The Talented Nabers May Be Held Back by the Giants

Regardless of Nabers’ talent, he’s not joining a particularly productive team. The Giants, at least for this season, are committed to Daniel Jones, who has never passed for more than 3,205 yards in a season, and is more of a rushing threat.

While it would be fair to say that Jones has never had a receiver as talented as Nabers, aside from the 2022 season, there’s little to suggest he’ll ever be a particularly good passer. Neither Kenny Golladay nor Darren Waller, both of whom have surpassed 1,000 yards several times, came particularly close to 1,000 yards while they were there.

In the past few years, the Giants have had to rely on Darius Slayton and his consistent 700 yards a season to lead their passing attack. Jones has had no one else particularly explosive or threatening to pass to.

Perhaps the presence of a receiver of Nabers’ caliber will unlock Jones, but again, it’s hard to bet on that. Moreover, the rest of the Giants’ offense will take a step back without the presence of the explosive Saquon Barkley, who joined the Eagles in the offseason. Nabers will instantly be the first option, but given the lack of other threats on the Giants he’ll be regularly double-teamed.

There’s also the problem of Jones’ injury history. He injured his ACL last season and has only completed a full season once since being drafted. His back-up, Drew Lock, is erratic and has nearly as many interceptions as touchdowns. If Jones went down again, any hope Nabers would have of winning OROY would be dashed.

Head coach Brian Daboll is creative and consistently produces efficient offenses, but he does not have much to work with apart from Nabers. If Jones can stay healthy and funnels most of his passes to Nabers, then the 20-year-old may have a chance of winning the award, but this seems unlikely.

Nabers has far less of a chance of winning because, rather than just being good, he has to be one of the best receivers in the league, and he’s surrounded by less talent.