General Manager Joe Schoen & Head Coach John Harbaugh

Q. Did you think that Reese would be there?

JOE SCHOEN: No. No. We hoped. But there weren't a lot of scenarios that we went through where he may be available.

Q. How do you envision him fitting in?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Arvell is a versatile player, and we're going to play him at inside backer, Will linebacker. Our defense is pretty flexible, position-less you might call it. We'll have an opportunity 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 be moving around with all of our guys. Abdul (Carter) and Brian (Burns) and Kayvon (Thibodeaux) 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's a versatile player. He's a young player. He's gotten better every single year, playing off the ball and on the ball, so he does both. Probably why he was our highest rated non- quarterback player in the draft. He's an exciting player. We are fired up to have him.

Q. You mentioned Kayvon's name. Does this give you flexibility to potentially move on from him?

JOHN HARBAUGH: No, no, we keep all the good players as much as we can. Right? We love Kayvon.

JOE SCHOEN: Yup.

Q. What is Reese's upside as a pass rusher?

JOE SCHOEN: It's tremendous, it's tremendous. Again, he's just scratching the surface. You see the size, the length, the traits. And again, like Coach was talking about, just the versatility that the player has and how we can use him with some of the pieces that we already have. We're not going to necessarily have to ask him to win off the edge, we've got guys that can do that. So we have a phenomenal defensive staff and they're going to find creative ways to use him.

JOHN HARBAUGH: I can tell you, like, we're watching pro day, right? And just standing there watching him, he lines up on the edge in a drill where you time him coming off the edge with quickness, and it was shocking to see how quickly he goes from point A to point B out of his stance. There's really nothing he can't do physically. He's going to turn 21.

JOE SCHOEN: In like August 30th.

JOHN HARBAUGH: In August. He's a young player. It's all upside for him.

JOE SCHOEN: He's one of the guys playing on one of the best defenses in America that, he shows up and you're like, Wow, wow plays, wow plays.

Q. Was it tempting with Caleb Downs sitting there at 10 to choose him and why did you go with Sisi Mauigoa?

JOE SCHOEN: We stuck with the board. And Sisi's another 20-year-old, believe it or not, he'll be 21 in June, so we got two young players that we're fired up about. But a powerful young man with tremendous athleticism and size. And I don't know if you guys saws saw his interview there on TV, they asked him what he should tell Jaxson. And that was, that's the type of kid he is. So again, to get those two young men that have size and athleticism and the makeup that we desire, and the fact that we know that we're going to have those guys under contract for five years, to add to some of the young foundational pieces that we already have, I mean it's really exciting, really exciting.

Q. Do you view him as a guard?

JOE SCHOEN: We're going to put him inside at guard. He can certainly play tackle. Sometimes we call these schools and get the film, and they have two really good rushers down there in Miami in (Ahkeem) Mesidor and (Rueben) Bain, and to watch the practice film -- he's going against NFL dudes on a daily basis, and doing a really good job, it was pretty impressive. He can certainly always bump back out to tackle at any point. We're going to start him at guard.

Q. Was the back, was that something you heard about him, someone who would possibly need back surgery? Where do you guys stand on that?

JOE SCHOEN: We're comfortable with it. We're fortunate that the (Adam Bennett) former trainer from the University of Miami is now one of our trainers. So we have somebody that's been with him for his entire time at Miami, and lived with him through the process. It was an injury that occurred in the Texas A & M game, and we were certainly comfortable with it.

Q. Does that mean you don't think he's going to need surgery or just be something you'll see how where it's at?

JOE SCHOEN: Right now he's fine. He's good right now.

Q. John, with Mauigoa, I know you, back at the owners meeting, you said that offensive line is still a work in progress. What does this do for your work in progress?

