Malik Nabers is Going Too Low in 2024 ESPN ADP as the Team's Easy Number 1 Option - Bleacher Nation (2024)

As of July 24th, Malik Nabers is being drafted as the 56th player in Round 5 ESPN ADP. He isbeing draftedas the 25th player at the wide receiver position.

*Check out the full ESPN ADP at 4for4!*

Round 5 ESPN ADP:

According to current4for4 PPR Rankings, these players are going too high in Round 5 ESPN ADP:

Zay Flowers Outlook– As a rookie, Zay Flowers was the fantasy WR27 but was the WR34 on a per-game basis. The Ravens let Odell Beckham walk, and didn’t really replace him, so the team is likely to have Flowers, Rashod Bateman and Nelson Agholor as its top three receivers.

Flowers should see plenty of targets and become a more consistent weapon in his second season.

Joe Burrow Outlook– Joe Burrow was the QB17 through 10 weeks, before he suffered a season-ending wrist injury in Week 11. After a very rough start–Burrow was the QB31 through the first four weeks!–he settled in and was the QB6 from Week 5 to Week 10.

This production was more in line with his QB4 finish in 2022 and his QB6 finish in 2021. We can probably write off those early-season struggles as an aberration. The Bengals lost Tyler Boyd in free agency, but added the talented Jermaine Burton in the Draft.

At tight end, they replaced Irv Smith with Mike Gesicki, who will join mini-breakout Tanner Hudson and Drew Sample in the tight end room. Burrow should post solid QB1-type numbers in 2024.

According to current4for4 PPR Rankings, these players are going too low in Round 5 ESPN ADP:

Malik Nabers Outlook– From a targets standpoint, Nabers should see all that he can handle, and he has the talent to produce.

The problem is the quarterback situation, which currently features Daniel Jones, who is recovering from an ACL tear, and Drew Lock, who is on his third team in four seasons. As the top target in a suspect passing attack, Nabers will be in the WR3/WR4 mix this summer.

*Check out the full set4for4’s award-winning PPR fantasy football Rankings, customized for your ESPN league here*

Why you should be drafting Malik Nabers before ESPN ADP in 2024 Fantasy Football Leagues

For those of us following along with the Hard Knocks series, we know that GM Joe Shoen and head coach Brian Daboll were not opposed to taking a new quarterback at the top of the NFL Draft.

No deals would end up coming through, which leaves Daniel Jones and Drew Lock left to battle it out. In response, Vegas has the team projected for the fourth-lowest points (361) across the league, and they are only projected to score more than 21 points in four games. Their offensive line looks like it could be a huge issue once again, and their running back room is uninspiring.

These are all negatives for rookie Malik Nabers in a poor offensive environment, but he remains on fantasy radars due to what could be a massive target share. In recent years, we have seen first-year players explode onto the scene in thin wide receiver rooms.

Puka Nacua earned a 26.8% target share with Cooper Kupp missing time last year, while Drake London and Chris Olave notched respective 27.7% and 24.3% shares in 2022. In Jaylen Waddle’s lone pre-Tyreek season, he also accrued a 23.6% share.

These situations don’t seem all that dissimilar from Nabers’ first season, with some poor quarterback play mixed in with those receivers mentioned above. We would obviously much rather have Matthew Stafford or Tua throwing the ball to him, but our worries about Daniel Jones and Drew Lock are baked into the late-fifth-round price.

Coming off draft boards in the WR26-range, Nabers could operate as your fantasy squad’s WR3 or FLEX play, and provide some massive weeks, due to his yards-after-catch ability. He led the entirety of the FBS with 34 catches of 20-plus yards last season, while logging 3.64 yards per route run.

There could be some hiccups along the way, but it’s a worthy gamble for his week-winning upside.

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Justin has been playing fantasy sports since he booted up a Sandbox Fantasy Football league on his Gateway computer in Middle School. After nearly two decades in the restaurant industry, he's focusing his attention on making a living in the sports industry.