Malik Nabers continues to provide one shred of positivity during what has become one of the very worst seasons in New York Giants franchise history.
The rookie receiver provided the main bulk of Big Blue’s miserable offense in a 35-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, catching 10 passes for 82 yards and a touchdown, which was his first since Week 3.
Even with missing two games due to a concussion earlier this year, the LSU product has caught 90 passes through his first 12 games. It ranks second in NFL history behind Odell Beckham Jr., who had 91 catches in his rookie campaign with the Giants. Nabers now has 901 yards and four touchdowns, too.
His motivation remains unwavering, even in an offense that has now had four quarterbacks under center — the most since 1992 — and has gone 0-8 at home this season.
“You never know what’s going to be expected in your future. Just trying to turn it around,” Nabers said. “We’re doing our best… losses and wins happen. I’m not really used to winning… I won at LSU with Jayden [Daniels], but before then, I was a part of losing teams. Just have to keep fighting. Even though there’s a lot of losses, you still have to go out there and get a win. I’m trying to do that, show my grit, show my dog mentality.”
Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium, Tommy DeVito went down with a concussion before halftime, prompting emergency third-stringer Tim Boyle to become the fourth Giants quarterback to play this season.
Five of his 12 completions went to Nabers, including a 23-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“He’s one of those special players. You kind of just got to throw it up to him and let him do his thing,” Boyle said of Nabers. “You always know where No. 1 is on the field. He’s in the back of your mind as a quarterback. If stuff hits the fence a little bit, you’ve got to throw it up to No. 1… I threw a couple of balls to him that kind of got away from me a little bit that he made wonderful adjustments on. Just goes to show how special a player he is. We’ve got to continue to get him the ball.”
It is all but certain that Nabers will be catching passes from a new quarterback next season — likely a rookie who will be taken with the Giants’ top pick at the 2025 NFL Draft.
Nabers fueled speculation by having a catch with Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders during Heisman Trophy weekend in New York City, and the son of Hall of Famer Deion Sanders is very much an option for Big Blue. But should they not get the No. 1 pick, Miami’s Cam Ward appears to be the play.
“Try to put great pieces together to win,” Nabers said. “You have to have all the right pieces together to have a winning program. We’re just trying to find those pieces. That’s really it.”
