John Harbaugh Reacts to Malik Nabers' Trending NFL Draft Comments After Giants Pick Arvell Reese

New York Giants coach John Harbaugh says he had a "great conversation" with Malik Nabers after the wide receiver expressed doubt about his team's decision to select edge rusher Arvell Reese with the No. 5 pick of the 2026 NFL draft.

"I appreciated kind of where he was coming from. It's, you're in a podcast, you're talking ball. He's just like, 'Well, how are they gonna use the guy? How's he gonna play?'" Harbaugh said.

"He said, 'Don't get me wrong.' And I think maybe we got him wrong, out there a little bit, because that's what we do in our world. We look at one thing and we say, 'Well, he must be mad about it.'"

Harbaugh continued, "It's like he said, 'I was curious about how we're gonna use him.' And I showed him how we're gonna use him, and he's fired up about it."

"We don't get too worried about stuff," Harbaugh continued. "As long as the person's heart's in the wrong place, as long as the person cares... and you really want what's best for everybody, he's got a good heart in a good place. Say what you think. Put it out there."

Harbaugh continued, "Malik wants to know how we're going to use our first-round pick? I want to show him. I want to explain it to him. And the fact that he says it publicly, who cares?"

The Giants coach was referring to the comments Nabers made around the 46:30 mark of Bleacher Report's Day 1 draft livestream on Thursday night.

"I love the player, don't get me wrong, I love the player," Nabers said after the Giants selected Reese, before naming Caleb Downs as a player his team could have targeted instead.

Nabers continued about Reese, "Where do you play? You want to be on the outside and rush, but we just drafted somebody last year to do that same position."

The Giants drafted Kayvon Thibodeaux with the No. 5 pick in 2022, followed by their selection of Abdul Carter with the No. 3 pick in 2025.

The Giants plan to mainly line Reese up at inside linebacker, playing him opposite Tremaine Edmunds while Thibodeaux and Carter remain on the edges, Harbaugh said Friday.

Harbaugh added that Reese could shift around a defensive lineup he sees as "pretty flexible" and "position-less."

The Giants could get their first look at this new defensive lineup when OTA offseason workouts begin May 19.