According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Kansas City Chiefs are expected to host one of the top players in the 2026 NFL Draft. Ohio State standout linebacker Arvell Reese is meeting with the team for one of Kansas City’s top-30 visits. Those types of pre-draft visits are explained here.
Background
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Reese was heavily recruited coming out of high school powerhouse Glenville High in Cleveland, Ohio, where he played for Ted Ginn Sr., the father of former NFL wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr.
Despite growing up in the Glenville neighborhood, watching and hearing stories of guys who would go on to do big things (Ginn Sr. had at least one player sign with Ohio State from 2002-2014), Reese did not originally play for there. Instead, he spent his first three years of playing high school football six and a half miles down the road at Euclid High School.
The program at Euclid ended up being in shambles, and after going winless his junior season, he knew he needed a change.
It was time to go home to Glenville.
That’s when he met Ginn Sr.— who Reese credits with saving his life.
“He saved my life. He literally saved my life,” Reese said. “I had nothing going on when I transferred there. He introduced me to all these big universities. I saw none of this coming. He changed my life. I respect him for it and I thank him for it all the time.”
But going back even further, it all started with Reese’s family. Arvell grew up watching his older brother play football. His dad has been a big influence on his work ethic, and despite battling health issues, his mother has always been in the stands cheering him on.
Reese has one goal when he’s on the field, “Be a dog.”
It started the moment he put on the pads.
“When I was 5 and jumped into the pads, I was already a dog
“…I just have a different mentality. Every time I’m on the field, I’ve just gotta be a dog.”
A four-star recruit, Reese was the No. 18 linebacker in the nation and the fifth-ranked prospect in the state of Ohio. Reese received offers from Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State and USC before staying home.
After a breakout 2025 season with the Buckeyes, Reese took the pre-draft process by storm. He had little production before last season. This was partially due to battling through a concussion his freshman year and not being a good fit for former defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ defense.
But heading into 2025, something crucial changed: Ohio State hired former Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia as their defensive coordinator.
Reese knew he had a chance to excel.
“When I first got introduced to Matt Patricia’s scheme and my role in it, I knew I was gonna have a big role because he was showing me a bunch of different ways he could use me,” Reese said. ”As y’all see, I’m in the box, I’m off the edge, I’m the Will linebacker, I’m the Sam linebacker. I can do a lot of different stuff…”
My analysis
Reese is a physical freak.
When you turn on the tape, your eyes immediately drift to him. He is explosive and agile with a stop-and-start ability that speeds up the read-and-react process.
He is a smart player and is rarely out of place.
Patricia used Reese as a movable piece in 2025. He rushed from the edge, he dropped back in man coverage, covered the flats, and stepped up and played gap-sound defense.
Reese has attracted as many questions as any of the prospects at the top of the class.
Is he an off-ball linebacker?
An edge rusher?
A middle linebacker?
I think he’s all three.
You’ve heard the term, Jack of all trades, master of nothing. Well, Reese is the exception.
He’s Arvell of all things, master of everything.
Reese shows insane speed and shoulder dip around the edge. He violently pulls and rips away from blockers with wild lateral speed and closing ability. He makes it difficult to identify his weaknesses.
So the question all NFL teams have to consider when evaluating Reese is simple: Will a team’s defensive coaching staff support his positional versatility as much as Patricia did?
Drafting an edge rusher in the top five is an easier pill to swallow than selecting an off-ball linebacker.
At 6 feet 4 inches tall and 241 pounds, Reese isn’t the biggest dog in the fight — but you know how the rest of that saying goes.
Being fast is one thing, but being able to transfer that speed to power and knock a 320-pound offensive tackle onto his heels is another.
Despite being a work in progress as a rusher, Reese wins in several different ways: he can dip around the edge, execute a bull rush, rip and swim — but it’s his tenacity that’s his greatest strength.
The only knock you can find on Reese is his inexperience as a hand-in-the-dirt, 4-3 “defensive end.”
When he rushes the quarterback, he does so from an upright stance. He’s a different brand of pass rusher than the Chiefs have had in the past, and has special enough tools to be worth adjusting to.
Fit with the Chiefs
Fit: High
Round grade: Top 10
There is little chance that Reese lasts until pick No. 9. Most mock drafts have him going in the top-four picks in the draft, with the New York Jets being a popular landing spot.
But if he slides, you do back flips and skip to the podium to turn your card in.
As far as Kansas City is concerned, it really doesn’t matter if he is a better linebacker or edge rusher. The team needs both, and more importantly, Reese is the one thing the Chiefs need most of all: a blue-chip playmaker, regardless of position.
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