The New York Giants seem convinced that 2 keys to their offense — wide receiver Malik Nabers and running back Cam Skattebo — will bounce back from devastating injuries in 2025 to help pull them off the NFL’s scrapheap in 2026.
It will take much more convincing for the rest of the NFL to believe that, and Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon recently pointed out that Nabers and Skattebo coming back from their injuries — or more importantly, when they come back — could represent an NFL power shift and “deeply impact how the upcoming season plays out.”
Nabers, who set the franchise single-season record with 109 receptions in 2024, tore his ACL and meniscus after just 4 games in 2025.
Skattebo, a 2025 4th-round pick, was 1 of the NFL’s great early-season surprises as a rookie with 617 yards of total offense and 7 touchdowns before he suffered a gruesome, dislocated right ankle against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 8.
“Nabers’ status remains up in the air for training camp, but Giants general manager Joe Schoen said that he remains optimistic the third-year former first-round pick can return by Week 1,” Gagnon wrote on July 1. “Nabers has hardly worked at all with Jaxson Dart, and the idea is that those two are the future of this franchise. If the team is going to take a major step forward in 2026, it needs a relatively full and productive campaign from a guy who went over 1,200 yards as a rookie in 2024 … Skattebo was a force for a small stretch in his rookie campaign, and he, Jaxson Dart and Malik Nabers could become something special together as part of this young Giants offense.”
Biggest Clues Malik Nabers Will Be Totally Fine
If we are putting together our conspiracy board for the Giants offseason and connecting different theories with shoestrings like we’re in a new season of True Detective, some clues indicate Nabers and Skattebo are both headed toward clean bills of health.
For Nabers, it’s the fact that the Giants didn’t go looking for another big-time wide receiver in free agency and added what can be gracefully called a complementary wide receiver in the 3rd round of the 2026 NFL draft with Notre Dame’s Malachi Fields.
“What the Giants get with Fields (6-4, 218) is a big, physical receiver,” ESPN’s Jordan Ranaan wrote in April. “That is what the Giants were looking for to complement Malik Nabers and vertical deep threats Darius Slayton and Darnell Mooney. He’s the ‘different body type,’ general manager Joe Schoen described. He referred to him as their power forward on the basketball roster.”
Cam Skattebo Looks on Track to Play in Week 1
Like Nabers, Skattebo didn’t see the Giants add anyone significant at his position in the offseason. In this case, the Giants didn’t even draft a running back.
The bigger issue for Skattebo, who participated in 11-on-11 drills in mandatory minicamp, looks to be the same as it was during his rookie season — competing with the other talented running backs on the roster.
While Skattebo pencils in as the starter, a healthy Tyrone Tracy is waiting in the wings after consecutive seasons with over 1,000 yards of total offense in 2024 and 2025. There’s also Devin Singletary, who rushed for over 800 yards in consecutive seasons in 2022 and 2023 and has rushed for exactly 437 yards in each of the last 2 seasons for the Giants.
Giants Duo Could ‘Deeply Impact’ NFL With Injury Timelines