Published Dec 12, 2023
LSU Football Top 10: No.2 Malik Nabers
Luke Hubbard  •  Death Valley Insider
Analyst
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@clukehubbard

Any other year, Malik Nabers would be the No. 1 player on this list by a mile. Nabers had one of the greatest individual seasons by an LSU wide receiver, but he just happened to be playing with a Heisman quarterback, so he falls to No. 2 on this list.

Nabers came to LSU as a four-star wide receiver from Lafayette, Louisiana. He held offers from schools like Texas, Oregon, Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State and so many others, but he always wanted to rep his home state at LSU.

He's told us that during his recruiting process, LSU came in late with their offer, so ever since he's been on campus, he's played with a bit of a chip on his shoulder to prove he belongs.

Nabers did just that in his freshman season, catching 28 balls for 417 yards and four touchdowns, but it wasn't until his sophomore year that he really broke onto the scene.

Playing alongside Kayshon Boutte, Nabers started the season as the WR2, but with Boutte missing games and not looking like himself on the field, Nabers quickly took his spot as Jayden Daniels's top target. He finished his sophomore campaign with 1,017 yards, capping it off with 163 yards in the Cheez It Citrus Bowl.

With Boutte gone, Nabers was expected to take the next step in his development and become a true WR1 who's capable of carrying a big work load, and with some help from 5am workouts with Daniels, he did all of that and more.

Nabers began his junior season with a pair of 67 and 87 yard performances before going absolutely berserk in the final 10 games of the season.

In the Tigers SEC opener against Mississippi State, Nabers caught 13 balls for 239 yards (the fourth most in a single game in program history) and two touchdowns en route to LSU's big win over the Bulldogs. He would follow that up with a 130 yard, two touchdown performance against Arkansas where he officially put the country on notice.

In the Tigers finals eight games of the season, Nabers was held under 100 yards just one time (89 against Auburn), and would be held without a touchdown twice (Ole Miss and Florida). Nabers finished his junior season with 86 catches for 1,546 yards and 14 touchdowns.

In the Tigers season finale against Texas A&M, Nabers became the program's all-time leader in receptions and is now just over 20 yards shy of breaking the all-time receiving yards record.

Nabers led the country in receiving yards, yards per game, is tied for second in receiving touchdowns and is seventh in receptions. He was the best receiver in the nation this season and was absolutely robbed of the Biletnikoff, which was awarded to Marvin Harrison Jr.

Nabers was already a pretty highly touted NFL prospect before this season, but he is undoubtedly going to be one of the first receivers off the board in the 2024 NFL Draft.

LSU fans will still get to see Nabers suit up in the purple and gold one more time as he announced he'll play in the bowl game in an attempt to break the program receiving record. We don't know if he'll play the whole game or not, but just enjoy his last moments in a Tiger uniform because he's one of the programs all-time great receivers.