everything in his game during 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 periods. Difficulty of catches. Absurd routes. Great hands. Explosiveness at the top of his routes.
Nabers hauled in a pair of long touchdowns from Drew Lock, including a highlight reel catch despite good coverage by Cor’Dale Flott. Daniel Jones fit a scoring strike into Nabers in a crowd during goal line drills as the rookie continues to show he is a multi-tool player. His teammates have certainly taken notice.
“Just seeing how he plays, watching his film, you know he’s going to be elite,” second-year wide receiver Jalin Hyatt said. “I’ll just say how explosive he is at his weight; the way he catches the ball; what he does after the catch. The run after catch, all of that is elite. When you bring that to us and the Giants and with Coach Dabs, we can do a lot of things with him. Put him everywhere. That’s one thing about him – you can put him everywhere, outside and inside, slot, running back, whatever you want to do. That’s the type of receiver he is, and we’re going to make sure we get to the ball to him.”
And here’s the thing about Nabers and what he represents for the Giants’ wide receiver room:
The No. 6 overall selection in the NFL Draft back in April is both the finishing piece and the foundation.
The Giants have noticeably built the position into a potential strength since Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll arrived, just two years after seemingly every question about the team’s wide receivers centered on lack of speed, lack of depth, talent deficiencies and the need to add playmakers in a hurry.
How team brass got here is the result of a vision and undeniable talent at the top, and the quest is also a reflection of what is happening around the league in terms of price range and game-breaking ability.
The Giants have made a concerted effort to get ahead of the multi-million curve at a premium position.
Vikings star Justin Jefferson was the latest receiver to break the bank, signing a contract worth $140 million in totality, including $110 million guaranteed. That one followed other mega deals for Jaylen Waddle of the Dolphins, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith of the Eagles and the Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown.
What the Giants have done at receiver is build inside-out, so to speak, using three Top 75 picks in general manager Joe Schoen’s first three drafts to turn a weakness into the most talented position on offense: Wan’Dale Robinson in the 2022 second round, Hyatt in the 2023 third round and Nabers this year.
“You see where the wave is going,” Giants assistant general manager Brandon Brown said recently. “We’ve talked over the years about projecting the market. You see where the forecast is, and you don’t want to be on the wrong ends of deals. I think, when you look at how young our receiver corps is, it’s an advantageous position to be in. Just the production and the opportunity and the skill set all allows for you to be cost controlled.”
In light of Darren Waller’s retirement, even with the Giants having braced for the news by adding fourth-round pick Theo Johnson to Daniel Bellinger and veterans Chris Manhertz and Jack Stoll at tight end, Daboll’s offense will likely take the step toward featuring the receivers.
“The way that we’ve built it, almost like a basketball team, there’s complementary parts,” Brown said. “You have a point guard, a shooting guard, a small forward. It’s kind of like how you build your frontcourt and backcourt. There aren’t duplicative roles right now. You’ve got a lot of guys that can do different things, but they are specialists in something the other guy really doesn’t excel at. I love the way we put it together.”
Added Hyatt: “We’re stacked and we’re ready to prove what we can do
Here is a breakdown of what the Giants have at receiver as the final stage of their offseason program begins Tuesday with the two-day mandatory minicamp:
