The first player to come off the board from Ohio State was Arvell Reese, who was selected with the fifth overall pick by the New York Giants.
Reese was a linebacker at Ohio State, but he was able to move down to the defensive line to rush the passer. He used those skills to work out as an edge rusher at the NFL scouting combine and raise his draft stock.
Reese was at Ohio State for three seasons, working in as the third linebacker during the 2024 national championship season behind Sonny Styles and Cody Simon. That year, he finished with 43 total tackles, 3.5 for loss, and half a sack playing in all 16 games.
He broke out as a junior and finished last season as the team’s second-leading tackler behind Styles with 69 stops, 10 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks, while also breaking up two passes.
Reese had a very strong first half of the season before his production tailed off a bit in the latter half of the year. However, he was able to show off his versatility, serving as a sideline-to-sideline tackler, a pass rusher and a quarterback spy when needed.
When speaking with reporters before the NFL draft saying that he doesn’t think he has reached his potential as a pass rusher yet.
“I didn’t really know exactly how to do certain stuff. When I did it, it was just me doing it,” Reese said. “I think just recently I’m tapping into the feet work, and you got to show stuff to make an O-lineman react to certain stuff. So I’ve been just now getting into that.”
Now Reese has the new challenge of becoming a pass rusher at the NFL level with the Giants, where he will be on the depth chart alongside Roy Robertson-Harris and outside linebackers Brian Burns and Abdul Carter, and be led by head coach John Harbaugh.
