INDIANAPOLIS — Ohio State’s Arvell Reese might be the most intriguing talent at the top of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Reese was an off-ball linebacker in college, playing the position so well that he was named a consensus All-American in 2025. He’s more than athletic enough, though, that he might shine as an edge rusher in the pros. He’s earned comps to Micah Parsons because of that, as the Packers‘ star went from playing off-ball linebacker at Penn State to becoming an All-Pro edge rusher.
Even Reese isn’t necessarily sure which position he’ll play in the NFL yet, telling teams that he sees himself as an “outside linebacker or edge” at the NFL Scouting Combine this week. But there is one thing Reese is sure about: No matter which position he plays, he’s going to play it with a voracious tenacity.
“On the football field, I’m just always thinking to play violent,” said the 6-foot-4, 241-pound Reese when he took the podium at the scouting combine. “I haven’t even scratched the surface of what I can do pass-rushing, for real.”
In a draft where many prospects have played five or six years of college football, Reese is a precocious exception. At only 20 years, his body of work at Ohio State is a small one, playing only on special teams as a freshman, then with a half-sack as a rotational player on its 2024 national championship team. In his breakout 2025 campaign, Reese recorded 6.5 sacks as an off-ball linebacker, but he’s still learning and developing as he enters the NFL.
“It’s a position-less thing,” Ohio State linebackers coach James Laurinaitis, himself a former Buckeyes standout who played eight years in the NFL, told me. “Velly’s an outside backer who can play inside. It’d be smart for a D coordinator to put him over the other team’s offensive lineman and try to get him in space so he can use his athleticism.”
Where can he still improve?
“Everywhere,” Reese said. “I think I can get way better at pass rushing, I think I can get way better on coverage, think I can get way better with my pad level. Sometimes I’m too high. There is so much room for improvement for me. I just can’t wait to get better.”
Reese benefited this past season from playing for a longtime NFL coach in Matt Patricia, whose defense not only elevated his play but gave him a preview of the concepts he’ll find as a pro.
“With his defense, I’m able to explain all 11, with 80 to 90% of the calls,” Reese said of understanding the roles of everyone around him, giving him confidence for what he can do within that.
Laurinaitis said Reese is quick enough to speed-rush around a tackle, but he also has the strength to power-rush opposing blockers. Of course, Reese will need to determine when he needs to speed-rush and when he should power-rush in order to maximize his skill set.
Laurinaitis doesn’t see that being a problem, though, noting he has good instincts for when to attack.
“There’s a very natural feel that he has off the line of scrimmage, too,” Laurinaitis said. “When you’re talking about off-the-ball linebackers, there’s almost a God-given element when it comes to feeling offensive plays. You’ve got to see a lot, but you also have to see a little. It’s really hard to describe, even as someone who did it. How do you feel that all coming? There’s so much going through your brain, it’s hard to train someone, but he has a natural foundation and a gift, and his explosiveness is really what separates him.”
Reese could be one of four Ohio State players drafted in the top half of the first round, with safety Caleb Downs, linebacker Sonny Styles and wide receiver Carnell Tate often being included in the top 15 of mock drafts. Reese said being surrounded by that talent — which doesn’t count receiver Jeremiah Smith, who’ll likely be a top pick in 2027, or the 14 Buckeyes taken in the 2025 draft — fostered a competitive environment in practice that spilled over to Saturdays as well.
“That’s the reason I went there — there’s dawgs everywhere,” Reese said. “You’ve got to be comfortable knowing that you’re not going to be the only dawg there, so you have to just work to get better every day. … We were talented at every position. I think that’s what Ohio State does, just produces elite athletes and players.”
Reese’s has earned comparisons to Parsons in the early parts of the draft process due to the position versatility. But when Reese was asked who he would model himself after, he pointed to one of Patricia’s old Patriots standouts, instead: Jamie Collins, who racked up 26.5 career sacks while playing as an off-ball linebacker.
Arvell Reese had 6.5 sacks this past season despite primarily being an off-ball linebacker. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images)
Reese enters the draft with confidence. He’s choosing to do all testing and participate in drills at multiple positions, at a time when Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. will not work out, attending the combine for team interviews only. Patricia has helped his top prospects by walking them through what they can expect from the combine and the kinds of questions they’ll get from NFL coaches and scouts.
Many mock drafts have Reese being drafted with one of the top picks, often getting paired with the Jets at No. 2 overall. When Reese was asked what it would mean to go to New York at No. 2, he said he isn’t caught up in where he’s going. However, he acknowledged that New York would present an exciting future for him.
“That would be amazing,” Reese said. “Just getting a chance in the NFL would be amazing … It would mean a lot to me to be one of those guys who kids can now look up to, because there were a bunch of guys I looked up to growing up and wanted to be like.”
