Malik Nabers — Week 1: Nine Targets and the Biggest Throw

Seven to seven, 40 seconds left in the second quarter, third and nine at the New York 46. Jaxson Dart threw deep left to Malik Nabers, who ran out of bounds at the Dallas 38. 16 yards, +1.7 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 9.9 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it, the largest gain on any Giants play all night. Three plays later Isaiah Likely had the touchdown, and the Giants led for the rest of the game.

The line: nine targets, six catches, 69 yards, three first downs, +5.0 expected points on the targets, and a longest of 16 — twice. Five targets before halftime for three catches and 32 yards; four after for three catches and 37. The catches: nine short left on the opening drive, seven short right, the 16 deep left, 16 short middle on second and nine with 11 25 left in the third, 13 short middle to the Dallas four on second and nine with eight 28 left in the third — the throw that set up Likely's second touchdown — and eight short left on second and 17 in the fourth. The three incompletions were a short right with 33 seconds left in the first quarter, a short left with 49 seconds left in the half, and a deep left on second and nine with four 34 left in the game. One third-down target, one conversion. The throws to him traveled a hundred three yards in the air; 10 of his 69 came after the catch.

Nine targets led the team. Dart threw eight times to Likely, four each to Malachi Fields and Devin Singletary, two to Darnell Mooney, one each to Patrick Ricard and Theo Johnson; no throw was without a receiver. 31 percent of the throws went to Nabers, per the weekly stat file. Likely's eight came out at +11.0 expected points, Nabers's nine at +5.0, and between them they took 17 of 29 throws. 17 pass plays before halftime, 14 after; his targets went five and four.

Back in June the preview put Nabers on the watchlist — the fourteenth receiver at pick 34, a top-10 ceiling on a knee that had needed a second procedure — and named his availability first, everything else downstream, and then the explosiveness when he returned. Sunday answered the first question completely: he played, he led the team in targets, and Dart was still throwing to him deep with four 34 left. The second is open. 16 was the long, 10 yards came after the catch, and the one deep ball in the second half fell incomplete. One game does not measure burst; it did put the number-one role back on the field, which was the entire bet. The Giants are at the Rams on Monday night the 20-first.

_Data via nflverse._