Arvell Reese is only five games into his NFL career, and the Giants already have a rookie making a real Defensive Rookie of the Year argument.
The No. 5 overall pick leads New York in tackles with 42, has grabbed his first NFL interception, logged his first sack, and picked up PFF’s Rookie and Defensive Player of the Week honors along the way. For a player drafted that high, this is not a slow build. Reese has arrived fast and has been on the field from the start as a full-time starter.
That kind of production has helped power a Giants defense carrying a 3-1-1 team sitting atop the NFC East. Reese has become the young centerpiece of that unit, and the early returns make New York look smart for spending premium draft capital on an off-ball linebacker.
The tackle count tells the story first. Reese has 28 solo tackles among his 42 total, more than any other Giant through five games.
He opened with 5 tackles against Dallas and 7 at the Rams, then blew up for 12 against Tennessee in Week 3. Since then, he has stayed in attack mode rather than fading after the early burst.
Week 4 against Arizona was the performance that really put him on the map. Reese posted a 90.5 PFF grade, the best combination of grade and production of any defender in the league that week, according to PFF.
He finished with 9 solo tackles, a tackle for loss, three pass breakups and his first career interception. PFF named him its Rookie and Defensive Player of the Week, and he also took home Pepsi Rookie of the Week honors from the league.
“He was all over the field again,” Harbaugh said after the Arizona game, adding that the rookie “has really taken off,” per Giants.com.
Week 5 kept the momentum rolling. Reese picked up his first career sack at Washington, another sign that his game goes beyond clean-up tackling. He can cover, blitz and work against the run, which is why the Giants have trusted him with so much responsibility so quickly.
Defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson was just as direct in his evaluation. “He’s just a natural linebacker,” Wilson said of Reese, calling the rookie “a force of nature when he’s on the football field,” per Yahoo Sports. Wilson also pointed to the rapid growth, saying that “game four of his rookie year, you see the maturation already,” and adding that the staff expects Reese “to keep getting better and better.”
That trust matters even more with edge rusher Brian Burns out injured. The Giants have had to find different ways to create pressure, and Reese’s range from the second level has become a real part of that solution. His pressure against Jacoby Brissett in Week 4 helped set up the Greg Newsome II interception, and the sack in Washington added another piece to the resume.
For New York, the front-office math looks good too. The Giants used the No. 5 pick on Reese and gave him a starting job immediately, and five games later he is not just holding his own. He is leading the team in tackles and anchoring a defense keeping a first-place team in the race.
Off-ball linebackers do not often come with this kind of draft price tag, but Reese is already making the investment look worthwhile on a rookie contract. Five games in, he looks less like a project and more like the kind of player a defense can be built around for a long time.
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