2024 NFL draft: Giants select WR Malik Nabers in Round 1

With the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft, the New York Giants have selected LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers.

Nabers led the SEC with 72 receptions and ranked second with 1,017 receiving yards as a sophomore in 14 games in 2022.

Nabers was named a First-Team Associated Press All-American, a First-Team All-SEC, and a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award (given to the nation’s top wide receiver) in 2023.

Last season, he ranked second in the FBS with 1,569 receiving yards (17.6 per catch) and was tied for third with 14 receiving touchdowns. Nabers also led the SEC with 89 receptions, starting in all 13 games.

During his tenure at LSU, Nabers set a school record with 189 career receptions and in receiving yards with 3,003.

Nabers is only the second wide receiver selected by the Giants in the top 10 since the draft began back in 1936. In 1997, they selected Florida’s Ike Hilliard seventh overall.

Nabers (6′, 201 pounds) was well-scouted by the Giants, who met with him at the NFL Combine, attended his pro day, and also had him in for a top-30 visit.

He did not work out at the combine but did run a 4.35-second 40-yard dash at his pro day.

Nabers will join a receiving corps that currently consists of Darius Slayton, Wan’Dale Robinson, Jalin Hyatt, Isaiah Hodgins, Isaiah McKenzie, and Miles Boykin.

“I do think it’s a deep receiver draft,” Giants general manager Joe Schoen said in his pre-draft press conference. “They come in different shapes and sizes and speeds, but I do think it’s a deep wide receiver draft from top to bottom, depending on what you’re looking for.”

“It can really help you out, especially the way we’re constructed now,” Schoen said of adding another top wideout to the mix. “Jalin Hyatt can take the top off, Wan’Dale working in the slot. I think you can really see what he was able to do late in the season when he was finally healthy. Darius Slayton has been uber-consistent during his time.

“If you add another wide receiver there, whether it’s in the top 10 or later in the draft because of the depth of the class, I do think it gives you options and it’s going to help the offense in general. We have to score more. At the end of the day, we need to score more points. Adding, if it’s a No. 1 receiver, whatever you want to call it, just a better receiving weapon is going to help everybody.”

Nabers should help the Giants finally get to where they need to be on offense.

Story originally appeared on Giants Wire