Malik

Nabers

In what is hopefully a precautionary move, the Giants downgraded Nabers from a Thursday FP to a Friday LP. Given his removal from the injury report, it is likely the team allowed Nabers to leave practice early to receive treatment on his lower-body issues. Fantasy managers can start him as a high-upside WR2.

Nabers suffered the foot injury in last week’s loss to the Ravens. He was momentarily slowed by it but returned to finish out the game and was still a limited participant in the team’s first practice to open the week. His being upgraded to a full participant on Thursday is a good sign for his availability in Sunday’s game against a Falcons defense that struggled to slow down their opponent’s passing games all season. Naber’s will be forced to get through another game with Drew Lock under center, but his expected volume should keep him in the WR2 mix.

Nabers had his foot stepped on by a teammate in the Giants’ Week 15 loss to the Ravens. He was hobbled by the stomp for a moment but it didn’t prevent him from closing out the game. Nabers should be good to go for Week 16 as a limited practice on Wednesday is nothing new for him. He remains a volume-based WR2 for his matchup with the Falcons.

Toughing it out through a lingering hip issue that sidelined him for parts of New York’s loss to the Ravens, Nabers dominated looks from both Tommy DeVito — who missed the second half with a brain injury — and Tim Boyle, who targeted Nabers relentlessly and threw Nabers’ lone touchdown on the day.

Nabers remained limited in all three Week 15 practices, indicating he will be playing at less than 100.0 percent. The game-breaking youngster is still a must-start WR2 though. The Ravens’ pass defense continues to improve, as the season progresses so this makes for a stiff test.

Nabers is on track to face the Ravens this week, given his continued practice participation. His upside is frustratingly limited both by his nagging injuries and the Giants’ dismal quarterback play. He remains WR2-viable based on his exceptional talent though.

Nabers played through a hip flexor issue last week after missing Friday’s practice. The team listed him as questionable but didn’t limit his reps. He ran nearly every route and saw 10 targets, five of which were caught for 79 yards. It’s safe to assume Nabers will have a light workload in practice for a few more weeks and possibly the rest of the year. Fantasy managers can bank on him as a volume-based WR2 barring any setbacks.

Giants head coach Brian Daboll said Drew Lock was in a walking boot and would miss at least one game, putting DeVito back under center for Week 15. In his lone 2024 start, DeVito completed 21-of-31 pass attempts for 189 scoreless yards and was sacked four times against the Bucs. DeVito’s primary job against the Ravens will be to funnel targets to Malik Nabers against one of the worst secondaries in the NFL.

Supposedly ticketed for a snap count as he battled a hip issue, Nabers instead reached 10 targets for the second consecutive week and fifth time in six games. The targets were of mind-numbingly poor quality with Drew Lock under center, but the 79 yards were Naber’s most in seven games. That tells you just how poorly his fantasy campaign has been going in the second half. The G-Men could turn back to Tommy DeVito for Week 15 against the Ravens, but the quarterback doesn’t really matter at this point. Nabers will be a volume-based WR2, one who does have a good matchup.

Nabers is up, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter intimated Sunday morning he will likely be on some sort of pitch count. Even with six teams on bye, Nabers’ injury and Drew Lock’s presence under center combine to make him much more of a boom/bust WR3 than he would be at full health. The reality is, you probably aren’t in a position to bench him, but he should not be treated as a top-18 option for the final week of the fantasy regular season. Inactive for the G-Men are CB Deonte Banks, CB Dru Phillips, LB Bobby Okereke, OT Chris Hubbard, OT Jermaine Eluemunor, DL Rakeem Nunez-Roches and CB Dee Williams.