We’ve reached the silliest part of the NFL draft cycle.
Remember Zach Wilson’s pro day throw? The one that solidified him as “Mormon Mahomes”?
Well, meet the mirror image.
The Ohio State Buckeyes held their pro day on Wednesday, showcasing the talents of touted draft prospects such as linebacker Arvell Reese, the favorite to be selected second overall by the New York Jets in 2026.
Ohio State’s official X/Twitter account posted a clip of Reese running a drill. His apparently sluggish attempt to bend the corner drew widespread attention on social media. As of Thursday morning, the eight-second clip of Reese in shorts has been viewed over 4 million times.
The clip has been particularly scrutinized in comparison to similar clips from Miami defensive end Rueben Bain Jr., who is also expected to be a top-10 selection in April.
The comparisons, however, ignore critical context.
As pointed out by film analysts such as The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen and Jets X-Factor’s Joe Blewett, the two prospects did not run the same drill in the widely circulated clips, contrary to popular belief.
In Reese’s clip, he started from about five yards of vertical distance downfield, sprinting directly toward the bag as if he were rushing against a guard from a MIKE linebacker alignment. This resulted in a U-shaped bend, which, naturally, won’t look as smooth as a bend from off the edge.
On the contrary, Bain attacked the bag from a 45-degree angle as if he were a defensive end rushing against a tackle, allowing him to take a flatter, smoother bend that looks more appealing on video.
As Blewett points out, it is also critical to remember that it is equally important for an edge rusher to be powerful enough to hold his ground while cornering as it is to be bendy. This is an in-game strength of Reese’s that would not show up in a pro day drill against a bag.
Not to mention, there are plenty of examples on film of Reese winning on the edge against living, breathing football players.
Reese’s pass-rush skills are under the microscope during this draft process due to his limited sample of opportunities at the college level, which is rare for a first-round prospect expected to operate as an edge defender in the NFL. He primarily lined up as an off-ball linebacker in college, logging only 138 pass-rush snaps in his Buckeyes career, including 119 this past season.
Despite the limited sample size, Reese displayed incredible potential on a per-snap basis. In 2025, Reese converted his 119 pass-rush snaps into 27 total pressures and 6.5 sacks, absurd production relative to the volume of chances he received.
Reese’s outstanding pass-rush efficiency and athletic traits have prompted many analysts, scouts, and NFL teams to project him as a full-time edge rusher at the NFL level.
However, due to Reese’s small sample of pass-rush snaps in college, there is a certain degree of risk associated with projecting him to the edge, which explains why his pass-rush drills at OSU’s pro day garnered so much attention. People want to see every example of Reese’s pass-rush chops that they can.
For that reason, the sheer quantity of views generated by Reese’s pro day clip is understandable. With that said, it is an overreaction to use an eight-second clip of a guy in shorts to downplay his game when there are on-field examples of him executing the job that the drill is intended to emulate.
