Height: 6-4
Weight: 243 Pounds
Year: Redshirt Sophomore
Pro Comparison: Micah Parsons, Jamie Collins

2026 NFL Combine Results

Pros of Arvell Reese

• No defender in the 2026 NFL Draft class offers more positional flexibility and role versatility than Arvell Reese. He showcased high level play as a conventional edge rusher, run-stopping linebacker, and even slot defender dropping into coverage throughout his All-American 2025 college football season.
• He isn’t just a wildly haphazard athletic talent playing “see-ball-get-ball”, but he plays with such great instincts that it looks like that sometimes. Reese understands how his role needs to adjust post-snap on every play, diagnosing the intentions of quarterbacks, offensive linemen, and running backs extremely well — which sets up some ridiculous pursuit plays for him.
• His 6-4, 240+ pound frame with long arms can likely continue to be sculpted for whatever purpose he wants to specialize in at the NFL level. He can already play just about any role he’s asked to, but if he wants to bulk to lean further into an edge defender role or work on agility to improve his coverage, the athletic potential is there to shift in one direction. Whichever direction he chooses to lean, he’s obviously an All-Pro raw talent.

Cons of Arvell Reese

• When Reese is asked to drop into coverage, that is the one area where he can play a bit stiff in the hips. He still often puts himself in the right spot given his instincts, but Reese can certainly get turned around and give up an easy gain.
• He is still developing his arsenal of pass rush moves and that shows. If Reese relies too much on his raw athleticism as opposed to technique he can be shut down by the more special offensive tackle talents.
• Reese’s archetype can struggle early on to find footing in the NFL as the jack-of-all-trades players don’t always enjoy the same level of dominant success in the pros because their athletic edge is diminished.

Background

Arvell Reese is a Cleveland, Ohio native who waited his turn for success at Ohio State. He was a highly touted four star linebacker recruit in the 2023 class who committed early to the Buckeyes in 2022. He never saw the field for game action in 2023 as the linebacker room was stacked, but he worked his way up the depth chart in time to shine for 2024. He still played more of a rotational role in 2024 with Sonny Styles (also a likely first round pick this year) and veteran linebacker Cody Simon, since the Ohio State staff was trying to figure out how best to use him. Once the the Buckeyes staff realized all that he could do, he was offered an expanded feature role in the 2025 defense, immediately asserting himself as a household name.

Player Evaluation

Reese is a tough player not to be excited about when breaking down his film. It doesn’t matter if the play is coming his way or not, he still pops as the most athletic freak on the field at any given time. His acceleration, strength, and unbelievable knack for putting himself in the right spot to create havoc are all phenomenal. Given all of his traits and instincts, he may be best suited to play more off-ball linebacker in his first year at the NFL level, letting him chase down playmakers, and stopping the run game.

He can be eased into a more pass-rush heavy role later, but there’s still significant work to be done there before he could ever reach Micah Parsons-level versatility and dominance. Reese did manage a pass rush pressure rate of 22% (easily first round caliber), but once teams figured out how to deal with his brute strength and first move off the line he slowed way down in terms of getting to the passer in 2025. He needs to add multiple layers to his pass rush game to catch tackles off guard. That will come with time.

Reese did allow an 82% completion rate when targeted in coverage in his final season, which is certainly not great. However, he did limit explosive plays in coverage, often making up for stiff hips or a slight delay in breaking on the ball with his ridiculous pursuit speed. If he can just improve slightly in coverage, Reese could be an elite off-ball defender that could turn into a special edge rusher to go along with that. All-Pro potential is there. Reese just needs to take a couple more steps up and he’s there.

A to Z Rankings

A to Z Big Board Ranking: No. 5 overall prospect

A to Z Draft Grade: 9.42 out of 10.00 (early first round grade)

Draft projection: Top 10 pick

NFL Draft

3-Round 2026 NFL Mock Draft: Browns roll the dice early, Chiefs make a splash, and Lions take a risk at quarterback on day two

Here is a brand new 3-Round 2026 NFL Mock Draft, highlighted by more than a few surprises at quarterback.

Adam Holt