JOHN HARBAUGH: It advances it. We'll have to finish it off at practice for the next couple weeks and put it all together, but it makes us a lot more stout. It's two picks that strengthen us down the middle. Down the middle of our offense, down the middle of our defense. These are two -- these are great players, these are two top-5 players in this draft in our opinion. You couldn't do any better. I think Joe probably ran about a zillion mocks -- no maybe that's a slight exaggeration. A zillion seems like a high number, but maybe it was a couple million.

JOE SCHOEN: Close.

JOHN HARBAUGH: And this one didn't come up. This was not one that was really anticipated. Just shows you that, you know reality is -- fiction is stranger than reality? Reality is stranger than fiction? It's one of the two. You know what I'm say, right? This is exciting. This is not expected. This is something that's really a great, a great opportunity for us.

Q. This is the first time we get to talk to you since the Dexter Lawrence trade. How did that change your overall approach to this process?

JOE SCHOEN: The only thing it changes is we had another premium pick, you know, with the 10th. We were able to get two good players in the top 10 of our draft. And to get two players that we had ranked where we had them ranked, it's really going to help us. Again, before we traded him and we knew maybe what the compensation was going to be, we were deep into draft prep and we had an idea of what that pick would mean to us. Maybe not to the extent that it actually ended up the way it played out, but we knew we were going to get two good players if we did have to move him.

Q. When you were going through the trade, did you see Sisi there?

JOE SCHOEN: We probably didn't anticipate him, but again, tackles go relatively early. We anticipated two tackles going by the time we got to 10, so however that played out. And it played out that they went 9 and 10. That was -- we figured Cleveland was, and they ended up moving back. So once it came to that, we were a little bit nervous, we weren't sure which way they were going to go, so it worked out well for us.

Q. Any temptation to trade down? You seem very happy with these players, but maybe?

JOE SCHOEN: We had an opportunity at 10 to get out. But just where we had the player ranked, we stuck with our board. We were so fired up with who we got at 5 and to follow it up with Sisi at 10, just didn't make any sense to try to get cute and do anything else.

Q. I realize you're always looking for the best available player, but after you get an impact player for the defense at 5, is there a natural tendency to lean toward offense at 10 to try to make a difference there or is that a factor?

JOE SCHOEN: Yeah, and Coach will tell you, we went over our list of 10 players, I mean, the last two weeks we've stared at it, looked at it, adjusted it. We watched more film, got together watched more film. Got the coaches opinion.

JOHN HARBAUGH: A zillion times.

JOE SCHOEN: We went at it a zillion times. So we just, it was, it was, the way we had it, we were very confident in it and it just made it really easy, we were just going to follow the board, in terms of, you know, if it worked out and it was two offensive guys, that would have been okay. If it was two defensive, that would have been okay. We had an opportunity to get two of our top-10 players in the draft, regardless of position, that were going to help us continue to build this thing.

Q. John, obviously the best Giants teams have had dominant pass rushers. Curious if you think this has got the potential to be a dominant pass rush team?

JOHN HARBAUGH: Absolutely. I think it's pretty a dominant pass rush off the edges already. We had three practices this week with those guys, seeing Abdul, seeing Kayvon, seeing Brian, I mean, it's eye opening. It's eye opening. I haven't seen those kind of guys for a while on a practice field, those kind of talented guys. Now we add another guy into that mix. I mean, you just, you get excited. I can't wait to get him on the practice field with all those guys. And (Chauncey) Golston, he's a heavy-handed guy. We got some dudes.

We still have work to do on our defense. You know we do. We still got some work to do, but this is a big step.

Q. John, we haven't got a chance to talk to you since the Dex trade. You said you wanted to keep all the good players, how did it get to the point of no return with him?

JOHN HARBAUGH: I don't know. There's a lot of factors, a lot of layers to it. I think there's the financial part of it, there's probably family part of it. There's probably an important time in someone's career where they say, you know, it's just time for me to make a change, you know. Things like that. So, but it was -- I look at it like a win, win, win. I think it was a win for everybody.

