Giants Hit Both Sides of the Ball Early as Arvell Reese, Francis Mauigoa Become the New Faces of the Rebuild

The Giants walked into the first round of the NFL draft with two picks in the top 10 and a roster that still needed help in more than one place. By the end of Thursday night, they had attacked both sides of that problem.

New York used the No. 5 overall pick on Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese, then came back at No. 10 to select Miami offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa, giving the franchise a high-end athlete for the defense and a major piece for the offensive line in the same opening round.

The first surprise came at No. 5. Reese was widely viewed as one of the best defenders in the class, but the Giants still caught attention by making him the choice there. According to reporting on the selection, general manager Joe Schoen said the team did not expect Reese to still be available when New York went on the clock. Giants.com later reported that Reese had actually been No. 1 on the Giants’ draft board, which makes the pick look a lot less like a reach inside the building than it did outside of it.

Reese brings the kind of athletic profile teams keep chasing at linebacker. He is listed at 6-foot-4 and 241 pounds, ran a 4.46-second 40-yard dash, and comes off a 2025 season at Ohio State in which he posted 69 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. The Giants are expected to use him as an off-ball linebacker, a role that should let them take advantage of his speed and range rather than just asking him to live in one lane.

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Five picks later, the Giants turned to the offense and took Mauigoa, one of the top tackles in the draft. ESPN’s mirrored draft report said he is expected to begin his NFL career at right tackle, which answers a clear need for a team still trying to better protect young quarterback Jaxson Dart after a rookie season that included 35 sacks and concussion issues.

Mauigoa immediately sounded like a player who understands what his job is in New York. After the pick, the New York Post reported that he sent a message to Dart saying he was “ready to die for you,” the kind of line offensive linemen probably should not say lightly, but the kind of line quarterbacks probably do not mind hearing after a year of getting hit. The same report noted that Mauigoa joins the Giants after starring at Miami and arrives with a reputation as a tone-setter up front.

There is broader context here too. The Giants did not just add talent. They used premium draft capital to address two of the clearest themes around the roster: the need for another major defensive building block and the need to keep investing in the protection of their quarterback. That is the sort of first round that at least makes organizational sense, even before either player has taken an NFL snap. ESPN’s draft summary described it as the Giants addressing both sides of the ball on opening night, which is exactly what this looked like.

The selections also come during a period of bigger change for the franchise. Reporting around Mauigoa’s draft slot noted that the No. 10 pick used on him came from a trade that sent Dexter Lawrence to the Bengals, making the Giants’ first round feel even more tied to the long-term reshaping of the roster. This is not a team pretending a tweak or two will fix everything. This is a franchise making foundational decisions.

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And that is what Thursday night looked like in the end. Reese gives the Giants a fast, modern linebacker with real upside and a chance to become a centerpiece on defense. Mauigoa gives them a big-body answer on the line and a potential long-term protector for Dart. One pick brought speed and range. The other brought size and security. For a team trying to rebuild itself without wasting another year, that is not a bad way to leave the first round.

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