The New York Giants had two picks in the top 10 of the 2026 NFL draft. At No. 5 overall, they selected Ohio State’s Arvell Reese, whom they considered to be not only the best pass rusher in the draft but the best off-ball linebacker as well.
With the 10th overall selection, Big Blue grabbed Miami offensive tackle Francis ‘Sisi’ Mauigoa, a player they also had rated at the top of his class.
The Giants could not believe their good fortune on draft day. They got two players who will contribute right away and hopefully become stalwarts for years to come. Giants offensive line coach Mike Bloomgren, in his first season with the team, was overly excited when Mauigoa fell to the Giants at No. 10.
“I didn’t get the opportunity to run it (the draft card) up, but I can tell you nobody in the building could have been more excited than I was,” Bloomgren told reporters at minicamp about Mauigoa being on the board when the Giants were on the clock at No. 10.
It wasn’t Bloomgren’s call to make, but if it was, Mauigoa, who is called Sisi, was his guy.
“I mean, look, you take whoever they take, you know, but how much of an addition do you think that is to the — it’s a fairly veteran group right up there,” Bloomgren said. “I think it’s a huge addition. You get the opportunity to evaluate all these guys for the draft, and when you have one that you feel is head and shoulders above, and you get the opportunity to actually work with him, you’re going to be excited. My family thinks he’s — or my kids think — he’s their third brother. We’re committed to Sisi and treat him like family, and we’re so glad that he’s in the building.”
Bloomgren and the Giants had their eye on Sisi long before draft day. As the draft unfolded, they had to take Reese at No. 5, then they waited patiently until they selected again five picks later. Many felt they would take Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, but they could not pass on Sisi.
“We stuck with the board,” general manager Joe Schoen said on draft night. “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 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.”
Bloomgren is now charged with integrating Mauigoa into the veteran line, where he will play right guard, not tackle, the position he played at Miami. Bloomgren spoke about Sisi’s pedigree.
“The thing that maybe allowed him to stand out more in the process for me was the fact that he’s been coached by Alex Mirabal at Miami and nobody is doing better in college football than Alex. His group, the way he teaches, their foundational knowledge of this game, it’s just next level,” said Bloomgren.
Still, as advanced as Mauigoa seems, he’s still got a bit of a learning curve to travel this summer at camp.
“Of course, he’s a rookie,” continued Bloomgren. “And you know, you’re always scared to death with freshman — freshman in college and rookies in the NFL. It’s like the old scary movies, right? As you tell her not to go around a corner, she still does. And there’s going to be some incidents like that. And there have been at practice where, as a rookie, you know, even though you told him, sometimes you have to live that moment. But the thing Sisi is doing a great job of is not making the same mistake twice.”
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: New York Giants’ Mike Bloomgren giddy over coaching Francis Mauigoa
Reporting by John Fennelly, Giants Wire / Giants Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By John Fennelly, Giants Wire | USA TODAY Network
