Which First-round Receiver Makes Most Sense for New York Giants?

The New York Giants will likely take either a quarterback or wide receiver with the sixth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Three receivers, Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers, and Rome Odunze, are expected to become WR1s in the NFL.

All three are capable of winning in their own ways. Even NFL teams are reportedly undecided about which receiver they have at the top of the board at this point, although for the better part of two years, the assumption has been Harrison.

Following an explosive year as the top option for the Heisman winner in Jayden Daniels, Nabers finds himself challenging for that top spot. The National Championship runner-up in Odunze made his name by dominating every defender placed in his path.

NFL teams are in a position to select the wide receiver that best fits their scheme and individual needs. For the Giants, I think pretty much any fan will be content with the team spending heavy capital on a potential WR1, but the team will likely be in a position where they’ll have to decide on a pecking order.

Based on the offensive scheme and current quarterback situation, Harrison would be the best fit for the Giants, regardless of where we have him on the Giants Country Big Board. Coincidentally, he is the top receiver on our board by a very thin margin over Nabers.

The greatest strength of Harrison is his ability to consistently create separation from defensive backs despite seeing a double team on 16.8% of his routes run. Harrison was the first prospect evaluated by Reception Perception that saw a double team on more than 8.5 percent of his routes while still having a success rate of 70 percent.

Route-running ability is the greatest skill that a receiver can have in general, but it’s also exactly what the Giants need. I’m confident in Wan’Dale Robinson’s ability to separate underneath, but the Giants have just speed and lack skill outside of Robinson.

Adding Harrison to the room means that the speedy receivers can stretch the field while Robinson works underneath, and Harrison can work at all three levels of the field.

Regardless of who the Giants have at quarterback this season (and beyond), Harrison makes that players’ jobs significantly easier by giving him a reliable option at every level. Daniel Jones and Drew Lock would appreciate having the best separator in the draft and an NFL-ready prospect.

I chose not to put Nabers as the top fit primarily because neither of Jones's or Lock's expected starting quarterback options is the type of quarterback to challenge vertically consistently. That would mean asking Jones/Lock to play out of their element, asking Nabers to play out of his element, or having Nabers as a glorified decoy. 

As for Odunze, he is a jump ball specialist who would put the Giants in a similar position as Nabers in asking players to play out of their element. That's not to say either option is a bad fit or that they wouldn’t develop and find success, but for an immediate fit that can be the WR1 in 2024, Marvin Harrison Jr is the best option.

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