Unlike many of his New York Giants teammates, Malik Nabers was evidently safe from the national media’s offseason coverage.
When outlets weren’t tearing into Jaxson Dart’s play style or sharing blatant misinformation about running back Cam Skattebo, they were surprisingly bullish about Nabers. If he didn’t appear on a top-10 receivers list, then he’d typically earn an honorable mention.
The positivity continued even after Nabers suffered a setback while recovering from a knee injury. Naturally, you’d expect things to be even more “sunshine and rainbows” after he shed his red non-contact jersey on Monday.
The Athletic’s Mike Jones might be in the minority on that front, seeing as he included Nabers as an honorable mention on his list of the 25 best active players who are 25 or younger.
Did The Athletic snub New York Giants receiver Malik Nabers?
The receivers who made Jones’ list were Puka Nacua (No. 8), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (No. 15), and Drake London (No. 23). Nacua and Smith-Njigba should have been locks for that list, and London falls into a gray area. For whatever reason, London has become a media darling and is widely viewed, at least nationally, as a top-10 receiver.
If you approach Jones’ rankings rationally, then the takeaway is that Nabers still received an honorable mention despite missing most of his second season with a knee injury. And to Jones’ credit, none of the top-25 players are second-year pros.
The Nabers vs. London argument is complicated largely because the latter has played over 40 more games. For what it’s worth, London averaged 77 catches, 900 yards, and five touchdowns in his first four seasons. If Nabers could exceed that with the Giants’ 2024 quarterbacks, just imagine what he could do with Dart throwing his way.
With how critical the national media was about the Giants this summer, it’s refreshing to know that so many analysts continue to buy high on Nabers. There is no denying that the talent is there, so long as his knee doesn’t prove to be a long-term problem.
Viral motivational attempts aside, John Harbaugh has helped maintain the growing optimism around Giants camp. By no means are things perfect, especially not on the Tyrone Tracy Jr. front, but the smiles have persisted.
As of Monday afternoon, the Giants had not officially announced Nabers’ status for this Friday’s preseason finale against the Jets. However, common sense would dictate that he’d sit and be a full-go for the Sept. 13 opener against Dallas.
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