\n Arvell Reese has been one of college football’s breakout stars this season, ascending from Ohio State’s No. 3 linebacker in 2024 to the Butkus Award frontrunner in 2025. <\/p>\n
\n\tThe Athletic’s Dane Brugler<\/a> and Nick Baumgardner have\u00a0showered Reese with praise this fall, but that praise reached its peak on Thursday, when Baumgardner named Reese the\u00a0No. 1 overall pick in his\u00a02026 NFL Mock Draft<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n \n\t“If there\u2019s a football player in this draft reminiscent of Micah Parsons, it\u2019s pretty clearly Reese, the dynamic Ohio State junior.\u00a0He can play in the box, off the edge or even in the slot in some situations \u2014 he has true do-it-all potential and could be a game-breaker in the NFL,” Baumgardner wrote of the New York Jets selecting Reese at No. 1. “There\u2019s zero pressure on the Jets to take a quarterback here, as\u00a0they now own five first-round picks\u00a0over the next two years.”\n<\/p>\n \n\t“If there\u2019s a football player in this draft reminiscent of Micah Parsons, it\u2019s pretty clearly Reese…\u00a0\u00a0he has true do-it-all potential and could be a game-breaker in the NFL.\u201d\u2013 Nick Baumgardner on Arvell Reese\n<\/p>\n \n\tThis season, Reese leads Ohio State with 54 tackles, eight more than the team’s second-leading tackler, Sonny Styles (46). Reese’s nine tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks rank second behind Caden Curry, who has 10.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks in 2025.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\tThis week’s “Arvell Reese is really freaking good” tweet.<\/p>\n Speed. Burst. Violence. What a weapon. pic.twitter.com\/fnQ1moA83a<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) November 1, 2025<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n\tWhile Reese’s statistics show\u00a0the impact the 6-foot-4, 243-pound linebacker has made as for the Buckeyes, his advanced metrics reveal the impact extends far beyond the box score.\n<\/p>\n \n\tAccording to Pro Football Focus<\/a>, Reese has recorded 22 pressures in eight games, resulting in eight sacks (PFF has 1.5 more sacks\u00a0than Ohio State’s official box scores), two quarterback hits and 12 quarterback hurries. Reese\u00a0has lived in the backfield while having no home in Matt Patricia’s defense, as he\u00a0has recorded 168 snaps on the defensive line, 193 snaps in the box, 14 snaps as a slot corner and two snaps as a cornerback this season, per PFF.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\t2026 EDGE Class | Career Pass Rush Productivity<\/p>\n Arvell Reese LB? EDGE? Both?<\/p>\n The only recent pick in his universe of pass rush production is a pretty good NFL player. pic.twitter.com\/ySx6uMD9w3<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 Gridiron Grading (@GridironGrading) November 5, 2025<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n\t“He is the best player that I’ve scouted this year. Plain and simple,” Brugler said in the latest episode of The Athletic Football Show<\/a>. “It would be very disingenuous to put anyone else at No. 1 besides Arvell Reese because the tape is that good and every week I kind of rave about him, and so I would be lying if I put anybody else at No. 1.”\n<\/p>\n \n\tIn Baumgardner’s mock draft, two more Buckeyes came off the board in Round 1: Caleb Downs to the Miami Dolphins at No. 5 and Carnell Tate to the Arizona Cardinals at No. 10. If Tate (or another Ohio State player) landed in Arizona\u00a0next season, he would join a team full of former Buckeyes, as the Cardinals have drafted Paris Johnson Jr., Marvin Harrison Jr., Cody Simon and Denzel Burke over the past three years.\n<\/p>\n\n
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