3 Key Takeaways from Giants’ Week 3 Win vs. Cleveland Browns

2- Malik Nabers Continues to Shine and Earn Respect

There’s really no more hiding the fact that Malik Nabers was the best wide-receiving prospect in the 2024 draft and is a piece that is budding into a rookie sensation for the New York Giants. 

Last week, the Giants No. 6 overall pick had a performance for the ages that lead the team’s receiving corps in Washington, catching 10 passes on 18 targets for 127 yards and a touchdown. Yet, he dropped the biggest pass of them all in the heat of the fourth quarter to prevent the 2:00 minute game-winning drive from culminating with another score. 

In pursuit of a revenge game, Nabers looked stellar in the follow-up with the Browns’ more experienced pass coverage. He hauled in another eight receptions for 78 yards to lead the Giants offense in the air and added two more acrobatic touchdown grabs to help capture the first win of the 2024 campaign. 

Nabers made big-time plays all over the field in the first half of the competition, the highlight of which was his Randy Moss-style grab over Browns corner Martin Emerson Jr. for 28 yards along the sideline that laid the work for his first visit to the endzone. It didn’t matter who the Browns put in front of him, including All-Pro corner Denzel Ward down the stretch, as he logged a 9.8-yard average catch in his 12 targets for the third straight game with a double-digit number out wide. 

With these early performances, Nabers is already placing his name into the NFL record books and standing alone atop the achievements of fellow rookies, past and present. He became the first novice in the league’s history to record 20 receptions and three touchdowns in his first three games and currently ranks in the top five of any wide receivers in the four major passing categories. He also tied Anquan Boldin for the most catches made in the same span of contests by any player with 23 overall. 

If he can keep this pace up, the Giants have a real threat on their hands, one that could have the same impact as Odell Beckham Jr. did for the team in his stint from 2014-2018. He could even have a chance to smash his predecessor’s stat line from the 2014 campaign of 91 receptions for 1,305 yards and 12 scores as long as he is the most relied-upon option for Daniel Jones on Sundays. 

Giants fans should be excited about this new piece of their franchise for years to come, but it will be important to continue building a passing attack around him. Only one other wide receiver has eclipsed 100 yards receiving in New York’s first three matchups, an alarming situation that could become an issue if opposing teams get better at limiting Nabers’s impact on the final scoreboard.