NFL Draft 2026: Ohio State has 3 defenders who are worth top-10 picks, positional value be damned

The top of the 2026 NFL Draft will feature a trio of defenders from the same school with Ohio State, as usual, pumping high end talent into the NFL. Arvell Reese, Caleb Downs and Sonny Styles led one of the elite defenses in college football this year, proving each week why they’re bonafide NFL talents.

Somehow, the Buckeyes couldn’t generate enough offense to win a game in the postseason, but defense held up its end of the bargain for the vast majority of the season thanks to those three players. While two linebackers and a safety going within the top 10 picks of the draft might seem like a bit of a deviation from previous years when position value was a point of focus, it speaks to the incredible cornerstone talent that Reese, Downs and Styles potentially have (and also the rest of the draft class).

Caleb Downs might be best player in this class regardless of position

Downs has been the biggest name on the defense, fulfilling the expectations set in front of him as one of the most hyped safety recruits in recent memory — and being the younger brother of Colts wide receiver Josh Downs.

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Upon arriving at Alabama as a freshman defensive back, he immediately earned a starting role in Nick Saban’s defense and was one of the truly elite defenders in the country. Even on a defense that featured first-round picks in Jihaad Campbell, Terrion Arnold and Jihaad Campbell,  Downs led the team with 107 total tackles, 70 solo tackles and chipped in 3.5 tackles for loss and two interceptions. Following Saban’s retirement, he picked up his bags and headed to Columbus, where he continued to star for the Buckeyes.

Downs spent his junior year playing for another former NFL defensive mind in Matt Patricia, cementing his status among the best players available in this year’s draft. Again, on a defense filled with future NFL players, Downs was a key force for the Buckeyes and even finished ninth in the Heisman voting, a rare feat for a safety. There isn’t any safety alignment that he can’t play at the next level, but some of his best tape comes when he plays in the box, slot or as an overhang player in that area of the field. His play is reminiscent of great downhill safeties of the past like Bob Sanders or even Troy Polamalu. The established floor is already very high for Downs, which sets a high ceiling once he gets into the swing of the league.

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While he isn’t a super elite athlete for the position, he’s plenty fast enough and has elite strength that allows him to play near the line of scrimmage. This is where he can make the fastest immediate impact in the NFL because he already has a high-level ability to finish plays. He also performs well in man coverage from the slot, adding more versatility as a defender in that area of the field.

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Downs has been in the spotlight for so long that there’s not much left to be said about him. He’s lived up to the hype so far and has a clean projection as far as role and impact in the NFL. He likely won’t be the first player selected in the draft this year because of his position, but he has as good a chance as anyone to have the best career out of the players in this class.

Arvell Reese is best attacking offensive fronts, but there’s more to him than that

The two players who really burst onto the scene this past season are Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles, who may both wind up top-five picks — and for good damn reason.

For linebackers to be considered at the top of the draft, they have to be extraordinary playmakers, which Reese and Styles most certainly are. Both possess elite physical traits that allowed them to line up all over Ohio State’s defense. While they should both be classified as linebackers, Styles handled true off-ball responsibilities a bit more than Reese, who projects as someone with pass rush ability for the next level.

Reese’s ability to play on the edge is incredibly impressive, showing a rare ability to tackle in space. His balance for a 240-pound linebacker is elite and he shined as a 3-4 style standup linebacker on the edge.

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— 22 Men (@22InConcert) April 9, 2026

Unsurprisingly, Reese is at his absolute best when he’s moving forward as a detonator of opposing offenses. When he did play a traditional linebacker role, Reese again showed off an incredible ability to play against bigger offensive linemen in the box and generally did a phenomenal job filling his run fits within the structure of Ohio State’s defense. Defenders that can generate negative plays without sacrificing the integrity of the defensive play call or leave teammates out to dry with poor fits are invaluable. Reese makes it look easy.

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As a pure pass rusher, Reese still has work to do in terms of having a consistent pass rush plan and executing moves off the edge. Playing so many spots within the front seven is going to leave some technical holes. However, he’s still useful as a pass rusher and an effective blitzer with the strength to rush against guards and speed to put quarterbacks under duress. A creative defensive coordinator will be able to get early production out of him by letting him wreak havoc as a rusher from different alignments.

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While Reese is going to make his money as an attacker of offensive fronts, he’s a capable defender in pass coverage, showing off the range and smarts to be a hammer in zone coverage and effective in certain man coverage situations. This is another part of his game that gives him true flexibility in regards to what he does moving forward. This isn’t just a jack-of-all-trades type of player, he’s genuinely great in so many key facets of the game.

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It doesn’t really matter what defense a team is running, Reese can find a fit within any scheme. There’s a real chance that he can end up as better and more impactful player in the pros with a bit more of a defined role than the “everyman” he played in college.

Sonny Styles projects to be elite at a position that doesn’t have elite players anymore

Styles, meanwhile, has a more clear role moving forward to the NFL as an every-down off-ball linebacker with bonafide elite traits and dominant film.

Styles has been a new linebacker convert from safety, eventually working his way to being the man in the middle for Ohio State’s defense. His improvement over the last two years shows that he’s still just scratching the surface of what he can do as a true middle linebacker. By the end of last season, Styles was arguably the best player on the defense and it was clear the game was really slowing down for him. At 6-foot-5 and 244 pounds, his speed in the middle of the field is rare and he’s quickly grown accustomed to the brawl with offenses every time the ball is snapped.

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Styles’ athleticism, which he showed at the combine with a blazing 4.46 40-yard dash time, jumps off the screen. Even in short areas, he’s just too quick for offensive linemen to get a hand on sometimes, allowing him to penetrate the line of scrimmage in a hurry. That explosiveness also shows up in blitz looks where he can really overwhelm blockers with the speed in a bigger frame. He can be just as much of a force and headache for offenses as Reese, but it comes packaged in a different form.

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With his safety background plus the size and speed, Styles is a huge weapon in coverage as well. He has the speed to match with slot wide receivers when asked and the size to be a real nuisance to tight ends. Styles was consistently the MIKE linebacker when Ohio State played fronts with five men on the line of scrimmage, and he was forced to learn the position in a big way there. He isn’t perfect — there are times when the power of some offensive linemen overwhelms him and it’s apparent that he’s still growing into his body and the physicality of the position. However, he doesn’t shy away from contact and clearly still has a lot of upside in that regard.

In an NFL that is almost entirely lacking elite off-ball linebacker talent, Styles’ projection becomes a bit more interesting. Normally, inside linebackers aren’t valued at the top of the draft, but if Styles is projected to become an elite player at a position that doesn’t have elite players anymore, does his rarity make him more valuable? On the flip side, there are so many quality wide receivers now, teams don’t need to pick one in the first round to find quality starters that can change an offense.

All of these Buckeyes on one defense is a wild consolidation of talent in the NIL era — and it doesn’t even get to the other first-round prospect on this defense, Kayden McDonald. McDonald often made life easier for the other three as an extraordinarily productive nose tackle with a whopping 65 tackles last season. Ohio State also has later-round defenders and, as always, talented underclassmen who will declare for the draft in the near future.

How this team failed to win a playoff game is a bit puzzling, but the nucleus of defensive players should be relevant in the NFL for years to come. They worked well in tandem, but individual talent levels of their “big three” will make them worth the early draft investments it’ll take to get them.