The answer was this: 

“No.’’ 

That was Joe Schoen’s response to whether or not he expected Arvell Reese to be on the board at No. 5 Thursday night in the first round of the NFL draft. 

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“We hoped,’’ the Giants general manager said. “But there weren’t a lot of scenarios that we went through where he may be available.” 

As it turned out, he was available. Reese was the highest-rated player on the Giants’ draft board, other than quarterback Fernando Mendoza, and too good for a team already teeming with edge rushers to pass up. 

“There’s really nothing he can’t do physically,’’ coach John Harbaugh said. 

There is no doubt Reese is a top-tier prospect and worthy of a top 5 pick. The question with this pick for this team is that the Giants are loaded at the position Reese plays. They have Brian Burns, Abdul Carter and Kayvon Thibodeaux on their roster, all worthy of starting roles. Reese is not an exact replica of those three players, but as an outside linebacker he is considered to be an emerging pass rusher and one of the best athletes in this draft class. 

The Giants will work Reese as an off-ball, weakside linebacker. That means he can fill a starting spot alongside free agent pickup Tremaine Edmunds. 

“He’ll be in the A-gap, the B-gap, the C-gap, the D-gap, off the edge,’’ Harbaugh said. “He’ll be moving around with all of our guys, Abdul and Brian and Kayvon and Tremaine.’’ 

The key with the Giants getting Reese was the Jets’ selection of David Bailey with the No. 2 overall pick. The Cardinals took running back Jeremiyah Love and the Titans pulled a surprise by selecting wide receiver Carnell Tate. Reese was the choice, over his two Ohio State teammates, linebacker Sonny Styles and safety Caleb Downs. 

“They told me how they’ll use me, and from that I can say I’m going to be used in a unique way,’’ Reese said. “I’m a weapon. That’s how it’s supposed to be.” 

Adding Reese, though, does ignite speculation that the Giants could more Thibodeaux in a trade, considering Thibodeaux was re-signed to the fifth-year option for $14.75 million, fully guaranteed and not signed after this season. 

“No. No,’’ Harbaugh said. “We keep all the good players as much as we can, right? We love Kayvon. We love Kayvon.” 

Reese was only a one-year starter at Ohio State and his draft stock rose exponentially with his 2025 performance. He had 69 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks for the Buckeyes. At 6-foot-4 and 241 pounds, he does not have the size of most NFL pass rushers but he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.46. That is faster than most pass rushers. The production on the field was ordinary, but belies the impact Reese can make, given his athletic ability. 

Reese is one of the youngest players in this draft — only 20 years old — and becomes a new weapon for new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson. Reese played off the ball in Matt Patricia’s defense at Ohio State. So, Reese can start out playing alongside Edmunds, giving the Giants two big, athletic, rangy linebackers. 

“As soon as I settled down, that’s what I thought about like, ‘Dang, you’ve got Kayvon Thibodeaux, you’ve got Brian Burns, you’ve got Abdul Carter,’ ’’ Reese said. “That sounds like a great situation playing alongside those guys.” 

Reese adds a playmaker to a defense that lost nose tackle Dexter Lawrence, who was traded to the Bengals for the No. 10 pick after he grew sour with the organization and could not come to an agreement on a contract extension. 

Harbaugh said when he attended the Ohio State Pro Day, he watched Reese line up in drills and rush off the edge. That blew away the veteran head coach. 

“The quickness … it was shocking to see how quickly he goes from point A to point B out of his stance,’’ Harbaugh said. “It’s all upside for him.” 

The Giants’ Super Bowl teams in 2007 and 2011 were built to win with dominating defense up front. Perhaps this is a step in that direction. 

“It’s tremendous,’’ Schoen said. “He’s just scratching the surface. You see the size, the length, the traits and just the versatility that the player has of 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. We have a phenomenal defensive staff, and they’re going to find creative ways to use him.”