Back in February, New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh told Mike Francesa that drafting Ohio State safety Caleb Downs “would be just fine with me.”
“Big fan, big fan,” Harbaugh said of Downs. “We favor Hall of Fame safeties, so if we have a chance to draft a potential future Hall of Fame safety in Caleb Downs, that would be just fine with me.
“We’ll take the best player. You know, when you draft that high, you take the best player. It’s not a need pick. It’s the best player pick because you’re
going for the guy that’s going to be that kind of a player. You’re talking about a guy that you would like to see someday wearing a gold jacket if possible. That’s what the goal is with that pick. …
“That guy would be just fine with me. I’d take him in a second.”
On the clock in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Giants, though, passed on opportunities to select Downs twice. They took Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese No. 5 and Miami offensive lineman Sisi Mauigoa No. 10.
Malik Nabers wondered why. There are Giants fans still uncertain as to why the Giants passed on a player they were connected to for so long.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano explained why he believes the Giants left Downs on the board for the Dallas Cowboys:
The Giants had Ohio State star Arvell Reese fall into their laps at No. 5 in the draft. Then at No. 10, Downs was sitting right there. The Cowboys had tried to trade up to No. 9 to get Downs, fearful that the Giants would take him. New York could have come out of the first round of the draft feeling like it had locked down two defensive cornerstones for a decade to come.
Instead, the Giants drafted offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa. Dallas exhaled and moved up one spot to make sure it got Downs. And now the Giants will have to play against him twice a year.
So why didn’t they take him? Well, they felt like they’d made their defensive pick at No. 5 when Reese was still there. I think there’s a chance they’d have taken Downs at No. 5 if Reese had been picked in the top four. But what became clear to me after the draft in talking to people around that situation is that the Giants were determined to use one of their two top-10 picks on an offensive player in an effort to support second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart. That could have meant running back Jeremiyah Love if he’d been there at No. 5. It could have meant wide receivers Carnell Tate or Jordyn Tyson if they’d been there at No. 10. Ultimately, it meant locking in the player the Giants identified as the best offensive lineman in the draft to help fortify Dart’s protection.
Valentine’s View
I think Graziano is on the money here. Having gotten a second top-10 pick after trading Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals, I think the Giants felt they had to use one of those two picks to directly help Dart.
In Part 1 of the ‘Giants Life’ draft video, we heard Harbaugh say the Giants’ top two choices were Reese and running back Jeremiyah Love. We have also heard that Mauigoa was a consideration at No. 5. It is clear that the Giants felt Mauigoa was the offensive player available at the time who would help their quarterback the most.
