The Athletic just gave the Jets another reason to pick Arvell Reese

With each passing day, the 2026 NFL Draft gets closer and closer, and people get antsy discussing and debating the pros and cons of each prospect.

In the world of the New York Jets, the discussion at the No. 2 overall pick has essentially boiled down to either Ohio State's Arvell Reese or Texas Tech's David Bailey. Both defenders are ranked near the top of the draft and have their positives and negatives.

Reese is the boom-or-bust player, with incredible athletic upside and rangey ability. He's already an elite off-ball linebacker and is projected to develop into a monster edge rusher. There's no guarantee Reese hits that ceiling, but it's hard to ignore the potential.

Meanwhile, Bailey is the more polished player. He had the most sacks in college football last season and projects to be a presence off the edge right away. But Bailey isn't likely to develop into anything further than just a one-dimensional pass rusher.

There's no real wrong answer to which player the Jets should take at No. 2 overall, but if they're basing it on The Athletic's Dane Brugler's draft guide, Reese is the way to go.

Potential Jets prospect Arvell Reese ranked No. 1 in The Beast

Every year, Brugler drops his all-encompassing guide to the upcoming draft class titled The Beast and ranks over 2,700 players who have a chance of making it to the NFL. In this year's iteration, he has Reese as the No. 1 prospect in the entire class.

"Reese has the dynamic talent to play a variety of different linebacker or edge roles at a high level, although his ceiling as a pass rusher is his most valuable asset. It is hard to find versatile defenders with his caliber of explosive tools."

Dane Brugler

One of the most underrated aspects of Reese's game is his high-level football IQ. At Ohio State, he was asked to play several roles within the Buckeyes' defense coordinated by Super Bowl-winning defensive coordinator Matt Patricia.

The reason why Reese's statistical output doesn't rival those of a Bailey or Miami's Rueben Bain Jr. was the fact that he played primarily as the "joker" in Patricia's defense. A role that features rushing the quarterback, setting the edge in run defense, or even pass coverage.

New York needs a difference maker like that on their defense, and Reese is seeming more and more like the slam dunk pick as we inch closer to the draft.