fans\u2019 preference for Bain<\/a>, particularly with his noticeable performance against Indiana in college football\u2019s national title game. <\/p>\nHere\u2019s how the measurables shake out (none of which are official):<\/p>\n
Arvell Reese (EDGE\/LB-Ohio State): 6-foot-4, 245 pounds, 4.45-4.50-second 40-yard time, 410-pound bench<\/p>\n
Rueben Bain Jr. (EDGE-Miami): 6-foot-3, 270 pounds, 4.75-4.84-second 40-yard time, 405-pound bench<\/p>\n
Additionally, Texas Tech EDGE David Bailey, Auburn EDGE Keldric Faulk, Texas A&M EDGE Cashius Howell, Clemson IDL Peter Woods, and two other Buckeyes, LB Sonny Styles and S Caleb Downs, are first-round names to watch during the process. <\/p>\n
Let us not forget about the offense. <\/p>\n
While Miami OT Francis Mauigoa is projected as a top-five pick \u2014 the brother of current Jets\u2019 linebacker Kiko Mauigoa \u2014 he\u2019s not receiving much love at No. 2 for obvious reasons (the presence of Olu Fashanu and Armand Membou). The wide receiver position is a completely different story. <\/p>\n
Ohio State\u2019s Carnell Tate leads the way as a prime weapon for the Jets at No. 2. Whether he can compete with the defenders on the list is something that remains to be seen. USC\u2019s Makai Lemon, Washington\u2019s Denzel Boston, Texas A&M\u2019s Kevin Conception, and Arizona State\u2019s Jordyn Tyson are the receivers projected as Round 1 selections. <\/p>\n
Trenches-out still?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s never as simple as one thought or motto when making a draft pick. Yet, abiding by a general rule of thumb when all things are equal is perfectly acceptable. <\/p>\n
When two or three players (at the same position) are battling it out at No. 2, it\u2019s wise to take the prospect who can be a monster in the open field. As sacrosanct as that feels to the old-school minds who firmly believe in the \u201ctrenches first\u201d philosophy, it\u2019s just the way the game is played today. <\/p>\n
Make no mistake about it: The trenches still matter in a tremendous fashion. The old theory that a trench player\u2019s production does more to lift the skilled positions than the skilled positions do to lift the trenches still holds true. <\/p>\n
However, it\u2019s important to recognize how that balance has shifted over the years. While the trenches-out theory could still be more valuable, it doesn\u2019t carry the same weight it used to. <\/p>\n
I mean, just think of it from a Jets fan\u2019s perspective. For the first time in what felt like forever, the 2025 Jets actually deployed a competent offensive line. Competent is selling it short, in reality. <\/p>\n
New York\u2019s offensive line remained consistent all season. <\/p>\n
Incredibly, Tanner Engstrand\u2019s big heavies were the only offensive line to start all 17 games this past season. Think about that; it\u2019s fantastical, especially when considering how brutal the Jets\u2019 offensive line has been since the Nick Mangold-D\u2019Brickashaw Ferguson days. <\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the Jets finished with one of the worst offenses in the NFL again (29th in total offense, averaging just 263.6 yards per game). They also finished 10th in rushing with 123.3 yards per game, and this ranking dropped significantly in the last quarter of the season. For most of the year, the unit was top five. <\/p>\n
Again, things have changed. <\/p>\n
Reese is an open-field monster<\/p>\n
Quarterback is, of course, critical. There\u2019s little need to go into that angle, as the living, breathing football world realizes this already. Where many get lost is in the belief that skilled players are still as \u201cplug-and-play\u201d as they used to be.<\/p>\n
Arvell Reese is an EDGE player at the NFL level, similar to Rueben Bain Jr. Yet, the two couldn\u2019t be more different as players. <\/p>\n
Reese is the EDGE who can also play second-level linebacker. Similar to Penn State\u2019s Micah Parsons, Ohio State regularly played him on the second level, but also used him at EDGE when necessary. <\/p>\n
Bain is a bigger EDGE who lacks the explosiveness to dominate in space. At 270 pounds, and with a projected 4.75-4.84-second 40-time at the NFL Scouting Combine, he\u2019s just not that dude. <\/p>\n
Hey, that\u2019s not the end of the world. Instead, the team drafting him just needs to understand this. As opposed to relying on him in space, his squad must realize he\u2019s more suited for crashes and inside steps. <\/p>\n
But is he big enough for that routine work? That, along with his rumored (shorter) arm length, which matters greatly in the NFL when shedding those death grips from offensive linemen, clouds his future a bit. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s what makes the Reese vs. Bain argument so fascinating. One common argument against Reese centers on his \u201cpositionless\u201d nature, yet Bain\u2019s measurables make him even more positionless. <\/p>\n
He\u2019s sort of a \u201ctweener\u201d in a sense. Yes, he projects well against the run at the NFL level, but his lack of quickness in short areas immediately hampers a defensive unit when a smart offensive play-caller stretches him to the outside. On the inside, he might not be big enough to thrive. <\/p>\n
To most coaches, he\u2019s suited as a 3-4 defensive end (an interior defensive line position). That idea becomes tougher to swallow thanks to the NFL\u2019s 11-personnel-dominant tendencies, which make it harder to play odd fronts.<\/p>\n
Reese, on the other hand, is positionless in the positive sense (per the modern NFL).<\/p>\n
Not only does he have the sideline-to-sideline speed to play second-level backer, but he can also impact the game while playing in space when the offense dares to stretch him to the sideline. That means Jets fans won\u2019t have to worry about Micheal Clemons-esque chasedowns via jet-motion, zone-reads, and WR screens. <\/p>\n
Better yet, his strength is freakish, and his mindset is ferocious. Rarely does a prospect translate such nastiness on tape. Bain has a lot of the same attributes, but Reese\u2019s intangibles show whether he\u2019s rushing the passer from the edge or breaking down to make a 1v1 open-field tackle. <\/p>\n
In this league, the way this sport is played today, the New York Jets would be wise to snatch up the prospect who has a chance to be an open-field monster \u2014 on top of doing his usual frightening pass-rush thing. <\/p>\n
If it were 2010, Rueben Bain Jr. might have had the advantage. In 2026, it\u2019s Arvell Reese. <\/p>\n
Either way, don\u2019t worry: The film breakdowns for all of these guys are coming to Jets X-Factor soon. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ah, yes, it\u2019s that very special time of year for New York Jets fans \u2014\u00a0the season of personnel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":712808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[2222,331,4155,198,7,3228,226,1917,255,2321,2097,6,15,6531,7823,71731,3234],"class_list":{"0":"post-712807","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-arvell-reese","9":"tag-college-football","10":"tag-david-bailey","11":"tag-featured","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-free-content","14":"tag-jets","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-jets","17":"tag-newyork","18":"tag-newyorkjets","19":"tag-nfl","20":"tag-nfl-draft","21":"tag-ny-jets-column","22":"tag-ny-jets-image","23":"tag-rueben-bain","24":"tag-standard"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115975831480692288","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/712808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}