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Malik Nabers #1 of the New York Giants reacts to the loss to the New Orleans Saints at MetLife Stadium.
The New York Giants made two major additions on Thursday night, adding Ohio State’s Arvell Reese and Miami offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa to the mix with the fifth and tenth overall pick.
Reese was a bit of a shock. He was the betting favorite to go No. 2 overall to the New York Jets, but the Giants‘ crosstown rival opted for Texas Tech’s David Bailey instead.
The Ohio State standout slid past the Arizona Cardinals and Tennessee Titans, landing right in the lap of New York, and there’s reason to be excited about what he can achieve under John Harbaugh and Dennard Wilson.
But there was one member of the Giants who wasn’t overtly excited about the Reese draft pick, and that was wide receiver Malik Nabers.
Appearing on Bleacher Report’s live draft show, Nabers live reaction was caught for every single pick announced in the first round, including the New York Giants’ selection.
It’s safe to say the Pro Bowl wide receiver was confused about his team’s pick of Reese and questioned what position the 20-year-old would play.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love the player, but…where do you play? You want to be on the outside of the rush but we just drafted somebody last year to do the same position,” Nabers told Micah Parsons and Adam Lefkoe.
Nabers made it clear that he would’ve preferred the Giants to grab Ohio State safety Caleb Downs instead.
“The reason why I said Caleb Downs…you have to get them when they’re available. We just traded (Dexter Lawrence), right?”
Clearly, Nabers wanted some more instant star power on the defense shortly after trading away Dexter Lawrence.
The Giants’ star has a point. New York already had a logjam at edge. Why add to it with another first-round prospect?
Well, the answer lies in Reese as a prospect. At Ohio State, he wasn’t a full-time pass rusher. He mostly played linebacker and projects to develop into a full-time edge later down the line.
For now, Reese will play some linebacker alongside Tremaine Edmunds for the Giants. But the point still remains, New York could’ve used some help in other areas.
It made the Dallas Cowboys picking Downs just several picks later all the more painful.
The New York Giants did have another chance to add Downs with the tenth overall pick. Instead, they opted for the offensive lineman, taking Mauigoa.
When the Dallas Cowboys selected Downs at No. 12 just two picks later, Nabers couldn’t believe his eyes.
After the selection, Nabers let out a huge sigh, stood up, and sat back down, flabbergasted by his team passing on the Ohio State safety.
“I’d rather get him than play against him… I gotta play against this thing again? Bro, he’s good… We all had him No. 1,” Nabers exclaimed.
In the former LSU standout’s mind, Downs is so good that he referred to him as a “thing.”
Nabers has experience playing against the elite safety prospect dating back to his lone year at Alabama. The two faced off in SEC play.
Instead of being teammates, Nabers and Downs will face off twice a year for what both teams hope is a long while.
But that’s not going to prevent Giants fans from thinking about what could’ve been.
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