“We didn’t mock that one … That was a pipe dream.”
Those were the words of New York Giants GM Joe Schoen and he hugged Head Coach John Harbaugh after the Giants drafted linebacker Arvell Reese and offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa.
“We only did a million of ‘em,” Harbaugh replied, as Schoen added, “That was a pipe dream.”
The exchange, with the two caught up in emotions that were somewhere between “ecstatic” and “disbelief” was captured by the cameras of “Giants Life” in the Giants’ war room.
Those cameras
brought us new insight into the Giants’ war room on the first night of the 2026 NFL Draft. The moments released by the Giants also give us some tantalizing insights into the Giants’ pre-draft evaluations.
“We got our guy!”
The Giants’ leadership said after the first night of the draft that they got two of the five highest graded players on their draft board. And while there wasn’t outright doubt as to that statement, there was a tendency to take that statement with a grain of salt.
The raw responses to how the first nine picks unfolded, however, back up what the Giants said in that first press conference.
The 2026 draft was an unusual one in that there were few “elite” prospects and best players weren’t at premium positions, however the talent pool beyond those few top players was both broad and deep. That made for a very unpredictable first round, starting with the New York Jets at second overall.
It was widely expected that the Jets would take either Reese or Texas Tech pass rusher David Bailey.
“Once that shoe dropped,” Schoen said, “we had an idea how things would fall.”
As it turned out, the Jets opted to take Bailey, a player with a more defined and conventional role in the NFL than Reese. While Reese was generally considered to have the higher upside among evaluators, he was only a one-year starter in Ohio State with a wide-ranging set of responsibilities. Bailey was the safer pick for the Jets, which made sense for a regime that is building for 2027, but also trying to not get fired in 2026.
The Jets passing on Reese set the rest of the events in motion.
“Here’s what I’m saying,” Schoen said, “if Reese is there, who are the two better players at the value?”
After the first round, Harbaugh let it slip that Reese was one of the Giants’ two highest-graded non-quarterbacks. The other? Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love.
“It’s probably Love here,” Schoen said as the Arizona Cardinals were put on the clock.
“They’ll probably take Love, the running back,” Harbaugh said. “But if they don’t, then our top two guys on the board are possibly available.”
There was real speculation that the Cardinals could trade out of the third overall pick, though that was countered by re-draft rumors that their owner was pushing for Love. Reese being available may have raised the likelihood of a trade, but ultimately the Cardinals took Love, which brought us to the next inflection point in the top 10, the Tennessee Titans.
It was widely speculated that the Titans would either take Jeremiyah Love or Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles. With Love off the board and Reese surprisingly dropping, that seemed like a natural pick for new head coach Robert Saleh. Instead, the Titans threw the first curveball of the draft and selected Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate.
“Is it Tate?” Harbaugh asked.
“Yup!” Schoen replied, “that’s awesome!”
“YEAH!” Harbaugh exclaimed, “Yes sir! We got our guy!”
Their guy was, of course, Arvell Reese.
Love and Reese
It isn’t a surprise that the Giants had Jeremiyah Love and Arvell Reese tied at the top of their board. They were widely considered two of the top players in the draft among public evaluators. While nobody doubted Love’s upside as an explosive playmaker, there were questions as to whether it was worth it for a team to draft a running back in the top five.
The questions stem from the fact that running backs depend on outside factors more than any other position, and it isn’t clear that the Giants have the environment in place to allow Love to play up to his potential. The Giants had already seen Saquon Barkley — arguably a better prospect — fail on a team that wasn’t able to properly support him.
The Cardinals have even more concerns than the Giants when it comes to supporting a running back, and the potential was there for them to take an offensive lineman in either Mauigoa or Utah’s Spencer Fano. That meant that the potential for Love and Reese, the Giants’ top two players, to both be available at fifth overall was very real.
We don’t know what would have happened if both Love and Reese were available at 5th overall.
One of Harbaugh’s first statements as the Giants’ head coach was the necessity of building around Jaxson Dart, and Love would have been a step in that direction. However, Reese’s versatility could be one of the keys to instituting a “Baltimore” style positionless defense while his ability to rush the passer as well as cover improves his positional value.
