Do you agree with his choices?
In case you haven’t noticed, Malik Nabers is already being treated by the NFL community as one of its elite players despite having only played one season on a very bad team. Myles Garrett called him over to tell him, “You’re a bad boy. Keep doing your thing,” after the New York Giants’ victory in Cleveland early in the season. He was selected as a Pro Bowl alternate and was eventually named to replace the injured Amon-Ra St. Brown. And now the rest of the NFL community has started to realize that he has an engaging personality to add to his immense talent. This week he’s in New Orleans for the Super Bowl, and he was asked by ESPN’s Kevin Clark on his “This Is Football” show to construct his ideal quarterback.
The specific question was, “If you could just draw up a quarterback who would fit your game, what would it look like?” The aspects that he commented on were legs, arm talent, IQ (reading defenses), accuracy, out-of-the-pocket arm talent, and vision. Let’s not take this too seriously, Nabers was just coming up with traits and names off the top of his head. But it’s something to have a little fun with. The segment begins at 4:15:
What do you think of his choices? Let’s look at each briefly, and you can pick your own:
Legs:
Malik’s choice: Jayden Daniels
My choice: Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts
The one thing that made me nervous about Daniels in college was his willingness to take off with the ball, both because of his slender frame and because I sometimes felt he was pulling the ball down and running before he had to. Apparently my concerns were misplaced. Not that he didn’t do it as a pro – per Pro Football Focus, Daniels scrambled 87 times in his rookie season, an amazing 34 times more than any other quarterback. (Bo Nix was second at 53 and Caleb Williams third at 48, so maybe it’s just a rookie thing.) But who can argue with taking your team to the NFC Championship Game as a rookie?
Arm talent:
Malik’s choice: Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes
My choice: No argument
There are quarterbacks with more arm strength than Burrow and Mahomes, e.g., Anthony Richardson, but as far as getting the ball downfield with zip when needed, with touch when needed, from different arm angles and to all levels of the field, Burrow and Mahomes are two of the best. I’d throw Matthew Stafford and Justin Herbert in there, too. Of this year’s prospects I’d say Cam Ward best fits the bill on arm talent.
Reading defenses (IQ):
Malik’s choice: Jayden Daniels
My choice: Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers
I can’t argue with the results of his rookie year – Jayden Daniels seems to know where to go with the ball. The quarterbacks I’d think of first would be Mahomes and peak Aaron Rodgers.
Accuracy:
Malik’s choice: Matthew Stafford
My choice: Aaron Rodgers, Justin Herbert
I can’t quibble with Stafford, but Rodgers and Herbert were the first names that came to my mind. Jared Goff’s another pretty accurate QB, as is Tua Tagovailoa. It’s not just hitting your receiver with a catchable ball. It’s placing the ball where the receiver can catch it in stride and gain YAC rather than slowing down or having to turn away from the direction they’re moving, and where he doesn’t have to expose his body to a big hit right after the catch. Maybe the Giants will have one some day. Shedeur Sanders could be that guy.
Out-of-the-pocket arm talent:
Malik’s choice: Patrick Mahomes
My choice: Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen
I’d say that the defining characteristic of Mahomes’ career is how dangerous he is throwing the ball when he gets flushed from the pocket, even when he’s about to be hit and has to throw from an angle that the human arm is not supposed to be able to throw from. But Josh Allen is pretty good at that, too, though not as acrobatic as Mahomes.
Vision:
Malik’s choice: Justin Herbert
My choice: Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Burrow
I have no problem with the choice of Herbert, though the question lingers as to how a quarterback as good as Herbert seems to be does not have more success. Mahomes, Rodgers and Burrow were other names that came to mind.
Let’s hope that Malik Nabers gets to play with a quarterback that checks at least some of these boxes next season, because he did pretty well with a QB room deficient in most of these traits in 2024.
