Let’s be honest: being a New York Giants fan over the last two years has felt like a chore. A 7-27 record will do that to a fan base. We’ve watched bad football, bad schemes, and even worse results.
But then Joe Schoen pulled the trigger on the John Harbaugh era, and suddenly, the energy in East Rutherford has shifted from "here we go again" to "here we come."
ESPN Senior Draft Analyst Mel Kiper Jr. recently released his 2026 NFL Draft grades, and he handed the G-Men a B+. What the Mel... On the surface, that’s a solid mark. But when you dig into Kiper’s analysis, he effectively said the quiet part out loud: Harbaugh has completely changed the tune on this franchise's identity in record time.
While Kiper gave the 2025 class an A- last year, there’s a different level of violence and intentionality with this 2026 group that feels like an absolute Harbaugh masterclass.
The quiet part here is that for the first time in a decade, Big Blue is building a culture full of bullies. The days of being the NFL’s "get right" game are officially over.
Mel Kiper Jr. confirms the John Harbaugh era is officially bringing the physicality back to New York
The headliner of this draft was the selection of Arvell Reese at No. 5. Despite the national media scratching their heads because the Giants already have Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns, Kiper leaned into the reality of why this pick works. The Giants' defense was a cone in 2025, allowing a league-worst 5.3 yards per rush:
"The Giants needed good football players. Reese is a really good one... let's not forget he's an incredible off-ball linebacker, too, and New York needs someone to captain the defense. I love his instincts and nose for the ball."
That is the Harby effect in a nutshell. He doesn’t care about "positional value" or what the depth chart looks like on paper. He wants a demon who can hit a ball-carrier so hard their ancestors feel it. By adding Reese and his unfair 4.46 speed, the G-Men finally have a defensive centerpiece who can delete the soft linebacker play that's routinely haunted them the past couple of seasons.
Then you look at Francis "Sisi" Mauigoa at No. 10. Kiper called him a "mauling, tenacious blocker" who allowed just two sacks in over 1,800 snaps.
Interestingly enough, the Mauigoa pick was his biggest hang-up. With Caleb Downs still on the board, he felt like it was a missed opportunity for Big Blue. But taking the best offensive lineman of the class is a major win, no matter the Downs hype.
While a B+ is nothing to scoff at, it's certainly not the fridge-worthy A grade Pro Football Focus and FanSided's Cody Williams gave the Giants.
Between the Day 2 arrival of "walking highlight reel" Malachi Fields and the lockdown potential of could-have-been-a-first-round-pick Colton Hood, the message is clear: Harbaugh performed a much-needed identity transplant on a team that had lost its way.
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