Malik Nabers Dynasty Outlook: Fantasy Football 2024

There is perhaps no team that has needed to hit a home run at the wide receiver position as badly as the New York Giants. Their big money shot with Kenny Golladay blew up in their face. They have since thrown picks at the position hoping something would stick, like Jalin Hyatt, Wan’Dale Robinson, and Kadarius Toney. Finally, they have gotten it right. What does the Big Apple have in store for Malik Nabers’ dynasty outlook?

Malik Nabers Dynasty Outlook

The History

Malik Nabers was selected sixth overall by the New York Giants. Nabers and Marvin Harrison Jr. jockeyed among teams and evaluators to be the No.1 wide receiver in the draft. Ultimately, Harrison Jr. went two spots before Nabers, but this debate will rage on as the two compete in the NFL over the next decade.

Nabers leaves LSU their all-time leader in receiving yards at 3,003 and career receptions, 189. Despite the names that have come before him at LSU, Nabers saw playing time beginning back in his 2021 freshman season. He had played in 11 games, including six starts, finishing with 28 receptions for 417 yards and four touchdowns. Then in the next two seasons, he went on to start 25 of 27 games. He put together his first 1,000-yard season — 1017 yards — and three touchdowns in 2022. All this before exploding in his junior season for 1,569 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2023.

The Prospect

Malik Nabers has, of course, drawn comparisons to Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase thanks to his LSU roots. Nabers excels after the catch, bringing elite all-around speed from early burst to long speed. His size was flagged by some, but the NFL has changed so much that the offensive play-caller just needs to set him up in the right situations to excel. His strength and ability to work in traffic or in the air going for the ball is also an area for improvement. However, in the correct scheme, he can be used in a multitude of different ways thanks to his dangerous YAC-ability, open-field vision, and ball-tracking ability.

The Situation

It is a shame that the New York Giants let Saquon Barkley walk after finally getting an offensive weapon capable of shouldering some of the load. The situation from a volume perspective for Malik Nabers is great. The situation from a quarterback and offensive reliability standpoint is less than optimal. However, that just means there could be a year or two of growing pains before Nabers truly explodes into top-12 wide receiver territory.

The Daniel Jones experiment should end this year, but the Giants felt Nabers was the better route than one of the quarterbacks available in the draft. I am not convinced the Giants can continue down this route for much longer with Jones as they are paying dearly for the extension they gave him. Jones, last season, suffered a neck sprain which took him out for five weeks and then tore his ACL in Week 10 to end his season. Sadly, the offense wasn’t looking promising with Jones healthy. Even going back to his full 2022 season, the passing offense ranked in the bottom ten of the league.

Nabers enters a wide receiver room that was going to be led by 2023 third-round pick Jalin Hyatt and 2022 second-round pick Wan’Dale Robinson. So, clearly, Daniel Jones has had his work cut out for him in making something out of not much. This alleviates the pressure off guys like Robinson and Hyatt who aren’t WR1’s in the NFL. Nabers is a lock for 100-plus targets next season and well above that range yearly, assuming health. Last season, Darius Slayton led the Giants with 79 targets. An NFL low for a team’s most-targeted wide receiver.

Malik Nabers Dynasty Outlook

Malik Nabers is a locked-in top-five Superflex rookie draft pick. The only three guys I am drafting ahead of him are Caleb Williams, Marvin Harrison Jr, and Jayden Daniels. Unless your need at quarterback is dire and forces your hand on a Drake Maye or JJ McCarthy, then that wouldn’t be a great situation to be in as a manager.

In a dynasty start-up draft, Nabers is a late-round two or early-round three pick for me. Per KeepTradeCut, the community has him ranked 27th, early round three, and the WR9. He ranks between AJ Brown and Chris Olave among wide receivers. while going in the second run of quarterbacks. Whether you take him or not would depend on whether or not you already have a quarterback.

Of the top-ten point-per-game fantasy-producing wide receivers last season, six of them ranked in the top-ten of yards after the catch, an area of the game Nabers excels in, and a top-ten list we will see Nabers on some season very soon. So, the quarterback situation likely won’t be as much cause for concern. Plus, things will improve as the New York Giants accept the need to move on from Daniel Jones. Fear not and draft away!