When the Washington Commanders host the New York Giants on Sunday, keep an eye on No. 52. There is a striking parallel between the two teams: Both have a first-round rookie linebacker from Ohio State who wears the same number as the other. Giants standout Arvell Reese and burgeoning Commanders star Sonny Styles became the first college linebacker teammates to be selected in the top 10 of the same NFL Draft when they flew off the board in April.
In Week 5, they go head-to-head. At the draft, the Giants were in the enviable position of having both Reese and Styles available to them at pick No. 5. There was immense debate prior to draft night about which player New York should select if both were up for grabs.
After the event, a major question was whether they took the right one. In the end, there might not have been a wrong answer. That the Giants are off to a 3-1 start despite being without quarterback Jaxson Dart for nearly three full games is largely a credit to Reese and the defense.
New York is a top-10 team in yards and points allowed through Week 4, and Reese is the engine that powers the unit. Not only does he pace the team with 33 tackles, but he also leads the entire league in solo stops with 26. Reese is also fresh off the best game of his young career: a nine-tackle effort with one tackle for loss in a 36-24 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
The NFL recognized him as the Week 4 Rookie of the Week after he became the fifth Giants rookie with three passes defended and an interception in one game. .@Giants LB Arvell Reese is the Week 4 @Pepsi Rookie of the Week! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/rPL7zPszYQ The production is already game-changing. It is everything the Giants could have asked for when they used their first of two first-round picks on a linebacker. Reese's utility goes well beyond the numbers, though.
His versatility proved to be a major asset across four games for a Giants defense that lost its top edge rusher, Brian Burns, for the season with a torn ACL. Reese's pass-rushing ability from the off-ball linebacker spot will be crucial the rest of the year as the Giants work to overcome the absence of Burns, who last year amassed 16.5 sacks in an All-Pro campaign. Reese is a more natural pass-rusher than Styles, which is an obvious asset, but at the draft, there was hesitation over whether he was the better pick.
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