INDIANAPOLIS — They both believe they are the best wide receiver in this coming NFL draft.
The consensus is pretty much that Marvin Harrison Jr. from Ohio State owns that distinction, but do not tell that to Malik Nabers from LSU or Rome Odunze from Washington.
There does not seem to be a pathway for Harrison to get to the Giants at No. 6.
There does not seem to be a scenario where Nabers and/or Odunze will not be on the board when the Giants are on the clock.
“I’m able to go outside and win and I’m able to go in the slot,’’ Nabers said Friday at the NFL Scouting Combine when asked why he is the best receiver in this draft. “I’m able to be moved around, create space on a linebacker. I carry the ball pretty good.
“A different offense can move me around and still got that dawg mentality.’’
Next, Odunze’s turn.
“Me,’’ he said without a trace of boastfulness. “I just think my versatility on the field, I’ve shown all the skills that can translate to the NFL at a high level in different facets of my game. And who I am as a person, who I will be to a locker room, who I will be to a community are all A-plus.”
The six-foot, 200-pound Nabers is only 20 years old and in three years set the LSU record for receiving yards with 3,003.
By comparison, Odell Beckham Jr. is ninth on the list with 2,340 yards.
Nabers in 2023 had 89 catches for 1,569 yards and 14 touchdowns.
There is a belief that Harrison and Nabers are the best prospects at the position since Ja’Marr Chase came out of LSU in 2021.
Odunze is also a top-10 projection, and it would not be a reach for the Giants to take him at No. 6 considering he has great size (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) and was highly productive in 2023, hauling in all those tight spirals from Michael Penix Jr.
Odunze had 81 catches for 1,428 yards and 13 touchdowns as the Huskies made it to the national championship game before losing to Michigan.
Both players met with the Giants this week and came back with glowing reports.
“Their head coach [Brian Daboll], they love dawgs,’’ Nabers said. “They are able to find those receivers that they really want and they have a great plan going on to this season that I heard.
“It was a great interview. I don’t know really if they are looking for a good receiver, but I feel the head coach really likes me a lot. I know they are still looking for that WR1, especially after Odell left. If I can come in and be that guy, so be it.”
Odunze called the Giants “good people’’ and praised the vibe in the room.
“We were laughing in there a little bit, they were quizzing me on some film, getting to know who I was and I was getting to know them,’’ Odunze said.
“I feel like they’re good dudes, honestly. They just had joy in the room, they were excited about the process, they knew ball, of course, and they were excited about their future, as well. I think good things to come.’’
The Giants hired a former Patriots special teams coordinator.
Cam Achord will be the assistant special teams coordinator, as first reported Friday by ESPN.
He fills a void created when Mike Adams moved from that role to assistant secondary coach.
The irony is that Achord was Joe Judge’s right-hand man with the Patriots in 2018 and 2019 and the choice to replace Judge as Patriots special teams coordinator when he became Giants head coach in 2020.
Achord kept the title the last two seasons after Judge returned to the Patriots as a quarterbacks coach and assistant head coach.
Michael Ghobrial was hired earlier this offseason to run the Giants’ special teams after assisting for the Jets for the last three seasons.
