NFL Draft Grade and Analysis: Giants get early gift as Arvell Reese falls into their laps
NFL Draft Grade and Analysis: Giants get early gift as Arvell Reese falls into their laps originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
How many fans of the New York Giants thought the team would have a chance to draft Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese in the first round?
Reese was either the No. 2 pick to the New York Jets or No. 3 to the Arizona Cardinals in nearly every mock draft that was out there. At worst, he was going to the Tennessee Titans at No. 4. The Jets selected David Bailey out of Texas Tech, Arizona went with running back Jeremiyah Love and the Titans made a surprising move by snagging Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate.
That left Reese for the Giants, and it was an easy decision.
The first pick of the John Harbaugh era is a versatile defender who the Giants will use as a chess piece to wreak havoc on opponents. There are not a lot of weaknesses in his game and that led to him being one of the more highly-rated prospects in this entire class.
Arvell Reese Draft Grade
Reese projects as a future Pro-Bowl talent who can help the Giants in a variety of ways. He is only 20 years old but has three years of playing experience at one of the top programs in the country, receiving coaching from the likes of James Laurinaitis and Matt Patricia.
This is a defense that was already good, even with the departure of Dexter Lawrence via trade . It's a unit that includes Brian Burns , Abdul Carter , Kayvon Thibodeaux and Tremaine Edmunds at the linebacker position and now the team adds a piece that can be moved all over the formation and used to blitz the passer or drop into coverage and be extremely effective.
He is still filling out his frame and much of his future is a projection more than a guarantee, but all of the traits are there. If he can prove to be effective in tackling against the run, he has the tools to become an elite edge defender.
Reese has already developed multiple pass-rush moves, which can be fine-tuned by a team that had the player with the second-most sacks in the NFL (Burns) last season. If you want to come up with a knock on his game, you can discuss him likely needing to get into the weight room a bit to add some upper body strength. Coaches can also work with him on play recognition and not getting distracted by teams trying to take attention away with flashy tricks, but that's about it.
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This is a fantastic pick for a team that is going to be ready to attack offenses from all directions in 2026. For Harbaugh's first pick, he couldn't have hand-picked a better scenario.
Grade: A
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