The New York Giants selecting Arvell Reese with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft was a bit of a surprise given the team’s needs and the highly touted linebacker falling to them at that position. But he’s in a Giants’ uniform, brings more talent to the defensive unit and, one bold prediction will have him as a contender for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Projected as going as high as No. 2 to the New York Jets, Reese slipping a bit in the draft was due to him not being a natural edge defender. As a big-play, athletic linebacker who could get to the passer, the selection of David Bailey over Reese at No. 2 was more about that positional value.
Did the Jets make a mistake passing on Reese?
It depends on how impactful Bailey is, but as for the Giants, they got another young defensive stalwart to go with their 2025 first round pick Abdul Carter. While the hope is Carter makes a Year 2 leap, Reese is already coming into the league with a different attitude than Carter did a year ago. The Giants rookie promises to be more action and fewer words in his pursuit towards NFL excellence.
"I want to show the team right away that I'm one of those guys that would rather be seen and not heard," Reese said early in minicamp. "Especially as a rookie, that's what you've got to do. You've got to know what you're doing on the field before you say what you're about. Just get on the field, minimize mistakes, and just show I'm one of those guys that can get better every day."
Giants veterans are already impressed by Arvell Reese
Early in his NFL career Reese has already been earning praise from Giants veteran defenders three-time Pro Bowler Brian Burns and two-time Pro Bowler Jermaine Edmunds. Burns praised the duo of Reese and Edmunds as “scary” early in minicamp and Edmunds, who joined the Giants via free agency has been impressed by the way Reese has conducted himself on and off the field as a first-year player learning to adapt his talent to the NFL level.
Taking Reese’s words into account, Edmunds knows he will be playing with a guy who will undoubtedly help the team win.
"He's a guy that just wants to learn at the end of the day. No matter how high he got drafted, I can see like he cares about ball and he really loves ball,” Edmunds said of Reese. “So, he's going to be good. And I'm going to help him. It's not like he's by himself, not just me but we got 10 other guys out there with him. We're all out there working together so (it's) no need to feel like you're by yourself. We're working together to get this job accomplished."
Arvell Reese could emerge as a Defensive Rookie of the Year contender
With players like Burns, Edmunds and Carter around him, there won’t be a ton of pressure on Reese to make an immediate impact, but that doesn’t mean he won’t. The talent is there, the praise is already there and with his hard work and dedication, look for Reese to put together the type of rookie season Jared Verse, the 2024 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, had with the Los Angeles Rams.
The bold prediction here is that Reese will surpass Jared Verse's 4.5-sack rookie total while also eclipsing 50 tackles. What will stand out about Reese is his tackles for a loss.
As he showed at Ohio State, he is an athletic sideline-to-sideline defender who can explode into the backfield to take down ball carriers behind the line of scrimmage and put the heat on quarterbacks. In his final season at Ohio State, Reese had 10.0 tackles for a loss.
Surrounded by playmakers like Burns, Carter and Edmunds, opposing offenses won't be able to key on him. If Reese adapts quickly to the NFL game, don't be surprised if he finishes among the league leaders in tackles for loss by a rookie defender and puts himself squarely in the Defensive Rookie of the Year conversation.
