New York Giants rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers made some noise in his NFL debut this past Sunday and earned some recognition]. Nabers was nominated for the Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of The Week award for Week 1 of the regular season.
Malik Nabers had a strong NFL debut for the Giants
Nabers caught five passes on seven targets and recorded 66 receiving yards, including a 25-yard grab. However, despite the strong performance by the Giants’ No. 1 receiving option, New York couldn’t get going offensively as they were defeated by the Minnesota Vikings in blowout fashion by a score of 28–6.
“I feel like I did pretty well for my first game,” said Nabers via Giants.com’s Matt Citak. “The tempo slowed down since I first got out there but still a lot of stuff to learn, still a lot of stuff to learn from and fix.”
The Giants have high hopes for Nabers that he will be able to transform their offense into a more dynamic and explosive group than in years past. There are still some things the team needs to work on to get the offense to where it wants to be. Most notably, the quarterback play from Daniel Jones needs to be better.
- Giants bring back veteran fullback after cutting him twice
- Giants’ offensive line shows signs of major improvements in Week 1 against Vikings
- 3 silver linings from the Giants’ Week 1 disappointment
Daniel Jones will have to give Nabers more targets to improve the Giants’ offense
Jones threw two interceptions and failed to record a touchdown pass in Week 1 against the Vikings. There was some concern that Jones was not targeting Nabers enough, and the quarterback admitted after the game that he needed to find a way to get him more targets:
“Thought he played well,” Jones said via Giants.com’s Matt Citak. “Made a couple big plays and some nice catches. I’ve got to find a way to get him the ball more.”
Nevertheless, it is encouraging to see Nabers make an immediate impact as he continues to acclimate himself to the NFL. If he gets more targets as the season progresses, the hope is that he will be able to get the Giants’ offense clicking and into the end zone more.