Malik Nabers selected No. 6 by the Giants in the 2024 NFL Draft
The Giants got their man on Thursday night in the first round of the NFL Draft.
And it wasn’t a quarterback.
They selected wide receiver Malik Nabers of LSU, a speedster who should stretch the field and could become Daniel Jones’ favorite target.
Said Giants general manager Joe Schoen: “We’re excited to get Malik, he’s been on our radar for quite some time as a guy who can play multiple spots, separate, run after the catch and has very good hands. And he played in a difficult conference [in the SEC].”
Schoen said Nabers’ toughness, separation and speed set him apart. He was the second receiver drafted, behind Marvin Harrison Jr.
Schoen said the Giants had the opportunity to trade out of the pick. They declined.
Coach Brian Daboll indicated he liked Nabers’ toughness.
“He’s a dawg,” he said.
In his introduction to the Giants media, Nabers indicated he was elated to join the organization. Nabers is expected to be at the Giants’ facility on Saturday.
At his pre-draft news conference last week, Schoen said this about his roster: “We’re not one player away, or two.”
But Nabers should help, to say the least.
He will command considerable attention from defenses, and he could become Jones’ favorite target. The Giants need playmakers.
Schoen said he informed Jones of the pick shortly before it was announced. Schoen said he expected that the quarterback would reach out to his newest teammate.
Nabers will have every opportunity to be a Day One starter.
The Giants have five remaining picks in the draft. They came into the draft with no seventh-rounder after trading it to Arizona last year for linebacker Isaiah Simmons.
Going into the draft, Schoen indicated the Giants had gotten “a lot of calls” from other teams interested in trading for the sixth pick. Ultimately, Schoen made the selection on Thursday night.
The Giants now have three quarterbacks on the roster: Jones, Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito.
Despite speculation otherwise, Schoen stuck to his conviction in making Nabers the pick.
The players picked before the Giants included few surprises.
Quarterback Caleb Williams went to the Bears at No. 1 overall. QB Jayden Daniels was selected by the Commanders. New England tabbed QB Drake Maye. Arizona selected wide receiver Harrison. And the Chargers selected Notre Dame tackle Joe Alt.
Asked last week if he needed to add a rookie quarterback to the roster, Schoen said, “I don’t think so. I think with Drew’s experience, he has started games and played, and Daniel’s experience. And what Tommy did last year, another year in the system, Tommy’s come a long way. No, I think we could go into the season with the three that we have and be comfortable with that.”
For the Giants, this has the feeling of a particularly important season. The Schoen/Daboll partnership could not capitalize on a successful first season, when they not only made the playoffs but won a game in Minnesota against the Vikings. Only two years ago, the arrow was pointing up.
But the Giants could not capitalize.
Last season included too many injuries to key players, including Jones and left tackle Andrew Thomas.
With the pick of Nabers, the Giants have a young, fast playmaker in house. That alone might make the fan base happy.
The Giants were linked at different points in the draft process to quarterbacks Maye or Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.
“I do think it’s an offensive-heavy draft, specifically at the top,” Schoen said last week. “I think in the top 10, it’s going to be offensive heavy.”
He was right about that.
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
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