Ohio State's Arvell Reese makes clear declaration about his position in NFL

Arvell Reese of the Ohio State Buckeyes is one of the best players in the 2026 NFL Draft.

There's a realistic chance he's a top 10 overall pick, while there have been plenty of mocks that have him going as high as No. 2 overall to the New York Jets.

The issue, and perhaps the only issue, for Reese as an NFL prospect is that he's a bit "positionless" from an evaluation standpoint.

He's only 6-foot-4, 243 pounds, so there's a world in which he could be slated in at off-ball linebacker.

Reese believes he's a pure edge-rusher/outside linebacker, though. 

"Teams have pretty much been asking me what I want to do and see where my mind was at. I've been telling them I think I'm an outside linebacker/edge," Reese said on Wednesday at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN. "I haven't even scratched the surface with really what I can do pass-rushing."

Typical edge-rushers in the NFL need to have a combination of both size and speed because they often find themselves on the line of scrimmage lined up in the traditional defensive end position.

Reese is a bit small in that regard, but it's worth noting that he's built in the Micah Parsons mold as a pass-rusher. Parsons is 6-foot-3, 250 pounds. He's obviously an elite pass-rusher, but he's big and strong enough to hold his own against the run when he's being blocked by bigger offensive tackles as well.

Arvell Reese will have to get a bit bigger to play the edge in the NFL 

Perhaps it's more about strength than size, but Reese did admit that he'll have to get bigger to play edge in the NFL.

He's coming from an NFL system, though, having played for defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and linebackers coach James Laurinaitis at Ohio State, so he should be able to easily make the transition.

The big thing for the team drafting him is that they'll have to find a way to untap his potential. The numbers were a bit underwhelming last season at OSU for a potential top pick. He totalled just 69 tackles and 6.5 sacks.