The assistant coach said Marvin Harrison, Jr. and Rome Odunze were more polishes, pro-ready wide receivers, but only Nabers “can catch a slant and run for 80 (yards).” “Nabers could be like Odell early,” the assistant continued. “Throw him a hitch or a slant and he’s gone. He’s got that type of talent.” An unnamed NFL executive agreed with the Beckham comparison. Nabers was ninth in the nation last year in yards after the catch and third in yards per route run. He should be something of a target hog in the New York offense and will have plenty of weekly upside with his after-the-catch ability.

Nabers joins a wide receiver room that’s arguably the worst in the league. Considered by some to be the best receiver in this year’s rookie class, Nabers has a chance to step into a significant target share right off the bat as he and quarterback Daniel Jones look to turn around a passing attack that ranked 31st in passing yards per game (169.8) and threw for the fourth-fewest touchdown passes (15) on the year. Nabers caught 89 passes for 1,569 yards and 14 touchdowns during his final year at LSU and had two 1,000-yard seasons in his three-year career.

A true rolling ball of butcher knives, Nabers (6’0/200) pushed preordained No. 1 2024 wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. for top status in this draft class on the strength of his dominance after the catch. A rocket-ship accelerator, Nabers is also an elite tackle breaker. He is versatile, checking in roughly 50-50 between the slot and boundary. A man-coverage dominator, Nabers is an adept hand fighter. Almost as dominant deep as he is tacking on extra yards in the short-to-intermediate areas of the field, Nabers has all the makings of the perfect wideout for the YAC/efficiency age even if he needs to clean up his route-running a bit in the big leagues. Only 20 years old on draft night, Nabers is a proven producer — 2,586 yards over the past two years — who still has room to grow. He’ll instantly be the alpha WR1 in New York and could see a ridiculously high target share in 2024. Plenty of intermediate usage could make Nabers an elite fantasy producer even with a bottom-half QB like Daniel Jones throwing passes to the rookie.

Nabers didn’t just blaze with his straight-line speed at LSU’s Pro Day. He also logged a 42-inch vertical and a 129-inch broad jump. Both marks are elite for a wide receiver. Though Nabers is a long-shot to unseat Marvin Harrison Jr. as the WR1 of this class, his stellar Pro Day should keep him as the WR2. With the Vikings poised to move up for a quarterback, there are still many dominoes to fall, but it’s hard to imagine Nabers getting past the receiver-needy Giants at No. 6 overall. The Chargers, also in desperate need of receiver talent, are in the mix for Nabers one pick earlier as well.