For us, the most important thing was that it was a win for the Giants. That's what we cared about the most. We wanted Dexter to be happy, but we wanted the Giants to be taken care of first. That was our responsibility.

To get the 10th pick in the draft, and then to see it play out tonight, it's pretty clear cut that it's a W for us. Not that it wouldn't have been a W to keep Dexter, it sure would have been. But that didn't turn out to be possible. It wasn't something that he was really prioritizing in the end.

And that's okay. That's fine. He got an opportunity and the Bengals got an opportunity to get a great player, and, you know, it's going to make their defense better. So everybody's a winner on this one.

Q. You have been in one place for so long, this is your first draft working with this operation. Did it seem different to you? You haven't had two picks in the top 10 either, so...

JOHN HARBAUGH: Yeah, that was different. That was different. We had one in 2018 and now we had two in about, I don't know, an hour, hour and a half, maybe. And it was fun. It was impressive to watch.

It's not so much -- you know, I thought Joe did a great job tonight, operating under pressure. He was very well prepared, obviously, just knew what he wanted to do and was fielding the different calls and communicating with everybody. We just, I thought we had a really good operation. Joe leads the way on that and did a great job with it.

Then the lead up, the preparation, the scouts. The scouts were really good. I thought the scouts were good throughout. Great dialogue. Not always agreeing. It wasn't like everybody was on the same page, you know. Consensus is not always a great thing. But we ended up agreeing to kind of agree on the fact that we had 10 really good players on that board for 10 picks, and we got two of our top 5 at the end of the day.

So I thought the scouts were great, I thought the coaches did a great job. Just really throughout the organization it was really fun to be a part of it and watch it, and I was very impressed with everything. And, as much as anything, the outcome right now. We still have work to do. We have two more days. But it's a really good start.

Q. John, with the Ravens, you have taken defensive players high in drafts. Curious, how did that philosophy mesh with looking at a player like Reese to say, hey, this kind of fits in with what I want, and also with what the team wants to do with him?

JOHN HARBAUGH: It's similar in the sense -- and Joe and I, we've had a lot of these kind of philosophical conversations. But really what you want to do is you want to give the draft an opportunity to work for you and let it come to you. You don't want to chase picks, you want picks to chase you, you know, and give them an opportunity to come to you. And sometimes you got to be patient to do that. Get your board right, make sure you understand all the different possibilities. And don't over react to things that you hear, things that might happen on draft night. I thought we did a really good job of that. All of a sudden, there's Arvell Reese, he's coming to us. And that's happened in Baltimore. It's happened in New York a number of times too. I know Joe's had that experience here as well. So it worked out just the way you would hope it would -- doesn't always work out that way, but it did tonight.

Q. Where did you have Reese ranked among your top 5?

JOE SCHOEN: We had him No. 1 of none quarterbacks.

Q. Was Mauigoa in the top 5? 5, 4, 3?

JOE SCHOEN: I think it was 4, wasn't it?

JOHN HARBAUGH: I would say top 5.

JOE SCHOEN: I can't give up everything. (Laughing.)

JOHN HARBAUGH: I think he was 4.

Edge Arvell Reese

Q. Congratulations

. What's this feel like to be drafted by the Giants? How are you feeling?

ARVELL REESE: It feels amazing. Words can't even explain it. I'm happy right now. I'm just super excited. Had this moment with my family. I'm honestly ready to get to work.

Q. They said they were very surprised you were there at five. Were you surprised that you were still there at five?

ARVELL REESE: You know, even before the draft I always said that nothing was guaranteed. It was all just speculation and mocks and stuff. Whatever happened was God's plan. I wasn't questioning anything, I wouldn't say I was surprised or not. I'm just blessed to be here.

Q. Throughout your process there's been so much talk about off ball, edge rusher. Where do you see yourself fitting in in this defense?

