The New York Giants determined that Arvell Reese was too good to pass up with the 5th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, but it's fair to wonder how he's going to fit with all of the other pieces they have on the defensive front.
Everyone says, "You can never have too many pass rushers," but the Giants are putting that one to the test. Not only did the Giants take Reese with the 5th pick, but Adam Schefter quickly reported after that the team's lack of intent to trade Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Giants star receiver Malik Nabers was reacting to picks in real time with Bleacher Report, and his comments on the Arvell Reese selection basically called out the elephant in the room: We all love Arvell Reese, but where is he going to fit in?
New York Giants WR Malik Nabers asks the difficult question out loud about Arvell Reese pick
Here was the full quote from Nabers, who was obviously complimentary of Reese as a player, but very open about questioning the Giants' overall roster-building strategy.
"Don't get me wrong, I love the player. But just like he said, like, where do you play? You want to be on the outside and rush, but we just drafted somebody last year to do that same position."
- Malik Nabers (via Bleacher Report)
As they discussed, the Giants used the 5th pick on Thibodeaux back in the 2022 NFL Draft, and they used the 3rd overall pick just last year on Abdul Carter. And that doesn't account for the big trade (and $141M contract extension) to acquire Brian Burns from the Panthers, which cost a high 2nd-round pick.
The Giants have invested a lot in their edge rush, which is not a bad idea. But at what point do you have to go down the list a slight bit to take the best player available at a position of need?
Even if you think there's a chance Thibodeaux gets traded, or you look at the fact that he's a free agent after this season, it still doesn't exactly add up. Someone is going to be losing snaps, one way or another.
After some drama last year during the season with Abdul Carter, maybe that's living in the back of the Giants' minds. Maybe Reese is going to play more off the ball and not strictly off the edge at the next level.
No matter what way you slice it, there is no clear plan that is obvious even to one of the star players on the team, and when you're talking about a 5th overall pick, that's a slight concern, if only for the time being.
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