To be fair to Nabers, others witnessed New York’s embarrassment of riches at linebackers and had similar thoughts. The New Orleans Saints, for example, were reported by NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport to have pursued Kayvon Thibodeaux in a trade before turning to sign Tyree Wilson from the Las Vegas Raiders.
Thibodeaux, himself a first-round pick in 2022, is joined by last year’s Abdul Carter and New York’s 2025 leader Brian Burns on the edge.
Harbaugh explained how Reese is likely to fit into the equation in his press conference Thursday after drafting him, telling reporters he will play inside linebacker but be moved around because of his versatility.
“Our defense is pretty flexible, positionless you might call it,” Harbaugh said, according to the team’s release. “We’ll get a chance to move those guys around. But he’ll line up next to Tremaine (Edmunds), and he’ll be in the A-gap, the B-gap, the C-gap, the D-gap, off the edge. He’ll move with all of our guys.”
So the Giants took the best pick they could in the fifth to reinforce a flexible approach to shortstop. Harbaugh explained the vision to Nabers in a way that eased any concerns, and he was similarly comforted by his conversations with the star wide receiver.
“One thing you’ll probably see when we go here, we’re not too worried about things,” Harbaugh said. “As long as the person’s heart is in the right place, as long as the person really cares … and you really want the best for everybody and they have a good heart and it’s coming from a good place, say what you think. Express it.”
“We always talk about facing everything that has to do with our football team. And then Malik wants to know how we’re going to use our first-round pick. I want to show him that. I want to explain it to him. The fact that he’s saying it publicly, who cares? I know the fans are probably thinking the same thing.”
Nabers, for his part, had already taken to social media to clear the air Thursday night.
“First, we must stop overreacting,” his post read. “I would never intentionally take away from the biggest moment/night of Arvell’s life. Very excited to see him play with the team and happy we have another dew in the squad!!”
As for Harbaugh’s first draft with the Giants and Naber’s perspective on it, the frustration of fans or pundits watching was much ado about nothing.
Downs could still pose some problems for his newfound rival in the Giants overall — after expressing a lack of interest in playing against him, Nabers will now have to do so twice a year after the Dallas Cowboys traded him.