New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers hasn’t exactly been shy about wanting the football lately. Despite Big Blue beating the Arizona Cardinals in Week 4, Leek wasn’t overly thrilled with his second-half involvement after finishing with six catches for 112 yards and a touchdown.
Fortunately, offensive coordinator Matt Nagy apparently got the message. After an 11-catch, 121-yard, and one-touchdown encore in Sunday’s baffling tie with the Washington Commanders, reporters informed Leek he’d been targeted a whopping 20 times. And wouldn’t you know it, suddenly there were no complaints: “Hey, I’ll take it!”
Needless to say, the star receiver isn’t afraid to speak his mind, which brings me back to a pretty funny draft-night moment involving rookie linebacker Arvell Reese.
Back in April, Nabers was on Micah Parsons’ podcast when New York selected Reese with the fifth pick, and let's just say he wasn't particularly chuffed. He liked Reese's game, but with Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, and Kayvon Thibodeaux already on the roster, he couldn’t quite figure out where another pass rusher would fit.
Five weeks into the season, I’d be awfully curious to hear what Leek thinks about the selection now.
Arvell Reese is making Malik Nabers’ draft-night concerns look pretty silly
Nabers seemed a bit puzzled by the decision, and he wasn’t shy about questioning the roster construction in real time:
"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."
To be fair, it wasn’t a ridiculous question, considering they already had three premier talents at the edge. Using another top-five pick on a pass rusher felt like a luxury the Giants didn’t really need. But head coach John Harbaugh clearly had something else in mind.
Reese has spent most of his rookie season playing off-ball linebacker alongside Tremaine Edmunds, and the former Ohio State standout is making a pretty convincing argument that the Giants knew exactly what they were doing.
He was the highest-graded rookie in Week 4 after recording nine tackles, three pass breakups, and an interception against the Arizona Cardinals. He followed that up with another nine tackles and his first career sack against the Commies in Week 5.
And apparently, the folks over at Pro Football Focus are buying what he’s selling.
PFF named Reese to its 2026 NFL First-Quarter All-Pro Second Team, putting him alongside some pretty impressive company across the board, including a familiar face at linebacker: Roquan Smith, who spent three-plus seasons playing for Harbs in Baltimore.
Leek obviously wasn’t rooting against the pick, and his concerns were perfectly reasonable at the time. But with Reese already looking like one of the best young defenders in football, I’d love to get Nabers back on Parsons’ podcast for a little follow-up. Something tells me Leek would have a few nicer things to say about the pick this time around.
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