Jason Burgos
It looks like Arvell Reese has no idea about the roster he will be joining after being the New York Giants first pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Thursday was a wild night for Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese. Heading into the first round of the event, many draft pundits had him either going to the New York Jets at No. 2 overall or to the Arizona Cardinals at No. 3. However, he went to neither team. He wasn’t even picked by the Tennessee Titans at No. 4.
Instead, the player that many football evaluators believe has real superstar potential fell into the Giants’ laps at fifth overall. While few expected Reese to fall that far, it was still a possibility. Because he could go somewhere in the top five, one would expect the First-Team All-American to have done some homework on the rosters he could end up on.
Well, it seems in the case of the Giants, he passed on that research because he must have thought there was no chance he would end up as a new member of Big Blue on Thursday night.
Arvell Reese only knows one player on the New York Giants?
During his press conference following his selection, Reese was asked which new teammate he was looking forward to meeting the most. The 20-year-old spent 10 seconds trying to find an answer. When he finally discovered it, the answer was a player not even on his side of the ball. “Jaxson Dart,” Reese said.
While the Giants didn’t have an elite defense last year, they still have some pretty good players on defense. One obvious choice would have been three-time Pro Bowler — including in 2025 — Brian Burns. Or 2025 first-round pick Abdul Carter. A player who dominated in Ohio State’s conference, the Big Ten, in 2024. Even three-time Pro Bowler Dexter Lawrence, because of his popular sack dance, would have made sense even though he was traded last week.
It’s not a great look for Reese that he knows so little about the team he is heading to. Giants fans will have to hope he was just still filled with excitement from being drafted, that his mind randomly went blank, or he was so focused on OSU getting back to the national title last season that he watched few NFL games.
