The Giants’ Abdul Carter is an edge rusher, but he was converted from linebacker at Penn State. And some of his best snaps in his rookie season came as a standup, blitzing linebacker, attacking the interior of opponents’ offensive lines.
No. 5 overall pick Arvell Reese is a weak side linebacker, but Ohio State split his snaps between the defensive line and the second level of the Buckeyes’ defense in his All-American junior season.
Putting both of those players on the field at once and complementing edge rushers Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux, either in a rotation or all at once, gives John Harbaugh and defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson tons of options.
“Our defense is pretty flexible, positionless you might call it,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll have an opportunity to move those guys around. But he’ll line up next to [middle linebacker] Tremaine [Edmunds], and he’ll be in the ‘A’ gap, the ‘B’ gap, the ‘C’ gap, the ‘D’ gap, off the edge. He’ll be moving around with all of our guys: Abdul and Brian and Kayvon and Tremaine.
“We’ll be running games and picks and stunts and different things like that on passing situations, and he’s good in coverage, as well,” he added.
Those options also present a challenge to Harbaugh and Wilson: They must deploy those weapons appropriately. They want to use each player in a position that maximizes his skill set. They want to develop Carter as a run defender and as an edge while continuing to use his athleticism to his advantage.
They need to continue to hone Reese as a true pass rusher, a position he has only just begun learning and playing in the past year or two, while starting him at weak side linebacker where he is most comfortable at least for 2026.
At Ohio State in 2024, Reese logged 309 defensive snaps, per Pro Football Focus. That included 280 in the box compared to only six on the defensive line.
Then in 2025 under former Lions head coach Matt Patricia, Reese split his 651 defensive snaps more evenly between the defensive line (327) and box (286). He logged a total of 55 snaps in the slot and two at corner in the two seasons.
“As a linebacker, I wouldn’t say I model my game after nobody, but there’s a bunch of players I can remember growing up,” he said Friday. “Right now, I think my favorite linebacker would be [the 49ers’] Fred Warner. Tremaine Edmunds is one of those guys. Guys like that.”
Reese, 20, is so young and explosive and talented, it is difficult to put a cap on the potential he has to impact this defense.
If the Giants field a defense with Burns, Thibodeaux, Carter and Reese in 2026, one source noted, the Giants’ coordinator Wilson might actually be able to rush four and play coverage on the back end rather than pressuring relentlessly.
It could give him the kind of rotation and flexibility to present offenses with challenges without having to do too much disguising other than just reassigning the versatile athletes on his defense play to play between the edge, the line and the box off the ball.
It sounded early Friday evening, however, like Thibodeaux could be traded after all.
Multiple reports suggested the Giants and Saints were engaged in trade conversations just one day after Harbaugh said “no,” the Giants’ selection of Reese did not have them eager to move Thibodeaux.
“No, no,” Harbaugh said. “We keep all the good players as much as we can. Right? We love Kayvon.”
“Yup,” GM Joe Schoen said, nodding at Harbaugh.
That was an awkward comment since the Giants only days ago traded their best player, Dexter Lawrence, to the Cincinnati Bengals. And it would be even more awkward if they traded Thibodeaux only hours after Harbaugh shut down the notion that they might.
The Giants even had ESPN insider Adam Schefter tweet minutes after the Reese pick that they “do not intend to trade” Thibodeaux.
If they do, they would be escaping out from under Thibodeaux’s $14.7 million fifth-year option salary and cap hit for this 2026 season. But they also would be limiting their pass rush’s flexibility, options and depth.