The Giants let the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft come to them on Thursday night, landing two of the class’ most highly-regarded players in Ohio State’s Arvell Reese and Miami’s Francis Mauigoa.
Reese, 20, primarily lined up as an off-ball linebacker in college but has been tabbed for a move to edge rusher in the NFL. New York, though, has three-time Pro Bowler Brian Burns, last year’s No. 3 pick Abdul Carter, and 2022 No. 5 pick Kayvon Thibodeaux on the roster. There would be little room for Reese as an edge rusher as a rookie.
Instead, the Giants are planning to keep Reese off the ball to begin his career, head coach John Harbaugh said (via FOX Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano). He will line up on the weak side, and his versatility will keep him involved in the pass rush.
General manager Joe Schoen said (via NFL insider Jordan Schultz) that Reese was the team’s top-ranked non-quarterback prospect, so New York was more than happy to draft him and figure out where to play him later.
Mauigoa lined up at right tackle for the Hurricanes, but his 33.25-inch arms is below typical NFL standards at the position. The Giants are also set at both tackle spots with Andrew Thomas and Jermaine Eluemunor, who are both signed through the 2028 season. As a result, Mauigoa will slide inside to compete for a starting guard job, likely on the right side, per Vacchiano.
That comes with an obvious caveat: Mauigoa must be healthy. A disc issue in his back popped up during the pre-draft process, and though there have been positive updates around his status, there was some concern it would affect his stock. Perhaps it did, as he was frequently mocked in the top five picks but instead fell to the Giants at No. 10. They made their own assessment of Mauigoa’s health and came away satisfied.
“We’re comfortable with it,” Schoen said (via Pro Football Talk’s Josh Alper), noting that the team now employs one of Mauigoa’s former trainers at Miami. That gives them additional information on the injury, which occurred during the 2025 season, and the confidence to spend their second first-rounder on the 20-year-old lineman.
Taking a guy who has never played the guard position, and has a history of back problems over Caleb Downs appears to be a swing and a miss. Down started every game for 4 years and by all accounts will be a star.
They want to support their young QB by completing their OL. Mauigoa has potential to be an all pro at guard given his physical tools. Harbaugh loves the trenches
Downs is great. Every line analyst I’ve heard has said they think Mauigoa can be a strong tackle, but might be even better at guard. The back is a separate issue.
GMs try to placate coordinators by alternating defense and offense rather than taking the most impactful players like Downs – Mauigoa does look like a good guard candidate ideally would have a ten plus year career but because he was drafted so high will be expensive for a guard – hopefully G Men can break free from their mediocre GM and organization to get back on a winning track
And both those things can change over the next couple years.
Nothing like using two top 10 picks on these guys and immediately moving them to their less valuable positions.
Trading Dexter Lawrence for a guard. Yikes.
“Nothing like using two top 10 picks on these guys and immediately moving them to their less valuable positions”
Reese is not being “moved” anywhere. He’s going to play off ball linebacker, just like he did at OSU. This information is in the article you’re currently replying to.
Also trading a guy who did not want to be on the Giants, coming off a down year and dealing with an injury and asking for more money two straight offseasons, for arguably the best OL in the draft, is a solid move.
And this is the NFL. Players come and go, and injuries move guys around. Reese and Mauigoa are being put in these positions today. Doesn’t mean they won’t move next year or the year after. This happens on every team.
You can cope how you want, but Reese playing off ball linebacker at OSU doesn’t mean that was his projected position in the NFL. Nobody was arguing he should be a top 5 pick as an off-ball linebacker.
Taking an off ball linebacker 5th overall is crazy. My guess is he’ll move around and still rush the passer sometimes.
But the top paid off-ball linebacker makes about half of the top paid edge rusher. So yes, it’s a less valuable position, and one teams rarely if ever draft in the top 5.
Dexter Lawrence wanted out because they wouldn’t pay him. They had multiple discussions on a new deal, and then he left for terrible Cincinnati and all he got was a one year, $28M extension. If the Giants had given him an extension when he wanted it, he’d still be there.
Lawrence ranked 9th last year on PFF’s rankings. It was only a ‘down’ year if you look at his sack total, or if you compare it to 2024 when he was ranked 2nd. But he’s still a stud and he’s 28 years old.
And he was just traded so you could pay a guard and an off ball linebacker salaries that are among the top 15 at their positions right now despite never playing a down. Good luck.