Arvell Reese is the luxury pick that could make the Giants’ front terrifying

The Giants already had one of the most fearsome defensive fronts in football, and then they used the No. 5 overall pick on Arvell Reese anyway. That is not a need-based draft. It is a team deciding that a strength can never be strong enough, and it fits everything John Harbaugh has preached since he arrived.

“You can never have enough pass rushers” is the philosophy. Reese is the proof the Giants meant it.

A front that was already terrifying

Start with what New York had before the pick. Abdul Carter, the No. 3 overall selection in 2025, posted an elite 84.5 PFF pass-rush grade as a rookie while racking up 66 pressures and 4.5 sacks. Brian Burns led the team with 16.5 sacks. Kayvon Thibodeaux, two years removed from an 11.5-sack season, gives the Giants a third proven rusher off the edge.

Most teams would call that a finished product and spend premium capital elsewhere. The Giants looked at a defense that traded away Dexter Lawrence to reshape the interior and decided the answer was more speed off the edge, not less.

Why Reese still makes sense

Adding the Ohio State linebacker at No. 5 is a bet on rotation and durability as much as raw talent. Although Reese is primarily an inside linebacker, and the Giants made it clear they plan to play him as a WILL, he has elite upside as a pass-rusher and will be moving all over the defensive front, rotating as a pass-rusher on the edge and blitzing from the inside linebacker alignment, all the while chasing down running backs and closing windows in zone as a WILL.

Pass rushers wear down over a 17-game season, and the Giants got a brutal reminder of how thin the margin is when Carter limped off the practice field during minicamp. A front that can roll four fresh rushers in waves keeps everyone closer to full strength in December, when games tighten.

That is four first-round-caliber rushers for one defensive front. Offenses build entire game plans around neutralizing one elite edge. The Giants are asking them to account for four.

The scheme multiplier

Reese does not need to be a star pass rusher as a rookie. He needs to be the stabilizing inside linebacker who keeps the Giants’ best rushers fresh and lets the staff disguise pressure looks while it rebuilds the defense’s identity. A rookie forcing snaps in this rotation pushes the veterans, raises the floor of the unit, and gives the coordinator a chess piece who can move around the formation.

The Lawrence trade put more pressure on the edge to win one-on-ones. Reese is part of the answer, a young rusher whose presence means none of the front-four starters has to play 90 percent of the snaps to keep the pass rush humming.

The bet on the trenches

This is the kind of roster decision that defines contenders. The Giants did not chase a flashy skill-position name or reach for a need. They doubled down on the trenches, where games are actually won, and built a pass rush deep enough to survive injury and overwhelm protection schemes.

If Reese hits, the Giants front goes from good to suffocating, a unit that dictates terms to every offense on the schedule.

By Anthony Rivardo

Anthony Rivardo is the COO of Empire Sports Media and the host of Fireside Giants, a New York Giants ... More about Anthony Rivardo