EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Giants addressed both sides of the ball Thursday in the first round of the NFL draft, selecting Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese with the fifth pick and then taking Miami offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa at No. 10.
The Giants were able to land a combination that even they thought was improbable, if not impossible entering the draft. New York had Reese as the top-ranked non-quarterback on its board, while Mauigoa was fourth.
The Giants didn't think it was possible to land Reese, let alone both.
"No," general manager Joe Schoen said. "We hoped. There weren't a lot of scenarios that we went through where they were going to be available."
"It's two picks that strengthen us down the middle. Down the middle of our offense, down the middle of our defense," coach John Harbaugh said. "These are two -- these are great players, these are two top-five players in this draft in our opinion. You couldn't do any better. I think Joe probably ran about a zillion mocks -- no maybe that's a slight exaggeration. A zillion seems like a high number, but maybe it was a couple million."
"Close," Schoen chimed in.
"And this one didn't come up. This was not one that was really anticipated," Harbaugh said. "Just shows you that ... reality is stranger than fiction. ... This is exciting. This is not expected. This is something that's really a great, a great opportunity for us."
Reese, who was projected to be picked as high as No. 2 by the New York Jets, instead fell to the crosstown Giants, who will add the former Buckeyes star to a defense that already includes pass rushers Brian Burns, Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Reese is expected to play inside linebacker with the Giants, alongside middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. The versatile Reese said the majority of teams viewed him as an outside linebacker, but he was told by New York it plans to use him in a "unique way."
Harbaugh said they view Reese as a versatile player. That should come in handy in what they envision being a flexible and multiple defense. The Giants plan to move Burns, Carter, Reese and Thibodeaux around plenty.
"That sounds like a great situation playing alongside those guys," Reese said.
Despite the selection of Reese, the Giants do not intend to trade Thibodeaux. Harbaugh insisted the team tries to "keep all the good players, as much as we can."
This comes on the heels of the Giants trading Dexter Lawrence II to the Cincinnati Bengals over the weekend for the 10th pick, which they used on Mauigoa.
The Giants opted to beef up their offensive line by selecting Mauigoa, who will start his NFL career by moving to guard after playing right tackle at Miami.
Mauigoa was selected by the Giants ahead of safety Caleb Downs, who was taken with the very next pick when the Dallas Cowboys traded up to No. 11.
"We stuck with the board," Schoen said. "And [Mauigoa's] another 20-year-old, believe it or not, he'll be 21 in June, so we got two young players that we're fired up about. But a powerful young man with tremendous athleticism and size."
New York was unable to add one of the draft's top offensive weapons to support quarterback Jaxson Dart. Running back Jeremiyah Love was selected third by the Arizona Cardinals while wide receivers Carnell Tate and Jordyn Tyson went fourth and eighth, respectively, to the Tennessee Titans and New Orleans Saints.
So the Giants grabbed Mauigoa to protect their young quarterback. When asked what his message was to Dart, Mauigoa showed the type of player they're adding.
"I'm ready to die for you, man," Mauigoa told ESPN in a message to Dart on the live draft broadcast.
Mauigoa was equally excited to play with battering ram running back Cam Skattebo.
"Oh, I'm going to have a lot of fun with that guy," Mauigoa said.
In the end, the Giants added an inside linebacker and an interior offensive lineman on the first day of the draft. They will still be looking to add to the interior of their defensive later on Days 2 and 3 after losing Lawrence.
