While 2025 redraft fantasy football leagues are just around the corner, dynasty managers are never off the clock. If you manage a dynasty team, you’ve undoubtedly spent the offseason researching the 2025 rookie class and identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your team. Tools like PFSN’s Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer are invaluable for determining the best trade value.
Throughout the summer, we will examine players who frequently appear in PFSN’s Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer to determine whether dynasty managers are making the right decision to buy or sell a player. Today, we will examine New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers.
Malik Nabers Looks To Build on an Impressive Rookie Campaign
Nabers was highly touted as a prospect coming out of LSU in the 2024 NFL Draft. In his last season with the Tigers, the receiver dominated the targets in an offense featuring Brian Thomas Jr. and Mason Taylor. Nabers caught 89 passes for 1,569 yards and 14 touchdowns and was named a consensus All-American.
The wide receiver also had an excellent pre-draft process. He measured at 6’0″, weighed 200 pounds, and ran a 4.35 40-yard dash at his pro day. Nabers was the second receiver taken in the 2024 Draft, and the New York Giants selected him sixth overall.
It didn’t take the rookie long to establish himself as an alpha wide receiver in real life and fantasy football. Nabers was targeted 170 times, catching 109 passes for 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns. He led all wide receivers in targets per game (11.3) and finished 11th in expected points added (EPA) as a rookie (45.08).
Nabers had 10 games as a rookie with double-digit targets. Not only did that lead the rookie class last season, but it was more than Julio Jones, Drake London, and Mike Evans had combined during their respective first years in the NFL.
Malik Nabers really went for 109-1204-7 in 15 games at 21 years young
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) June 12, 2025
The rookie instantly impacted fantasy despite catching passes from a lackluster stable of Daniel Jones, Drew Lock, Tommy DeVito, and Tim Boyle. Nabers finished as the WR7 in PPR points per game as a rookie (18.2). He finished as a weekly top 10 scoring wide receiver five times in his rookie season. That was the same number of games as Justin Jefferson and Puka Nacua and topped Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Nabers was asked to shoulder the load of the Giants’ offense as a rookie and delivered. His strong first season immediately skyrocketed him into the upper echelon of dynasty wide receivers for the foreseeable future.
Nabers Is Expensive, but He’s Worth It
Nabers lived up to the hype last season, and PFSN’s Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer users are buying that there is more meat on the bone. This summer, Nabers has been acquired in 56.7% of the trades made by users that involve him, ranking 83rd in that percentile.
Despite the lofty expectations created by his rookie season, it seems clear that there is still plenty of untapped potential for Nabers if the Giants’ passing attack can be more consistent in 2025.
Nabers was 28th in catchable pass rate in 2024 (74.1%). He ranked third among wide receivers in contested targets (35). Both of these statistics can be tied to the subpar quarterback play.
Russell Wilson seems to be on his last legs as an NFL starter, but he can be considered a significant upgrade from what Nabers had to work with under center as a rookie. The Giants also have a 2025 first-round pick (Jaxson Dart) and veteran Jameis Winston waiting in the wings if Wilson stumbles early in the 2025 season.
It would be irresponsible to predict that Nabers will ever have another 170-target season since they are so rare. However, he can still see a massive uptick in his fantasy production with improved quarterback play. Only one other player had more targets than Nabers in 2024 (Ja’Marr Chase, 175), yet Nabers finished as the WR7 due to poor target quality and a lack of receiving touchdowns.
Additionally, the Giants didn’t add significant target competition to the offense this offseason. Nabers will again be a target hog in 2025, regardless of which quarterback is under center.
The dynasty manager rostering Nabers shouldn’t be looking to move off a soon-to-be 22-year-old who earned 170 targets as a rookie, but if they are, you should be willing to give up the price to get him. Based on what we know today, Nabers would easily be the WR1 in the 2025 or 2026 rookie classes.