Selecting Joe Alt with the No. 5 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft over wide receiver Malik Nabers was a controversial decision by the LA Chargers at the time. After all, the Chargers already had a top-tier left tackle and desperately needed to add a true No. 1 wide receiver with Keenan Allen and Mike Williams no longer on the team.
Nabers didn't last long after being passed on by the Chargers, going to the New York Giants with the No. 6 pick. The Chargers' decision to draft Alt appeared like it was aging poorly (and fast), with Nabers collecting an assortment of must-see highlights during training camp.
Now, nearly a year-and-a-half removed from the 2024 NFL Draft, it's abundantly clear that the Chargers made the right decision. Nabers' latest comments about the recent quarterback switch ahead of Sunday's Chargers-Giants matchup is just another reminder of why.
What did Malik Nabers learn from the Giants' changes at quarterback last year about how best to handle the situation?
— Giants Videos (@SNYGiants) September 24, 2025
"They gonna find a way to get 1 the ball" pic.twitter.com/fUvWFUTVvP
Malik Nabers continues to prove the Chargers made the right call
This is simply not a mindset that would have thrived on a Jim Harbaugh-led team. Before even diving into the logistics of the Chargers' draft decisions, it's not hard to see that Nabers would not have been a fit on the Chargers.
Harbaugh and the Chargers are all about team success, no matter the cost. Throughout his young NFL career, Nabers has seemed more interested in his personal success above all else. That never would have flown in Los Angeles.
From a pure football perspective, the Chargers clearly got the most out of the 2024 NFL Draft by not drafting Nabers. Los Angeles traded up in the second round — in a trade that is aging brilliantly, by the way — to take Georgia wide receiver Ladd McConkey.
Now, McConkey may never have the same ceiling as Nabers when it comes to being a franchise-altering wideout. But he was one of the most productive rookie receivers last year and still remains one of the best young wideouts in the sport despite his slow start.
The Chargers are in a pretty good place right now with their receiving corps, too. And thanks to the Alt selection, the Chargers have managed the Rashawn Slater injury much more than they otherwise would have. If Nabers was the first-round pick, regardless of who was taken in the second round, it would be a mess right now.
Would the Giants have been much better off if the Chargers took Nabers and New York instead landed Alt or another first-round prospect? Probably not. In fact, getting Nabers with the No. 6 pick was probably the best-case scenario for the Giants.
But just like with the Eli Manning-Philip Rivers trade of 2004, Super Bowls be damned, the Chargers clearly made the right call and let the alternative option head to the Big Apple.