John Harbaugh takes his new team’s name seriously if you look at the New York Giants’ 2026 draft class.

“A bunch of Giants, figuratively and literally,” the coach said after the team wrapped up Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft.

Big, physical and tough players who’d fit Harbaugh’s vision were the focus of this draft class as the team transitions under the new coach. That shift was evident from the team’s first draft selection at No. 5 overall in Arvell Reese and carried on throughout the remaining picks, bookending with the Giants’ final pick, the 6-foot-2, 240-pound BYU linebacker Jack Kelly. In between, the Giants added size with No. 10 pick Francis Mauigoa and trading up to take Malachi Fields, a 6-4, 220-pound wide receiver, in the third round.

“It’s definitely a priority,” Harbaugh said. “It’s important. You can be Giants in different kinds of ways. Just really want really good players.”

Best value pick

It might sound counterintuitive to put the No. 5 pick as the best value, but given Reese’s rankings coming into the draft, it was hard to imagine he’d be available for the Giants. He was The Athletic’s draft expert Dane Brugler’s top overall prospect, so he wasn’t on my final Big Board as an option just because he felt sure to be gone by the time the Giants made a selection. Even general manager Joe Schoen didn’t anticipate the linebacker would be available. Harbaugh said, “I think Joe probably ran about a zillion mocks — no, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. … And this one didn’t come up. This was not one that was really anticipated.”

Turns out he was the Giants’ top prospect beyond a quarterback, too, so to get him at No. 5 feels like a steal looking at how boards were set up. Reese will start off at inside linebacker alongside Tremaine Edmunds, but will be used in unique ways and add to an already formidable pass rush that features Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, and, for now at least, Kayvon Thibodeaux. While Reese’s selection prompted more Thibodeaux trade speculation, the team didn’t deal the 2022 first-rounder. While there were plenty of needs the Giants could have used the fifth pick on, just getting a really good player to add to the room makes the rich richer.

Most surprising pick

OK, so once you get into the details of the pick, it’s not a surprise. But purely from a position standpoint, I was expecting the Giants to go defensive tackle with their No. 37 pick to boost the trenches. Instead, they went with cornerback Colton Hood, who Harbaugh described as a pitbull. Again, Hood came with a first-second round grade, so the player makes perfect sense and he’ll compete for a starting role amid secondary questions the Giants have. Just intriguing that they didn’t fill the big defensive tackle hole here.

Biggest question mark

Will the Giants reunite with Odell Beckham Jr.? Beckham worked out and had a physical with the team in the week leading up to the draft but there was no deal. Now, this pairing wasn’t draft-dependent to begin with, but it still begs the question after the Giants traded up to draft wide receiver Malachi Fields. Do they see a role for Beckham, depending on how he looked, and will they want to bring back the 33-year-old, or did the Fields selection close that door for good?

When asked about this, Harbaugh said both sides are still deciding and they’ll speak again Tuesday. As Harbaugh said, “It has to make sense for the Giants.”

Remaining needs

Before the Giants traded Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals, the defensive line depth was thin. After the trade, it was a glaring need. But the Giants couldn’t address every hole on their roster the first two days with just three picks before trading up into the third round to select a receiver. That meant the defensive tackle spot got pushed to the sixth round when the team selected Auburn DT Bobby Jamison-Travis.

But the team shouldn’t just rely on the current players and the new rookie. As Schoen said, they’ve got lots of options, including free agents on the street and undrafted free agents. When asked about veteran free agent D.J. Reader, Schoen said broadly they’ve been in contact with “several agents of veteran defensive tackles.” Schoen said they’ll see what happens next week and they may have a few more visits.

Post-draft outlook

On paper, the draft really couldn’t have gone any better for the Giants and the first class under Harbaugh. How the players pan out is a question for every team making picks and so much is dependent on the unknown. But the Giants leave draft weekend with a much stronger roster — both in components and the team’s physicality. You left night one thinking the Giants were one of the early winners. Night two — while it left questions about the amount given up — still felt like at least a win from the positions added and the quality of players selected. The Giants utilized their three remaining day three picks to add depth in the trenches and on special teams.

Now, there’s protection for quarterback Jaxson Dart with the Mauigoa selection, and he’s got a different kind of playmaker to turn to with the Fields pick. There’s cornerback flexibility in Hood with a player that Brugler proclaims to have the “talent and wiring to be an early NFL starter.” And there’s an obvious potential star added to the defense in Reese.

“We’ll talk about results down the road,” Harbaugh said. “You got to find out. We’ll see. It’s like all draft classes. You don’t know until you get out there and start playing. “But on the surface right now, I feel great about it. I don’t feel we could’ve done any better. Think we made the most of the draft, most of the resources we had. Really happy.”