The Giants rookie's record pace carries the team

In the third game of his NFL career, Malik Nabers was such a presence in the New York Giants offense that he did more than just catch the football against the Cleveland Browns.

The rookie wide receiver recorded his first two rushing attempts and shot the ball right near the goal for his first pass as a pro (Nabers wisely threw the ball out of bounds).

The message was clear: Nabers is already the centerpiece of the Giants’ offense. Aside from the potentially historic number of goals he’ll see in the traditional passing game, head coach Brian Daboll – who is also the team’s offensive lineman – will be putting the ball in the 21-year-old’s hands at every opportunity and keep going against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday.

“I think we targeted him pretty heavily, but I think he earned it,” Daboll said Monday. “He’s earned the right to have these opportunities.”

After his quarterback moment, Nabers returned to the role of receiver. He ran a corner route to the back left pylon, and Giants quarterback Daniel Jones sailed the ball his way. Nabers stood up as if he had a trampoline underneath him and simultaneously spun counterclockwise before catching the ball. The former LSU Tiger demonstrated sufficient body control to touch his right foot on jumps before his arm landed outside the field of play.

“I didn’t want to try and fall backwards … so I caught it and just kept my body moving and twisted my waist,” Nabers said after the game, a 21-15 victory over the Browns, the Giants’ first win this season season. “Then my feet just followed my waist. After I turned around, I saw where I was and knew I had a little more room, so I just tried to get a foot lower.”

However, don’t sleep on his throwing abilities.

“Watch this film at LSU,” Nabers said. “I can definitely throw it.”

But the Giants, widely viewed as a team that could have selected Jones’ eventual replacement at the top of the 2024 draft if they had been able, took Nabers sixth overall for plays like this touchdown catch and one earlier on the same drive, when he somehow hovered in the air long enough to deflect a deep ball from Browns cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. and complete it from 28 yards.

“They were good catches, but I also made some much better catches,” Nabers said. “It doesn’t surprise me, it’s just the way I play, that’s the way I am.”

Nabers scored his second touchdown against the Browns in the final seconds before halftime and became the youngest (21 years and 56 days) wide receiver in NFL history with two touchdown receptions in a game, surpassing Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans Buccaneers (21 years and 56 days). 73 days old on November 2, 2014).

What impressed Daboll most on Sunday wasn’t even a catch. Jones’ arm was hit on a pass intended for tight end Theo Johnson and the ball went into the air. Daboll feared that it might be the other way around with a touchdown in Cleveland. Nabers ran to the ball in time to knock it down and avert a crisis.

“This play tells me more 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 big play in the game.”

Nabers’ production was prolific. He is the first player in NFL history with more than 20 catches (23) and three touchdowns in his first three career games (271 receiving yards). The Louisiana native has the most catches of more than 20 yards (6) this season, a mark he achieved with both route-running skills and his ability to pick up yards after the catch.

His total of 37 goals – 30 in the last two games, including 18 during a Week 2 loss to the Washington Commanders – comfortably leads the Giants in that category. He ranks second in the NFL in target percentage (37.8%). According to Next Gen Stats, Nabers accounted for 56% of the Giants’ air yards and is the only player to claim half of his team’s air yards this season.

“You have to see how the game explains itself,” assistant head coach and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka said last week. “But I think you always want to put your best player, your best scheme or your best players in those spots so they can be successful.”

Nabers is on pace to surpass former Indianapolis Colts wideout Marvin Harrison’s record set in 2002, when Peyton Manning hit a record 205 times in a 16-game season.

So far, Jones has had reason to get in Nabers’ way – according to Next Gen Stats, the receiver has 12 catches and 175 receiving yards against man-to-man coverage. In press coverage, Nabers leads the league in targets per route run rate (40%), first downs per route run rate (23%) and yards per route, according to TruMedia. Run (4.47).

“I think in match situations where he’s playing one-on-one with a man, he’s consistently won and made explosive plays for us,” Jones said last week. “He has done a good job and has been a great help to us so far.”

The early low point of Nabers’ career was a ball that bounced off his hands late on fourth down and the game ultimately ended with the Giants losing to Washington.

For someone who expects to make every play, Jones said, Nabers took the drop hard. The quarterback also noted that the Giants would not have been able to win the game without the rookie.

“He’s a competitor and has high standards for himself,” Jones said. “I think you notice that pretty quickly when you spend time with him.”

Nabers recovered from that mishap — which came with a 10-catch performance and his first career touchdown — and shined against Cleveland. Facing Dallas during a short break in his primetime debut comes with added drama.

In May, Nabers said during the NFLPA Rookie Premiere that the Cowboys’ Trevon Diggs was the cornerback he was most excited about. Diggs was offended when the feud escalated into a heated argument between the two on social media.

Nabers didn’t want to discuss anything about that on Tuesday.

“I’m having a lot of fun,” he said, “it’s a dream come true.”

The Giants rookie’s record pace carries the team

ByJasper

By Jasper

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