ARVELL REESE: I had talked with Coach (defensive coordinator) Dennard (Wilson), (inside linebacker) Coach (Frank) Bush, (Head) Coach Harbaugh. They told me how they would use me. From that I just say I'm going to be used in a unique way. I'm a weapon. That's how it's supposed to be.

Q. Arvell, obviously a lot of pass rushers on this team. Are you excited about the potential of what this defense could look like up front?

ARVELL REESE: Yes, sir. Yes, sir. As soon as I settled down, that's what I thought about. Dang, you got (outside linebacker) Kayvon Thibodeaux. You got (outside linebacker) Brian Burns, you got (outside linebacker) Abdul Carter. That sounds like a great situation playing alongside those guys.

Q. I know you're familiar with Abdul Carter playing in the Big Ten, just what excites you about playing with him knowing that you've faced him a couple of times?

ARVELL REESE: Yeah, it's very exciting. You can get two guys from the Big Ten. Both dogs on the same defense. That's always a good situation, you know. Very excited for that.

Q. What about playing in New York? What do you think of that?

ARVELL REESE: I'm looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to that. One of the biggest cities in America. Got one of the best fan bases. I'm looking forward to that. I'm very excited for that.

Q. The Giants were saying they feel like you're just scratching the surface, particularly playing off the edge. Where do you think your game can grow most?

ARVELL REESE: I think for one, my game can go in that right there, just playing off the edge. I got limited snaps at it, limited practice time and reps in practice at it. A majority of time in practice I was inside backer. They would send me down to do a one-on-one reps later on in the week but it was never anything intentional with the pass rushing. Right after that, I think my coverage can be way better. Pass rushing, my pad level. Plenty of times I haven't been set. So, I'm just excited to get to work and get better, to be honest.

Q. Coach Harbaugh said you're going to be primarily an inside backer, like a weak side backer. What was the split and what did you hear from teams about playing inside backer for potentially being an edge guy?

ARVELL REESE: The majority of teams told me outside backer and then there were a couple of teams, including the Giants that mentioned inside backer.

Q. Did it matter to you? What did you think of the idea of being an inside backer full time kind of sort of?

ARVELL REESE: It didn't really matter to me. Getting into the league is what mattered the most to me. It didn't really matter to me. I played both at Ohio State, (Buckeyes defensive coordinator) Coach (Matt) Patricia put me at both roles, so I'm just excited to be in this situation.

Q. What do you like to play more?

ARVELL REESE: There's not one or the other that I like to play more. I would say I got more reps at inside backer, but I like playing, I honestly like playing both. That was my role last year, so I appreciated both, respected both roles.

Q. Did you think you might go to the Jets at two?

ARVELL REESE: I kind of went into the draft like open-minded. Like, I always said even before the draft, I'm not hoping for one team or having no expectations, you know? Because nothing is promised, like I said. That wasn't even on my mind. I was just waiting for my name to be called.

Q. We know the Giants said they were very surprised you were there. What was your pre-draft work up with them like? Your visit here, some guys say they don't let themselves get too caught up in wanting to like a team because they're not real sure if they were going to get to that team. What did you feel with your work up to the Giants?

ARVELL REESE: I did a formal visit we them at the combine. I did a 30 visit with them and I think I just like those coaches, Coach Dennard, Coach Bush, I sat down with them at dinner and I think that was like a major part in this. We had a great talk. I also had a great talk with Coach Harbaugh. I respect those guys. I can truly say those were some of the best conversations I had on my 30 visits.

Q. Were any of the current guys that you mentioned earlier, the pass rushers, were they here when you were here on your visit or did the program not start yet?

ARVELL REESE: No, they weren't there. (Linebacker) Tremaine Edmunds was there, though.

Q. Tremaine? What was it like meeting him in that situation?

ARVELL REESE: I think they were trying to get me to another meeting, so it was nothing but like a head nod. I didn't really get to formally meet him.

