The New York Giants drafted the best player in the 2026 NFL draft. Better yet, they are letting rookie Arvell Reese play the position he should have been viewed at the entire time.

Reese is not strictly an edge rusher, as many said prior to the 2026 NFL Draft, and it is time to stop pretending otherwise. Through eight games, he looks like a do-it-all linebacker and a legitimate Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate.

Reese is coming off a game against the Philadelphia Eagles in which he posted 12 total tackles (10 solo) and three sacks, per the Giants’ official recap. He was fantastic. That performance only adds to what has been a superb start to his career.

Arvell Reese’s numbers through eight games

Before the draft, I fought the good battle in the draft space, and I wasn’t alone. Yes, Reese could play on the edge. Had you watched his linebacker tape at Ohio State, though? It was really good.

Here is what that looks like on the NFL level so far:

– 68 total tackles – Eight tackles for loss – 4.5 sacks – One interception – Four pass breakups

Those pass breakups matter. Reese has held up well in coverage, which is a big part of what makes him so valuable. He is a diverse, gifted, attack-style linebacker who can do a little bit of everything.

If he keeps this pace over a 17-game season, Reese projects to finish with 145 total tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, three interceptions, and nine pass breakups. That is exactly what our imagination should have told us Reese could be.

Credit to Denard Wilson and the Giants’ staff

Plenty of credit belongs to defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson. Instead of pigeonholing Reese into one role, Wilson saw the vision. New York is letting him be a playmaking defender and asking him to do a few different things. He is executing them at a high level.

I remember having this same conversation with my friend and co-host Joe DeLeone, a Giants fan, right after the pick. His first reaction was that the Giants already had enough edge rushers.

My response was simple: they didn’t have Reese in the middle of their defense. They didn’t have that guy.

He has proven me right so far. Call it a small pat on the back for myself. The bigger one goes to Wilson and the rest of the staff for not forcing Reese into something he never really did at Ohio State.

The case for pumping the brakes

Not everyone on our 13 Personnel panel is ready to crown Reese just yet. One of my co-hosts, Easton Freeze, pointed out that he has seen plenty of rookies light the world on fire and then come back down to earth.

Talking about Reese as the best linebacker in the league after half a season is premature, and that is a fair point.

There was also a real positional value debate before the draft. What does a B-plus edge rusher bring in total team value compared to an elite linebacker? What is the margin for error on a linebacker when rookies are rookies?

Those were legitimate questions, and the folks arguing for Reese on the edge still believe he would have been a great football player there.

Here’s the thing about linebackers, though. Most of them struggle in coverage. That is a big reason they play linebacker in the first place.

Teams search for years to find someone who is a factor against the run, as a rusher, and in coverage. Reese has threaded that needle so far. Even those who wanted him on the edge had him as their top player on the board.

That alone shows the debate never questioned his talent. It only questioned where to put it. The Giants have to be ecstatic with how that question is being answered.

The second half of the season will tell us more. If Reese keeps stacking performances like his outing against the Eagles, the Defensive Rookie of the Year conversation is very real, and the linebacker-or-edge debate will be over for good.