John Harbaugh takes his new team\u2019s name seriously if you look at the New York Giants\u2019 2026 draft class.<\/p>\n
\u201cA bunch of Giants, figuratively and literally,\u201d the coach said after the team wrapped up Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n
Big, physical and tough players who\u2019d fit Harbaugh\u2019s vision were the focus of this draft class as the team transitions under the new coach. That shift was evident from the team\u2019s first draft selection at No. 5 overall in Arvell Reese and carried on throughout the remaining picks, bookending with the Giants\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a priority,\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cIt\u2019s important. You can be Giants in different kinds of ways. Just really want really good players.\u201d<\/p>\n
Best value pick<\/p>\n
It might sound counterintuitive to put the No. 5 pick as the best value, but given Reese\u2019s rankings coming into the draft, it was hard to imagine he\u2019d be available for the Giants. He was The Athletic\u2019s draft expert Dane Brugler\u2019s top overall prospect, so he wasn\u2019t 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\u2019t anticipate the linebacker would be available. Harbaugh said, \u201cI think Joe probably ran about a zillion mocks \u2014 no, maybe that\u2019s a slight exaggeration. \u2026 And this one didn\u2019t come up. This was not one that was really anticipated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turns out he was the Giants\u2019 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\u2019s selection prompted more Thibodeaux trade speculation, the team didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
Most surprising pick<\/p>\n
OK, so once you get into the details of the pick, it\u2019s 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\u2019ll compete for a starting role amid secondary questions the Giants have. Just intriguing that they didn\u2019t fill the big defensive tackle hole here.<\/p>\n
Biggest question mark<\/p>\n
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\u2019t 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?<\/p>\n
When asked about this, Harbaugh said both sides are still deciding and they\u2019ll speak again Tuesday. As Harbaugh said, \u201cIt has to make sense for the Giants.\u201d<\/p>\n
Remaining needs<\/p>\n
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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
But the team shouldn\u2019t just rely on the current players and the new rookie. As Schoen said, they\u2019ve 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\u2019ve been in contact with \u201cseveral agents of veteran defensive tackles.\u201d Schoen said they\u2019ll see what happens next week and they may have a few more visits.<\/p>\n
Post-draft outlook<\/p>\n
On paper, the draft really couldn\u2019t 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 \u2014 both in components and the team\u2019s physicality. You left night one thinking the Giants were one of the early winners. Night two \u2014 while it left questions about the amount given up \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
Now, there\u2019s protection for quarterback Jaxson Dart with the Mauigoa selection, and he\u2019s got a different kind of playmaker to turn to with the Fields pick. There\u2019s cornerback flexibility in Hood with a player that Brugler proclaims to have the \u201ctalent and wiring to be an early NFL starter.\u201d And there\u2019s an obvious potential star added to the defense in Reese.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll talk about results down the road,\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cYou got to find out. We\u2019ll see. It\u2019s like all draft classes. You don\u2019t know until you get out there and start playing. \u201cBut on the surface right now, I feel great about it. I don\u2019t feel we could\u2019ve done any better. Think we made the most of the draft, most of the resources we had. Really happy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Harbaugh takes his new team\u2019s name seriously if you look at the New York Giants\u2019 2026 draft…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209954,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,2683,11,10],"class_list":["post-209953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-giants","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}