Will New York Giants star wide receiver Malik Nabers be ready to start the 2026 season, or won’t he? Whenever he is ready to get on the field, how close will Nabers be to his dominant 2024 form, when he set a franchise record with 109 receptions?
That seems to be the biggest issue hanging over the Giants as we await the opening of training camp.
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The questions and Nabers’ importance are why Nabers is No. 4 on our list of the ‘most important Giants players of 2026’.
There is an argument to be made that Nabers is the Giants’ most talented player and that he could be No. 2 on this list. He lands, though, at No. 4.
Nabers, the sixth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, finished that season with the Giants’ single-season record of 109 receptions, which he took for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns. The receptions were two more than Steve Smith’s former franchise record of 107, set in 2009.
Nabers’ 109 catches rank as the most by a rookie wide receiver in NFL history, topping the 105 receptions the Rams’ Puka Nacua had in 2023. Raiders tight end Brock Bowers finished the year with 112 receptions, which set the new NFL rookie reception record.
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Nabers finished the season fifth in the NFL in receptions and seventh in receiving yards, despite missing two games and catching passes from four different quarterbacks.
Nabers played just four games in 2025, getting just 25 snaps with quarterback Jaxson Dart before tearing his ACL and meniscus after leaping to try and make a catch.
The Giants have remained optimistic that Nabers will play in Week 1, despite that timeline being only about 11 months since his injury.
“I still think he’ll be fine Week 1,” Schoen told Yahoo Sports on Monday. “So we’ll see. He’s trending in the right direction. Again, these things take time, so it’s not instant. Every patient is different.”
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Head coach John Harbaugh has said that rehabbing from a knee injury like Nabers’ is “a slog”.
“I think he does everything he can,” Harbaugh said. “He said his plan is to be here most of the time, almost all the time he’ll be here, I believe. I don’t think he will be here all the time. He’s going to be here a lot, working really hard. He’s making really good progress right now. I’m very hopeful that he’ll be back soon.
“Also, understand when you come back from a knee, he’ll be back, and he’ll still be building his way back to his ultimate full strength self. But he’s doing great. He’s doing a great job. He’s made some real good progress in the last few weeks.”
Harbaugh said that progress did not change his outlook on when Nabers might be available.
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“I wasn’t less optimistic before. Like I said, it’s a slog, it’s a grind. He’s still in the middle of it,” Harbaugh said. “He’s probably not in the middle of it now. He’s probably maybe 70 percent through. I don’t know, something like that. Eighty percent through.
“He’s still grinding. It’s going to be a grind when he starts playing again too to get back right.”
The way Nabers moved in the two videos below from the Brian Burns Charity Softball Game at the end of May wasn’t exactly encouraging.
The last time we spoke to Nabers was at the end of the 2025 season. He wouldn’t commit to a timeline for his return.
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“Target date is when my body feels ready to be out there,” Nabers said. “I had a lot messed up in my knee. Successfully operated on. It’s gonna take a little bit of time.”
The Giants have a cadre of veteran receivers who have played good football in the NFL, but none are Nabers.
Odell Beckham was at one time, but that was a decade or more ago. Darius Slayton, Darnell Mooney, Calvin Austin, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Isaiah Hodgins have all been productive players. Rookie third-round pick Malachi Fields is an exciting player with potential.
None of those players can stretch the field or make the explosive plays that Nabers is capable of making. If the Giants are going to have a chance to be as good as people like NFL analyst Greg Olsen think they can be, Nabers is going to have to be a big part of it.
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