The Kansas City Chiefs have been auditioning edge rushers in their pre-draft visits, and Reese is back in the picture.
The Kansas City Chiefs have been bringing in edge rushers, receivers and linemen in for pre-draft visits, and right now the smart money’s on the Chiefs adding a big-time edge rusher with one of their two first-round picks next week.
But the big question now is which pass rusher? David Bailey of Texas Tech has jumped the line at this position, to the point where he’s now next up to be drafted after quarterback Fernando Mendoza gets selected by the Las Vegas Raiders.
This could represent a unique opportunity for Kansas City. Their latest visit at this position was with Rueben Bain Jr., but that visit came with the media revelation that Bain was the driver in a fatal vehicle accident back in 2024.
That could sour the Chiefs on Bain given the upcoming trial of receiver Rashee Rice for his street-racing incident, and it could also send Kansas City back to another candidate who was once considered a lock to be the second pass rusher selected in the draft: Arvell Reese of Ohio State.
The Chiefs have already had Reese in for a visit. He has “perhaps the biggest upside” of all the edge rushers, according to Sam Robinson of ProFootballRumors.com, and his intel had the New York Jets considering the possibility that “Reese’s developmental track is not for them.”
It could be for the Chiefs, though. They have a chance to take a rare big swing for a top draft pick, and Robinson also noted that Reese is “the most unique” player from this group.
Why? Because Reese mostly played linebacker at Ohio State last season, so he only logged 97 snaps at the edge position, according to Ben Levine from the same outlet. But Reese still managed to rank seventh in FBS Division I pressure rate at 18.5 percent, and he’s expressed a preference to work as a pass-rusher in the NFL.
The comps being thrown around here include names like Micah Parsons and Abdul Carter, and while Carter isn’t exactly an ideal comp, the point is that the Chiefs could get a player who could take some of the heat off of tackle Chris Jones while unlocking the sack potential of end George Karlaftis. That’s a win-win-win possibility for the Chiefs, provided they’re willing to play the guessing game as to where Reese will land.
He’s already done over a half-dozen visits to date, and this will be a fascinating game of draft poker next week when teams with top ten picks take to the podium.