Offensive Lineman Francis Mauigoa

Q. What in your mind as the draft is going on are you thinking when the Giants are on the clock that you've got an opportunity to come here?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Yeah, man. Can't wait to get back to work. I was texting Coach Bloom (offensive line coach Mike Bloomgren) like hey, man, make that call and they finally made it. Man, I'm super excited for it and I can't wait to get this ball rolling, man.

Q. The Giants say they see you as a guard, what do you think about that?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: It don't matter, man. I'm a resource. Whatever they need me at, I'll do it.

Q. What's your experience at guard? I know you played I think 11 total snaps in college, but have you played it any other time? What's your experience level there?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: I've been practicing throughout my whole college career at the University of Miami. We've been doing cross-training. (University of Miami assistant head coach/offensive line) Coach (Alex) Mirabal did a great job with putting me at guard on both sides, left and right, just so I can understand how guards operate and what they do and stuff like that. So, I've been getting a lot of reps when I was in training, though.

Q. What did your brother tell you about New York?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: He didn't tell me much. Maybe because I didn't ask for it, but all I know is I'm super excited to play against him in fall camp.

Q. I know you said on stage that you would die for (quarterback) Jaxson (Dart), but what do you know about this offense and how they operate?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: When I was coming on the 30 visit, I kind of learned about the slide protection and all the stuff like that, so it's not something new to me. We've been doing it at University of Miami and, yeah, it's not new to me.

Q. What do you know about Jaxson?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Jaxson's a great guy. I know he's a Utah guy, from Ole Miss, great quarterback, elite quarterback I would say, with the way he plays and the way he handles things. I feel great in this offense. We're going to get this thing going. We're going to have a lot of fun.

Q. When you said on TV I'll die for him, is that your mentality when blocking for a quarterback?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Yeah. That should be everybody's mentality. As an offensive linemen we should be able to put everything on the line because the quarterback is the key of the offense. So, to be able to block for a quarterback and to be able to make plays and open up holes for the running back, that's what we're supposed to do. It's not something that people want us to – It's something that we're expected to do, that's what we need to do.

Q. Sisi, you're here because the Giants traded away (Bengals defensive lineman) Dexter Lawrence. Does that come with any added pressure do you think?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: No, I don't really pay attention to any of that. I'm just ready for whatever comes my way and I'm really thankful for the opportunity that the Giants gave me.

Q. What did you think about the talk about your back. It was something thought brought up in the lead-up top draft and the fact that maybe you have a herniated disc and something that might need to be taken care of later on.

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: I haven't really thought about it. I know my body, but the physicians know more about me but I know my body. I feel really good and ready to go day one.

Q. What have the doctors told you about it going forward, managing it?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: They were saying I'm good. They did all the testing and stuff and they didn't find anything. It's just an image at that point but I wasn't really paying attention, I was just ready to play ball.

Q. Has it impacted you at all?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Like I said, I didn't really pay attention to it, but I know some physicians told me some advice for later on, but I'll handle that when the time comes. Right now my body is feeling great. I can't wait to get back to it.

Q. Sisi, did you and brother ever talk about possibly playing in the same city when you were pros?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: No. College was different because we got to choose. The NFL is different because the teams get to choose. I'm really excited to be near my brother and to be able to work out with him and be able to sharpen our tools again.

Q. Did you say you visited here?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Yep, I did a 30 visit.

Q. What was that experience like?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: It was awesome, man. It was awesome. John Harbaugh's the man. I got to learn a lot about him and how he coaches and it's the type of coaching that I love. That hard, old-school type of coaching. That's why I chose (Miami Head) Coach (Mario) Cristobal and, yeah, I'm all for it.

Q. Have you had an opportunity to look at your phone? Have you heard from Jaxson by any chance?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Not yet.

Q. What was your thoughts on one of the running backs that you'll be blocking for, (running back) Cam Skattebo?

FRANCIS MAUIGOA: Oh, I'm going to have a lot of fun with that guy. (Laughter).