Inside the Numbers: Malik Nabers off to historic start

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Four games into his NFL career, Malik Nabers’ exploits have become appointment viewing for Giants fans and NFL aficionados eager to see what he will accomplish next.

Nabers leads the NFL with 35 receptions – five more than No. 2 Nico Collins of Houston – is second with 386 yards and tied for third with three touchdown receptions. He is the first player in NFL history to post that combination of numbers through his four career games.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Nabers’ 35 receptions is the second-highest four-game total to start a career in league history. Puka Nacua of the Rams had 39 catches in his first four games in 2023. Nabers’ 386 yards is the eighth-highest four-game total.

In Giants’ history, Nabers’ 35 catches rank first among all Giants players in the first four games of a season, surpassing Steve Smith’s 34 receptions in 2009. His 386 yards are first among rookies and second to Plaxico Burress’ 396 yards in 2005 and his three touchdowns are tied for seventh.

*Nabers is the third rookie in the Super Bowl era with 30+ receptions in his first four games, joining Anquan Boldin (30 in 2003) and Nacua (39 last year). Both Boldin (101) and Nacua (105) set rookie receptions records in those seasons. Jaylen Waddle (104 in 2021) is second in single-season receptions for a rookie.

*Wan’Dale Robinson is fifth in the NFL with 26 receptions. The Giants and Houston Texans are the only teams with two players with 25+ catches. Houston has Collins (30) and Stefon Diggs (25). The Seahawks, the Giants’ opponent Sunday in Seattle, are close with Jaxson Smith-Njigba (25) and TK Metcalf (24).

*Nabers had 12 catches for 115 yards in the Giants’ loss against Dallas last Thursday and had 10 for 127 yards at Washington on Sept. 15. He the first player with two 10+ receptions and 100+ yards games in his first four games in a Giants uniform. Nabers joins Nacua last year as the only NFL players with two such games among their first four career contests.

*Nabers is the third rookie with at least 10 receptions and 100 yards in a primetime game since 1970, joining Hall of Famer Jerry Rice (1985 vs. the Rams) and former Giant Odell Beckham, Jr. (2014, also at home vs. Dallas).

*Nabers is the ninth rookie with 10+ receptions in a night game since 1970. Three of the nine were Giants rookies against the Cowboys: Nabers, Beckham and Saquon Barkley in 2018.

*In addition to Nabers’ 12 receptions, Robinson had 11 catches vs. the Cowboys. It was the first game in Giants history in which they had two players with 11+ receptions and the third in which they had two players with at least 10 catches. On Sept. 20, 2009, Smith and Mario Manningham each had 10 receptions in a victory in Dallas, and on Sept. 12, 2012, Victor Cruz caught 11 passes and Hakeem Nicks 10 in a win vs. Tampa Bay.

The previous NFL team to have two receivers with 11+ catches was the Minnesota Vikings on Dec. 24, 2022, when T.J. Hockenson had 13 and Justin Jefferson had 12 – against the Giants.

*Nabers had the ninth game in Giants’ history in which a receiver had at least 12 catches. Barkley holds the record with 14 (in the 2018 primetime game in Dallas in his second career game) and another running back, Tiki Barber, had 13. The seven 12-catch games are split among four wide receivers (Amani Toomer, Nicks, Nabers and Beckham, who did it twice), and two tight ends (Mark Bavaro and Jeremy Shockey).

*Robinson had the 16^th 11-catch game in Giants history and the first since tight end Evan Engram at Dallas on Sept. 8, 2019.

*Robinson leads the NFL with 15 receptions on third down. Nabers is second with 12.

*Nabers has been targeted on 52 of the Giants 145 total pass attempts – including one that he threw – a 35.9 percentage that is the highest in the NFL.