The New York Giants owned two of the first 10 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, so clearly the team was in position to come away with some really good players. I'm just not sure anyone thought the Giants would walk away with arguably the best defender in this class and arguably (though the argument is only slightly harder to make) the best offensive player as well.
Getting Arvell Reese at Pick No. 5 and Francis Mauigoa at Pick No. 10 makes the Giants the clear winners of this first round, and it has a chace to kickstart this new era of Giants football.
Arvell Reese is the best defender in this class
The movement up the draft board for David Bailey has felt inevitable, but I don't think that makes Bailey the best defensive player in this class. His ascension feels more about upside than anything, and while it makes sense, it also allowed the Giants to land the player who ranked first on FanSided's big board: Ohio State EDGE Arvell Reese.
Reese spent much of the draft process in the No. 2 spot on most mocks behind Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, so the fact that he was there at No. 5 when every team ahead of the Giants had an argument to take him feels like an insane outcome here. He shouldn't have even made it past the Jets. He wasn't even listed among the Giants' top-five targets by GMEN HQ's Matt Sidney, likely because there seemed to be no chance he'd even be there.
The 6-foot-4 edge rusher is an athletic freak who seems capable of doing everything you could possibly ask him to do. He can play outside, but he can also move to inside linebacker if needed. He gets to the quarterback with his speed, but also has the strength to get through the line straight-up. Reese could be an All-Pro as a rookie, really.
(If there's one mark against him, it's that the Giants' front seven is already pretty crowded, but that's more about positional value and not his raw value. Plus, having too many pass rushers is a good problem to have.)
Francis Mauigoa at No. 10 is a huge value
Was Francis Mauigoa the best offensive player in this class? I don't know. Personally, I had him as my top offensive lineman and probably down as the second-best offensive player from a talent standpoint after Jeremiyah Love, but the positional value difference between an offensive tackle and a running back made me strongly prefer Mauigoa when comparing who I'd draft.
So in that sense, yeah, I guess I considered him the top offensive prospect, though I'm avoiding the whole "Fernando Mendoza" discussion because the point I'm trying to make it this: New York got a player as good as Mauigoa, who could have been drafted as early as No. 3 overall without anyone batting an eye, with the 10th pick.
Don't believe me about how good Mauigoa is? How about Mike Luciano, who said in our big board that "aside from cement trucks and mountains, there isn’t much he can’t move."
Mauigoa can play wherever the Giants need him to. Luciano believes Mauigoa can play at right guard immediately, then "slide back out to right tackle once Jermaine Eluemunor moves on."
Adding needed protection for Jaxson Dart is huge for the Giants if they hope to contend in 2026. The weapons around Dart could still use some work, so keeping him upright and giving him time to make plays from the pocket is crucial in keeping him healthy and unlocking his full potential.
As good as Utah tackle Spencer Fano — who went one spot ahead of Mauigoa — is, I don't think anyone in this class is better equipped to do that than Mauigoa. Maybe you could argue he isn't the clear best offensive player in this class, but he was the one the Giants needed most. They somehow got him in the pick from the Dexter Lawrence trade. New York really won this draft.
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