The Giants have a gaping hole in their receiving corps after losing No. 1 target Malik Nabers to a season-ending ACL tear in last Sunday’s upset win over the Chargers. However, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com hears that the Giants will not seek an outside addition, as a source told him, “There are no replacements for Malik Nabers. You can’t replace that guy.”
It’s hard to argue with that. The 22-year-old Nabers emerged as one of the NFL’s premier receivers as a rookie in 2024 despite subpar quarterback play. The former sixth overall pick from LSU hauled in 109 passes for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns a year ago. He opened this season with another 18 catches, 275 yards, and two scores in parts of four games while mostly working with Russell Wilson.
The Giants will now have to wait until 2026 to see if Nabers and newly named starter Jaxson Dart, a rookie first-round pick, will be able to form a franchise-altering rapport. Dart hit Nabers twice for 20 yards last week before the wideout went down for the year.
With Nabers out of commission, the Giants are set to audition free agent Samori Toure on Friday. That would be a low-end depth pickup, though, as Toure has a mere 13 catches on his resume since the Packers chose him in the seventh round of the 2022 draft. He hasn’t even appeared in a regular-season game since 2023.
Assuming the 1-3 Giants don’t venture outside the organization for an impact pass catcher, it could provide Jalin Hyatt an opportunity to finally establish himself. In doing so, Hyatt would give the Giants a useful complement to their top two healthy receivers, Wan’Dale Robinson and Darius Slayton.
The Giants spent a third-round pick on Hyatt in 2023, but the move hasn’t gone according to plan. The former Tennessee standout caught 23 of 40 targets for 373 yards over 17 scoreless games as a rookie in 2023. Hyatt followed that up with an eight-catch, 62-yard, zero-touchdown showing in 16 games last year. Despite the underwhelming start to Hyatt’s career, general manager Joe Schoen reportedly rebuffed interested teams when they asked about him before the season.
While Schoen wouldn’t move Hyatt during the summer, he has been a non-factor so far in 2025. The 24-year-old has played in two games, logged 35 snaps, and failed to record a catch. Nevertheless, Hyatt is confident he’ll rise to the occasion in the wake of Nabers’ injury.
“I knew I’d get my chance this year — just didn’t know when,” Hyatt said this week (via Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post). “Can’t wait for the opportunity I’ve been waiting a long time for. Now, just have to take advantage of it.”
Hyatt also expressed optimism that he and Dart will continue building on a connection that began forming when the two were on the Giants’ scout team earlier in the season. They’ll have a chance to carry that over into this Sunday’s game against the winless Saints.