Giants' Malik Nabers shares his thoughts on top QB prospects Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders
Malik Nabers of the Giants, celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the flag football event at the NFL Pro Bowl on Sunday in Orlando. Credit: AP/John Raoux
NEW ORLEANS – Malik Nabers got a taste of what life can be like with strong quarterback play. The Giants rookie receiver caught six passes for 62 yards (remember it’s a 50-yard field) and two touchdowns in a dynamic performance during the Pro Bowl Games flag football contest on Sunday.
On Wednesday he was on Radio Row at the Super Bowl dissecting the play of two potential passers for the Giants who might be able to unleash that kind of play from him starting in 2025.
Appearing on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Nabers gave his thoughts on Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders, the top quarterbacks in this year’s draft in which the Giants have the third overall pick and a very glaring need at the position.
“He’s comfortable when he’s back there,” Nabers said of Ward. “He throws the ball in spots you’re not really supposed to throw the ball but he has crazy arm talent. He’s mobile. I’ve seen him come back in some games [where] I’m like, ‘Nah, this game’s over with’ and he’s just dottin’. He’s very efficient.”
More that that, Nabers is impressed by Ward’s intangibles. Those are the kinds of qualities he has said in the past that he most appreciated from his college quarterback and likely NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels of the Commanders, and what he has said he is looking for from whoever the Giants add to their next roster.
“I feel like he’s a leader that wants to bring people along to win,” Nabers said. “I mean, you look at that Miami team through the years, without him their record wasn’t like that. You bring a guy like that on the team, you know, the record shows what kind of leader he is, what kind of quarterback he is.”
Nabers hadn’t said much publicly about Ward prior to Wednesday. As for Sanders, Nabers has spoken on him in recent months. The two have known of each other for years going back to high school when they both attended a camp run by Sanders’ father, Hall of Famer Deion Sanders. In December when Shedeur Sanders was in New York to support Colorado teammate Travis Hunter for the Heisman Trophy presentation, Sanders and Nabers had an impromptu football catch on the streets of Manhattan.
“I’ve been watching him a long time,” Nabers said of Sanders on Thursday. “He has another crazy arm talent. He gives his guys the opportunity to go make plays. He’s not scared and he wants to win, and he’s a leader. From what I’ve heard in that locker room he’s a great leader.”
Nabers is a finalist for Offensive Rookie of the Year, the award that will be presented on Thursday at NFL Honors. While that title will almost certainly go to Daniels, Nabers did have 109 receptions for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns in 2024 in spite of playing with Daniel Jones, Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito as his uneven quarterbacks.
If the Giants can give him someone to deliver the ball more consistently and with better accuracy, Nabers will likely have plenty more Pro Bowl Games – and maybe even awards show appearances and Super Bowl opportunities – before his career in New York is over.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
