Report: Malik Nabers won’t workout at 2024 NFL Combine
The NFL Scouting Combine will begin on Feb. 26 and end March 4. However, scouts shouldn’t expect to see LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers running routes anytime soon.
“Malik Nabers, in contention to be the top WR taken in the NFL Draft, will be at the NFL Scouting Combine for interviews, but won’t run or test until his Pro Day on March 27,” the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In ESPN NFL insider Mel Kiper Jr.’s latest mock draft, he projected Nabers to be selected by the Tennessee Titans with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The only two wide receivers Kiper predicted to be drafted ahead of Nabers were Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. and Washington’s Rome Odunze.
Mel Kiper Jr. raves about Malik Nabers’ potential
Harrison also will not test during the NFL Scouting Combine, but Odunze will. Kiper spoke highly of Nabers and his development during an episode of ‘First Draft’ with Field Yates in January, pointing out some of the explosive statistics Nabers posted this past fall.
“I look at him last year? He wasn’t the guy who he was this year,” Kiper said. “2023, you talk about what he was able to do for Jayden Daniels? The last five games of Jayden Daniels’ career? He had a catch of over 45 yards. In nine of 13 games? He’s getting it done, has had a catch of over 35 yards. 17 receptions of 30-plus yards this year.”
“He can be in the slot, he can be outside,” Kiper said. “This is a kid who was remarkable this season in terms not dropping passes and producing big play after big play.”
Nabers caught 189 passes overall over three seasons at LSU for just over 3,000 yards and 21 touchdowns. The 3,003 career yards were good for the program record for receiving yardage.
Most of that came this last year with the Tigers where he posted career-bests of 89 receptions for 1,569 yards and 14 scores. That was good for an average of 17.6 yards per catch and featured nine outings with 100 yards or more.
That production put him right in the mix for the Biletnikoff Award following the campaign, along with Harrison and Odunze. Kiper has high expectations for Nabers at the next level.
“You see the touchdown improvement? The average per catch? Everything is up. Making plays, stretching it, taking the top off a defense, wanting the ball in clutch moments,” Kiper Jr. said. “When this kid had to step up, game after game? He did it.”