{"id":212965,"date":"2025-07-17T01:16:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T01:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/212965\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T01:16:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T01:16:15","slug":"malik-nabers-cracks-nfls-top-10-wrs-after-electric-rookie-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/212965\/","title":{"rendered":"Malik Nabers cracks NFL\u2019s Top 10 WRs after electric rookie season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just one year into his pro career, Malik Nabers has been ranked the seventh-best wide receiver in the NFL, according to an annual ESPN survey<\/a> of more than 70 league executives, coaches, and scouts. The rankings aim to capture the best players right now \u2014 not based on projections or past achievements, but current performance.<\/p>\n

And Nabers, at just 21 years old, has already carved out a spot among the game\u2019s elite.<\/p>\n

Drafted sixth overall out of LSU<\/a>, Nabers delivered a rookie season that defied expectations and shattered the mold. Despite playing in one of the league\u2019s least productive offenses \u2014 and catching passes from four different quarterbacks he finished with 109 catches, 1,204 receiving yards, and 7 touchdowns. His 109 receptions were the second-most ever by a rookie receiver, trailing only fellow rookie tight end Brock Bowers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can go 0 to 60 in three seconds like a Ferrari,\u201d one NFL personnel evaluator told ESPN, \u201cbut he\u2019s built like a truck. And he\u2019s not even an elite route runner yet. Just wait until that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Giants force-fed Nabers with 171 targets, the second-most in the NFL behind only Ja\u2019Marr Chase. But Nabers proved up to the task, consistently producing despite defenses keying in on him and despite constant change at the quarterback position. He also led all rookie wide receivers with 19 forced missed tackles, showcasing his dangerous combination of strength and speed after the catch.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome guys are just different. You don\u2019t have to watch him long to know that,\u201d said an NFC defensive coach.<\/p>\n

Nabers is now the highest-ranked Giants receiver on ESPN\u2019s list since Odell Beckham Jr., and many around the league believe he\u2019s the best draft pick of the Brian Daboll\u2013Joe Schoen era.<\/p>\n

With Russell Wilson serving as the likely bridge quarterback and rookie Jaxson Dart waiting in the wings, Nabers is expected to be the face of the Giants\u2019 rebuild and a main piece of their offensive future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just one year into his pro career, Malik Nabers has been ranked the seventh-best wide receiver in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2067],"tags":[1938,322,1205,26801,44657,7,29,519,478,8668,1917,56,1207,2321,2469,6,2583,396,189,3444,1206,12156],"class_list":{"0":"post-212965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-giants","8":"tag-after","9":"tag-big","10":"tag-blue","11":"tag-cracks","12":"tag-electric","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-front-page","15":"tag-giants","16":"tag-malik","17":"tag-nabers","18":"tag-new-york","19":"tag-new-york-giants","20":"tag-new-york-giants-news","21":"tag-newyork","22":"tag-newyorkgiants","23":"tag-nfl","24":"tag-rookie","25":"tag-s","26":"tag-season","27":"tag-top","28":"tag-view","29":"tag-wrs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114865936575973272","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}