Malik Nabers is going in the fourth round of fantasy football drafts this summer. That number surprises at least some analysts who have looked closely at what he has done when healthy.
According to a report by NFL.com, Nabers currently sits as the WR19 in average draft position heading into the 2026 fantasy season. His ranking comes despite averaging 18.24 fantasy points per game, sixth among all wide receivers, across the 18 full games he has played since being selected sixth overall by the New York Giants in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The hesitation from fantasy managers is not without reason. Nabers missed the final 13 games of last season with multiple knee injuries. He is currently working his way back during training camp and could face restrictions early in the 2026 season. The possibility of landing on the PUP list at the start of the year has kept his draft stock lower than his career performance might otherwise demand.
But the numbers from his healthy stretches are difficult to ignore. Nabers has seen at least seven targets in every game he has completed. He has scored double-digit fantasy points in 16 of the 18 full games he has played. Those are numbers associated with receivers drafted much earlier.
The report notes that even if Nabers starts the season slowly, fantasy managers could use a flex option in September while waiting for him to return to full health. Parker Washington was mentioned as one such option. By midseason, the expectation from analysts is that Nabers will be performing like a top receiver, potentially making his fourth-round draft cost look like significant value.
When fully healthy, analysts describe Nabers as a locked-in PPR WR1 with the upside of the top overall receiver in the position. Whether managers are willing to absorb early-season risk in exchange for that potential will likely define how the 2026 fantasy season plays out at the wide receiver position.
