Mel Kiper Jr., ESPN draft panel raves about LSU WR Malik Nabers, why he's a Top 10 pick

In Mel Kiper Jr.’s first mock draft ahead of the real 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit later this year, he has the New York Giants taking a swing on LSU wideout Malik Nabers with the No. 6 overall pick. And Kiper and his fellow ESPN panelists raved about the potential for both Nabers and the fit in New York.

The general consensus is that in a draft where Marvin Harrison Jr. wasn’t also available at wideout, Nabers would probably be the first one drafted. And with that sort of talent, it was hard for any of Kiper, draft analyst Matt Miller of host and analyst Field Yates to dislike the pick.

“I don’t want to give Kiper an ego but this is a great pick,” Miller said. “This is maybe my favorite pick in the draft thus far. New York needs a No. 1 weapon like this. Nabers is my No. 3 overall player in the draft, guys. Ahead of some of the quarterbacks we’ve talked about. And if it wasn’t for the son of an NFL Hall of Famer, he would be the No. 1 receiver in this class and in most classes, let’s get that straight: He would be up there, No. 1 receiver last year, many other years, maybe take out the Ja’Marr Chase year.”

He continued: “Nabers is special. He is physical, as Mel said. But it’s that yards after catch. Now you have Jaylin Hyatt, Wan’Dale Robinson and you throw in Malik Nabers — this is elite yards after catch. Which I think Brian Daboll, coming from that Andy Reid tree, would love to have speed there.”

Yates also said the gap between Harrison and Nabers isn’t as big a gulf as some might expect; the biggest difference between the two is less their overall skill but the ways they’ll be able to impact the game, as Harrison is a little bigger.

“But this is the most explosive player in the entire draft,” Yates said. “Mel was just talking about the physicality, you pair that with the explosiveness. Now, during the NFL Draft, as we all know, for TV purposes, these teams like to take up every second, also to negotiate potential trades. Here’s my advice to the New York Giants: The clock starts, and just run, sprint right to Detroit and say Malik Nabers, LSU, wide receiver, print the jersey, he’s No. 8, Daniel Jones is switching numbers, too bad Danny Dimes because we got you a new No. 1 wide receiver.”

Kiper, too, raved about Nabers, and pointed out that his teammate and fellow LSU wideout Brian Thomas Jr. isn’t far behind in terms of the wide receiver pecking order in the draft.

“He was uncoverable in a lot of those games,” Kiper said. “And you talk about Booger McFarland’s favorite word, ‘physicality,’ that’s Malik Nabers. Comes from Louisiana, he played through injuries, you play through pain and you go out there and you’re a baller. So for Malik Nabers, what a year he had. And guess what? The other receiver at LSU will be coming off the board in the not-too-distant future here.”