With the 2024 NFL Draft quickly approaching, Jaguars Wire is breaking down top prospects at positions of need for Jacksonville via individual scouting profiles.
After breakdowns on cornerback Terrion Arnold, wide receiver Rome Odunze and cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, our focus shifts back to pass-catchers with LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers next on our list.
NFL Combine measurements and positional percentiles via MockDraftable. Scouting reports by Jaguars Wire.
Malik Nabers, WR, LSU
Height/weight: 6-foot, 199 pounds
Notable NFL Combine results: N/A
Notable Pro Day results: 31 3/8-inch arm length, 4.38-second-40-yard dash, 1.56-second 10-yard split, 42-inch vertical jump, 10-foot, nine-inch broad jump
College stats (three seasons, 38 games): 189 receptions, 3,003 yards, 15.9 yards per reception, 21 touchdowns
Scouting report: From Youngsville (La.) Southside, Nabers was a consensus four-star prospect out of high school who saw his college recruitment explode in the spring before his senior season.
He obtained 19 of his 32 scholarship offers between January and April 2020, before his summertime commitment to Mississippi State. But come the class of 2021 Early Signing Period, Nabers flipped his pledge to his home-state school in Baton Rouge, aligning with a program that has been a factory for NFL Draft-quality wide receivers in recent years.
“[Ja’Marr] Chase was more of a dude physically and [Justin] Jefferson was already really skilled when he came out, but you can see some flashes of both of those guys with the way [Nabers] plays,” an anonymous AFC personnel executive told NFL.com about Nabers, likening his skill set to LSU’s two most recent first-round receivers.
Arguably the most dynamic pass-catcher in this class, Nabers boasts elite all-around athleticism with top-end short-to-long speed, great explosiveness out of his stance and route breaks, and good leaping ability to play bigger than his size when the ball is in the air.
These attributes allowed Nabers to emerge as one of, if not the SEC’s top deep threat over his sophomore and junior seasons. Although he can get open in all three levels of the field, his route-running and double-move prowess consistently shined through in the 10-to-20-yard range, where he frequently beat cornerbacks and safeties to break into large, unoccupied patches of the playing grass.
Nabers was the SEC’s back-to-back leader in receptions in 2022-23, producing 1,000+ receiving yards in both campaigns. In 2023, he hauled in a touchdown on roughly one of every six catches. Nine of those scores came on receptions of 20+ yards, per Pro Football Focus.
Nabers can continue to strengthen his hands at the next level as he dropped 15 passes over three seasons at LSU, although he improved in this respect throughout his college career. After dropping six passes over 47 targets in 2021, he dropped nine over 228 targets in the past two years.
Like Odunze, Nabers would change the outlook of Jacksonville’s offense significantly with the potential of becoming the Jaguars’ No. 1 wide receiver, and quickly. But, also like Odunze, acquiring Nabers’ services would likely require a trade-up in the draft order from No. 17 — and it wouldn’t be cheap.