Not everyone loves how the New York Giants are building under head coach John Harbaugh. But those who understand the premise see what the team, at least on the defensive side of the football, will look like. The Athletic’s Mike Sando talked with executives around the league to discuss the draft results for NFC teams, and one of them has an intriguing perspective about what’s ahead for the Giants.

“I love what they did,” the exec told Sando. “They are going to run a lot of exotic fronts where they are positionless chess pieces, so you don’t know who is rushing. That is going to be a bear to block up between (Brian) Burns and Abdul (Carter) and (Kayvon) Thibodeaux and Arvell. He has the physical tools to do that.”

Defensive versatility

The premise of Arvell Reese’s selection with the fifth overall pick is exactly his versatility. In his final season at Ohio State, he played 261 snaps at edge defender and 239 as an off-ball linebacker. The coaching staff sees him primarily as an off-ball defensive piece, but that doesn’t mean he won’t move around the formation.

The new Giants defensive coordinator is Dennard Wilson, who spent the previous two seasons as a DC with the Tennessee Titans. The talent wasn’t great there, but he build some schematically sound units.

That’s ultimately why Reese was the choice. Another executive doesn’t see it that way, though, and thinks the Giants should have taken Sonny Styles instead.

“They should have drafted Sonny Styles, because he’s the one that got Reese lined up every day, and I think was better than Reese,” the other exec said. “Reese just disappeared in some of those games. They are talking about playing him off the ball, but if they wanted an off-the-ball linebacker, take Styles. He’d be the leader, the captain, the culture, the play style — everything you want from John Harbaugh’s guy.”

It’s hard to understand the hate

Another executive has an opinion about the Giants that’s actually hard to understand. He talked about the Dexter Lawrence trade and the replacement plan. It’s one of those with an old school mentality who can’t see a modern roster-building process going on.

“I just don’t feel like there is much of a plan,” the executive mentioned. “Did they replace Dexter Lawrence? You can’t keep on trading your good players. You aren’t gonna replace Dexter Lawrence with the 10th pick in most drafts, let alone this one. And considering the amount of money that Dexter Lawrence signed for (one-year, $28 million extension), like, how could you not get that done? What happened?”

The idea is not to replace Dexter Lawrence one for one, though. First, the idea is that Lawrence will be too old when the Giants are actually competitive, so it wouldn’t make sense to sign him to a third contract. But also, it’s the combination of draft capital plus the cap space. It’s a real, material difference.

The Giants won’t have an interior defensive lineman as good as Lawrence in 2026. But they don’t need one. The team invested in some premium positions throughout the draft trying to build a better all-around roster, and it’s hard to blame them for trying it after so many failed seasons with Lawrence in the fold.