The Best Player in the '26 Draft

The Athletic's Dane Brugler makes the case that Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese is the best player in the 2026 NFL Draft, and he does not hedge much on the claim.

Brugler explains that Reese's hybrid nature is what separates him. The box score scouts will not love him, 10 tackles for loss and six and a half sacks does not jump off a sheet of paper, but the tape tells a different story. Reese sets an edge. He spies. He executes exactly what Matt Patricia's defense asks of him. The instincts and the violence Brugler sees on film give him a lot of optimism about the jump to the next level.

The stylistic comparison, not a direct apples to apples, is Micah Parsons. That is the type of front seven impact teams are hunting for. If you want to put his hand in the ground as a full time edge rusher, you can do that. On third downs, you can stand him up and send him from the A gap. You can spy with him and let the speed show once the quarterback gets flushed. The list of things you can ask him to do is long.

Rich asks if Reese goes second to the Jets. Brugler says he is the favorite right now, with Texas Tech's Bailey as the other name that makes sense. Aaron Glenn has talked this offseason about wanting more hybrid elements in his defense, and Brugler says that speaks directly to Reese. Bailey is still in the conversation because of that first step burst and ability to get after the quarterback. The knock on Bailey was run defense, back to 2024 at Stanford where he played more sub down snaps, but Brugler saw promising strides in 2025 at Texas Tech as a three down player. Either way, Bailey is going top five.

Brugler is quick to note the margin between one and two on his board is not wide. Jeremiah Love of Notre Dame is right there. Six point nine yards per carry. Forty nine plays of ten plus yards last year alone. And it is not just what he does between the tackles, it is what he does as a receiver. Brugler would be surprised if Love does not land with the Titans at four, the Giants at five, or the Commanders at seven.

Then there is Fernando Mendoza at three. Brugler laughs at the pattern, his top five all played college football in Ohio or Indiana, which he did not expect when the process started. Rich notes the Big Ten world has taken over the top of the board.

The conversation is tight, informed, and specific. Brugler is not selling hype, he is showing his work.