As the New York Giants entered their first season under head coach John Harbaugh, many questions surrounded the team's receiving corps. However, just seven games into the season, the Giants' pass catchers have emerged as one of the team's biggest strengths and may rank among the better pass-catching units in the entire league.
Before the Giants' first game of the season on Sunday Night Football, there were plenty of question marks surrounding Malik Nabers' return from injury. After a slow start, Nabers has come alive as of late. He just recorded his fourth straight game eclipsing the 100-yard mark. In the last four games, Nabers has hauled in 36 catches for 509 yards.
The Giants have also gotten a massive return on their investment in Isaiah Likely,
who has played like one of the best tight ends in the league this year. Likely is just two catches, 83 receiving yards, and two touchdowns from setting career highs in each of those categories.
The Giants have also received contributions from rookie Malachi Fields and Darnell Mooney this season.
The wide receiver room took a hit prior to the season when free-agent acquisition Calvin Austin was lost for the year due to an injury.
Although depth-wise, the Giants certainly could use another receiver or two, the team felt comfortable enough with the way their roster was built to release both Darius Slayton and Odell Beckham Jr. within a few weeks of each other. The one-two punch of Malik Nabers and Isaiah Likely has been lethal for the Giants and is likely to get stronger as J.J. McCarthy continues to build chemistry with his receivers.
In fact, Max Kellerman recently hosted Giants legend Carl Banks on the Game Over podcast and praised the Giants' pass catchers.
"When I look at the Giants' receiving corps right now, the Dallas Cowboys get a lot of praise for their receiving corps. I think the Giants' top three is better. I'm not qualifying it. They are better than the Cowboys' top three. I think Malik Nabers is the best receiver on either team," Kellerman told Banks.
"I saw CeeDee Lamb get shut down by Deonte Banks when the Giants matched up with the Cowboys in one-on-one coverage. I think Malachi Fields has been sensational as a rookie, doing every little thing—not just blocking, but as a sure-handed receiver, big target, YAC, the whole thing. And Isaiah Likely has been good as a tight end catching passes this year. I love this receiving corps," Kellerman told Banks.
Banks agreed.
"They're very talented," Banks replied. "And I think for fans it's fair to draw those comparisons, right? I'm so close to it, so I don't want to be biased, even though I can be. But what I will tell you is the metamorphosis of Malik Nabers is becoming 'wow.' We saw what the promise was in his rookie year. Then he gets hurt. He comes back, you start to see flashes. These last three games, he's a 100-yard receiver in each game, and it's like 'wow.' He's shedding any shadows of the injury, and he's now picked up on what that promise was in his rookie year, and he's hard to guard.
"They're rounding into something that is very dangerous for any defensive coordinator because, like you said, Isaiah Likely is as good a tight end as you can get, and he's a problem. And the Texans thought, 'Well, maybe we'll take him out of the game.' And Malik goes for 100 and Malachi Fields for like 89, 90 yards. Right, so that's good coaching. But it's also good talent scouting to get a guy like Malachi Fields, and he's proven to be everything they thought he would be."
The Giants' passing game seems to have been improving as the weeks have gone along, and now that they are in the bye week, the team's new No. 1 quarterback, J.J. McCarthy, will have some extra time to get acclimated to the playbook and build chemistry with his receivers.
With McCarthy's arm being a threat for passes down the field, there is a possibility that we have yet to see just how strong the Giants' passing game can be.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: New York Giants' top pass catchers draw praise over Cowboys' group
