With over a month remaining until the NFL Draft, the Buffalo Bills still need to find a quality linebacker for Jim Leonhard's 3-4 based scheme. General manager and president of football operations Brandon Beane might be in luck with many of the linebacker prospects being very fast and pro-ready for a 3-4 NFL defense.
There's one particular linebacker from Ohio State who would ideally fit that position that the Bills should consider in the NFL Draft, and his name is Arvell Reese.
Arvell Reese NFL Draft Scouting Report
Height: 6' 4"
Weight: 241 lbs.
40-Yard Dash Time: 4.46
Recruiting: 4-star recruit, No. 206 player nationally, No. 18 ranked as a linebacker
College Production: 36 career games, 112 career tackles, 7 sacks, 2 passes defended
Positives:
• Authentic speed across the sidelines with a quick last step that rattles running backs before they're fast enough to react, where he's locating the ball.
• Powerhouse at stopping the run and can read the runningback at a very fast pace to run downhill quicker than any other player on the field.
• Quality tackler that rarely misses his targets. Only missed four tackles in 2025, out of nearly 70 he made, showing awesome NFL technique and wrapping up the tackle.
• Powerful off the line of scrimmage, to push 300-pound linemen backward and maintain his focus without being distracted.
• Holds multiple positions on defense, whether it is lining off the ball, closing A-gaps, or playing the edge rusher role.
• Long arms and great hands permit him to keep blockers out of his way to work through congested areas to pursue the football.
All of Reese's positive traits are natural, and he continued to work on them while at Ohio State. He has all the mentality, production, and physical skills to transfer into a legitimate third-down linebacker. While he needs work in coverage, his tendencies are perceptive, and he's always willing to put in the effort to learn, which should inspire confidence in his growth potential.
He also played in multiple 4-2-5 schemes with a 3-3-5 under defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, who came over with NFL coaching experience.
Negatives:
• Needs work on proper cover skills to be able to catch up with fast running backs and wide receivers. He makes up for it with his own speed and athleticism, which can help him work on his cover skills for the NFL.
• Lacks short area quickness when playing man-man coverage vs. faster tight ends or receiving running backs out of the backfield.
• Tends to be overly aggressive and bites on play action plays and can open up lanes for the runningback to cut back up the field by being too rough with attacking gaps.
• Needs to smooth hit pass rushing with more layers. When the initial speed move is futile, he shifts back to contact and gets laid out rather than developing techniques.
• Lacks pure pass rush instincts and lives and dies by winning with athleticism instead of feeling out the timing, leverage, or setting up blockers. Cannot plug and play him right into being an edge rusher.
• Could be a one-year wonder at Ohio State? The playing style is off the charts, but it needs more than a small sample size to see how consistent and how long he would play for in the NFL.
While Reese definitely has more positives and all the tools to be a 3-4 outside linebacker, every player has negatives, and his are his ability to play an edge rusher in a 4-3 scheme at only 6-foot-3, 241 pounds with exceptional 4.46 speed.
Arvell Reese NFL Player Comparison: Packers' Edge Rusher Micah Parsons
Reese draws NFL comparisons to Micah Parsons of the Green Bay Packers. Once a dominant edge rusher from 2021 to 2024 on the Dallas Cowboys, Parsons was able to come off the line of scrimmage and just torch opposing quarterbacks. For some reason, though, he could never stop the run with the Cowboys as teams would try to run the ball at will right towards him, which neutralized his ability to rush the passer.
In comparison to Parsons, Reese is blazing fast at the point of the attack and is a sack machine. Reese is already light-years ahead of Parsons in stopping the run, and unlike Parsons, he's playing in an NFL-type defense under Patricia.
Arvell Reese Fit With The Buffalo Bills
Reese would be an immediate sparkplug as an outside linebacker. The former Ohio State Buckeye is a prototypical NFL outside linebacker at 6-foot-4, 241 pounds, and would already weigh more than Terrel Bernard and Shaq Thompson.
He has a tremendously quick first step, but that's not all he has. He tended to take on big offensive linemen at the point of the attack and knock them square on their bottoms. In other words, could he be the secret formula on any team when trying to stop the "Tush Push" sneak?
He does have his flaws, but with his willingness to learn, his natural talent, and Buffalo's scheme, he would be a terrific outside linebacker in the NFL for years to come.
Arvell Reese NFL Draft Day Grade: Top 10
If the Bills want to continue to be aggressive this offseason, then they must find a way to pursue Reese. Moving up from the teams' No. 26 spot to grab him in the top 10 brings a take-charge strategy that brings one of the top defensive prospects to Orchard Park, which fits their defensive scheme.