Speaking personally, I had Love and Reese tied with the second-highest grade among this year’s prospects. They were just two points behind Tate and Sonny Styles, who were tied for my highest grades due to their slightly higher floors.
The Giants land Sisi Mauigoa
The Giants had to get right back to work after turning in their selection of Reese, and the next four picks were wild.
The NFL’s decision to limit the clock to just 8 minutes in the first round made for a hectic night for us on the outside, as well as ratcheting up the tension in war rooms.
The Giants not only had to keep track of the players coming off the board, but also of trade calls coming in and trades happening around them. Most notably, the Browns moved out of sixth overall, trading down three spots with the Kansas City Chiefs, who selected CB Mansoor Delane.
All the while, another of the Giants’ Top five players was falling. “We got a chance to take two of our top five players,” Schoen said. “Just stay and don’t be cute.”
We know Reese was tied with Love as the Giants’ second-ranked player. The other player in their Top 5 who was falling was Miami right tackle Francis Mauigoa. And he somehow fell right into the Giants’ lap after the Browns took Utah right tackle Spencer Fano at 9th overall.
“We got him! We got him!” Harbaugh exclaimed when the Browns made their pick, leaving Mauigoa to the Giants.
“You know you are who I wanted from day one, man!” Giants’ offensive line coach Mike Bloomgren said on the call to Mauigoa. “You are going to make this team better. Bring that physicality in, that leadership you talked about. I can’t wait to get you here.”
A trade in place
The Giants pretty much knew that the Cleveland Browns would take an offensive tackle ninth overall with wide receivers Carnell Tate and Jordyn Tyson off the board. What they didn’t know was whether the Browns would take Mauigoa or Fano, so they had a contingency plan in place.
Mauigoa was the Giants’ guy. They wanted the big mauler from Miami and were prepared to trade out of the 10th overall pick if the Browns took Mauigoa.
The Giants received trade offers after the fifth pick, but were resolved to stick and pick if Mauigoa was there. However, we also know that they never believed before the draft that they’d be able to land two of the top five players on their board. So it made sense to have a trade agreed upon if the Browns took the player they (the Giants) had graded more highly.
We don’t know who the Giants would have traded with, nor the exact terms agreed upon. We do know from what the team released that the Giants agreed to swap two later picks, and their second-round pick (which became cornerback Colton Hood) would be moved as well.
“I wish we didn’t have to give away 37,” Harbaugh said.
As it turned out, the Giants didn’t have to trade. However, we can infer a couple interesting tidbits about their board from the fact that they were ready to move if Mauigoa wasn’t there.
First, we know that the Giants weren’t as enamored with Ohio State safety Caleb Downs as many believed during the pre-draft process. We know from the fact that they were ready to trade down that Downs was not among the top 5 players on the Giants’ board. If we set Francisco Mendoza aside as a QB, and eliminate Reese, Mauigoa, and Love, then we’re left with two of edge David Bailey, WR Carnell Tate, WR Jordan Tyson, or CB Mansoor Delane to round out the Giants’ Top 5.
We can also infer that the Giants believed there was a fairly significant drop-off after the top five. Even if Downs was sixth on their board, there was enough of a separation between he and Mauigoa that the Giants obviously believed that adding draft capital was the greater value. Considering they agreed to move off 37th overall, even with a swap, the Giants were likely not nearly as high on Downs as pre-draft reports led us to believe. It also suggests that they didn’t believe Penn State guard Vega Ioane has the same upside as Mauigoa, either.
Schoen also seems to intimate that the Giants believe that the trade partner in question would be moving up for an offensive tackle. That could narrow the list of potential suitors down considerably. The Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions, Carolina Panthers, Pittsburgh Steelers, and New England Patriots all selected offensive tackles in the first round.
The Giants were without a third round pick, so that could have made a the Dolphins and Steelers, both of whom had multiple 3rd rounders, more likely partners. Though we may never know what would have happened if the Browns had selected Mauigoa.
Instead, the Giants none-in-a-million scenario came to pass, and their pipe dream of landing both Reese and Mauigoa became a reality.
