Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker Arvell Reese may be the most intriguing prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft.
He’s got all the intangibles that scouts look for in great pass-rushers. The issue with him is that the numbers never really popped at Ohio State.
Last season, he notched 6.5 sacks. The season before, he tallied just a half sack.
That’s seven sacks in two seasons, which doesn’t necessarily inspire confidence that he can be an elite pass-rusher at the NFL level.
With that said, Reese was recently mocked No. 2 overall in the upcoming draft to the New York Jets by Mike Renner of CBS Sports.
The reason for his mock selection is simple. Perhaps the numbers weren’t there, but you take a player like Reese when you can because of the potential alone.
“Reese is the NFL version of a lottery pick,” Renner wrote. “He’s got all the traits to be an elite pass rusher, but he’s yet to actually deliver. With the success of similar off-ball to edge converts in recent years like Micah Parsons, Jalon Walker and Abdul Carter, the Jets may bet on the upside. Reese is a decidedly different type of off-ball linebacker than those three, with his length and strength serving as his calling cards, but there’s still plenty of reason to believe those traits will translate off the edge.”
Arvell Reese has everything NFL teams look for in a modern EDGE rusher
So what is it about Reese that stands out?
He’s 6-foot-4, 243 pounds, which is good size for an outside linebacker, but it seems small for someone who the Jets would undoubtedly slate at EDGE in a 4-3 scheme.
The thing is, the defensive ends of today aren’t your defensive ends of yesteryear. Renner pointed out Micah Parsons of the Green Bay Packers as an example of the modern pass-rusher, and he’s a great example.
Parsons checks in at 6-foot-3, 250 pounds, and makes his money because of his quick-twitch athleticism. It’s no longer about size at defensive end. It’s about closing speed, versatility and open-field athleticism.
The Packers can rush Parsons off the edge like a traditional defensive end, but they also like to stand him up at inside linebacker and have him blitz the A-gaps up the middle. He’s athletic enough that they can move him around, and that’s the prototype that Reese fits.
Reese is a pass-rusher who can be moved around because, ultimately, the Jets wouldn’t want him because of his ability to plop in at defensive end and set the edge. They’d want him because of that quick-burst athleticism and closing speed. They’d want to find mismatches for him, get him into open space, and let his natural abilities do the rest.
The stats tell a story of a player with just seven sacks over two seasons.
The eye test tells a completely different story, though. The eye test shows an elite but raw athlete who is just a season or two of NFL development away from being the next Parsons.
That’s why you take a player like Reese No. 2 overall, despite the underwhelming sack total at Ohio State.
