Florham Park – NFL Network draft analyst Lance Zierlein offered a dose of reality about Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese, a player the Jets could be considering with the #2 pick in the 2026 NFL draft.
“As the picks get closer, you gotta cut the BS,” Zierlein said to Bucky Brooks on the ‘Moving the Sticks’ podcast. “So I went from saying Arvell Reese is my top player, he’s got length, he can run, but I’m projecting. But now we’ve got to say he doesn’t have great instincts as a linebacker, and he doesn’t know how to rush right now. What are you going to do with him?”
So while Reese has a lot of potential, it could take some time for him to settle into a position and reach his ceiling.
“Yeah, he has this really high upside, but guys whose jobs are on the line, it all looks great until they figure out what they are doing (with the player),” Zierlein said.
Are the Jets football brass, running a team that has missed the playoffs 15 years in a row, willing to take a risk on an “unpolished gem” as Zierlein describes Reese?
“When you look at Arvell Reese right now, he’s very much an unpolished gem, and that is something you have to contend with – are we ready to take on the polish if we are a lower-level team drafting high?” Zierlein said.
We will find out Thursday night.
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