The New York Jets have the No. 2 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, and Matt Severance breaks down some of their options
By Matt Severance Apr 3, 2026 at 9:29 am ET • 4 min read
Getty Images Now that we are into April, I will start looking at several teams' 2026 NFL Draft odds and begin with the New York Jets, who are set to pick No. 2 overall in the first round on April 23 in Pittsburgh. We should get more and more props by the day at the various sportsbooks, but DraftKings already has several active.
One prop I will use a lot over the three-plus weeks is the position of the player a team picks first in the draft, no matter where that pick might sit. I'm not doing a Las Vegas Raiders draft preview because everyone knows they are taking Indiana quarterback and 2025 Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza at No. 1. He's -20000 to be the choice.
There is no favored position prop for the Raiders or for the Jets because it's so widely assumed that Gang Green will take a pass-rusher. And the clear DraftKings favorite to go second overall currently is Ohio State pass-rusher Arvell Reese at -220, with Texas Tech pass-rusher David Bailey at +310 and no other options for the No. 2 pick below +1300.
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Despite adding the likes of Joseph Ossai and Kingsley Enagbare in free agency, pass rush is still a priority for a Jets club that had just 26 sacks last season, 31st in the league. At BetMGM, 29% of money on the No. 2 overall pick prop is on Reese, by far the most of any player. At that site, he opened +200 and is now -280.
Last year as a junior, Reese was a consensus All-American and won the Big Ten's Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year Award, among many honors. Reese had 69 tackles for the Buckeyes, with 10.0 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, five quarterback hurries and two pass break-ups. Reese played 51% of his defensive snaps as an outside linebacker after only 2% of the time in 2024. At 6-foot-4, 241 pounds and with a 4.46-second 40-yard dash speed, Reese has been compared to All-Pro Micah Parsons.
Reese would become the first off-ball linebacker drafted in the top 3 since 2000, when Penn State's LaVar Arrington went No. 2 overall to Washington. The only off-ball linebacker drafted in the top five in the past 15 years was Devin White at No. 5 overall in 2019 to Tampa Bay. Reese is given an Over/Under draft position of 2.5, with the Under the same price as him going second. The Over is +165, and likely the Arizona Cardinals (they are next among previews) would snap him up at No. 3 if still on the board.
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Nearly every CBS Sports mock draft has Reese going second, and he's the No. 3 overall prospect on the Big Board. Ohio State could become the first school with two linebackers selected in the top 10 of the draft all-time, as Sonny Styles is ranked as the No. 10 overall prospect via CBS Sports. He's +1100 to be the second choice and the +190 favorite to go fifth overall. That spot is currently held by the New York Giants.
The Jets have their highest pick since choosing quarterback Zach Wilson at No. 2 overall in 2021. Oopsie. The team's other second overall picks in the common draft era: Lam Jones (1980) and Blair Thomas (1990). Neither had a great career in the NFL, but I imagine that Reese would open as the Defensive Rookie of the Year favorite.
New York could badly use a quarterback, but there just isn't one worthy of going second. Alabama's Ty Simpson is considered the second-best QB prospect in this draft but not a top 10 guy. His O/U draft spot is 24.5 and that he chosen by the Jets is a +145 second-favorite to Arizona at +125. Gang Green also has the No. 16 pick, so that could be a spot for Simpson.
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Although, apparently the team already has its Super Bowl-winning quarterback on the roster in journeyman Geno Smith in his second stint with the franchise. New York got him from the Raiders for a late-round pick swap. The 35-year-old Smith is coming off his worst statistical season since 2014, when he was a second-year starter for the Jets, as he threw a league-high 17 picks in 2025 and was benched by the NFL's worst team in Las Vegas.
Yet here is what embattled second-year coach Aaron Glenn said of Smith at the NFL's annual meeting earlier this week: "I just feel like he's the guy that's going to lead us to the promised land."
Uh, the Jets have a 2026 win total of just 5.5 and are +750 to finish with the worst mark. The good news is that the 2027 QB class is expected to be truly stacked and New York currently holds three first-round picks in that draft. Hello Arch Manning.
Picks: Jets take Reese at No. 2, pass on Simpson in Round 1.
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