2026 NFL Rookie Linebacker Rankings: Arvell Reese Leads a Class That Never Leaves the Field
Ranking the 2026 rookie linebackers by Rookie Impact Score. Arvell Reese leads, Jacob Rodriguez and Anthony Hill crash the party, and David Bailey still owns the redraft.
If you want to know what this rookie class is about, start in the middle of the defense. Six of the top 10 players in our Rookie Impact Score are linebackers, and six of the first 18 picks in the live 2026 NFL redraft are too. Week 8 is underway (Thursday's Packers-Panthers game is already counted), and on-field production now makes up about 63% of every player's redraft score. The rest is still the draft-slot prior, which matters for the guys who went late.
So let's rank them. The order below is by Rookie Impact Score, which is built only from what they've done this season, through Week 8.
The top seven
| Rank | Player | Team | Orig. pick | Redraft slot | Impact score | Season so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arvell Reese | NYG | 5 | 2 | 96.4 | 55 tkl, 1.5 sk, 5 TFL, 1 INT, 4 PD |
| 2 | Jacob Rodriguez | MIA | 43 | 11 | 95.8 | 60 tkl, 3 TFL, 1 INT, 1 PD |
| 3 | Sonny Styles | WAS | 7 | 3 | 93.9 | 44 tkl, 1 sk, 3 TFL, 1 INT, 4 PD, 1 FF |
| 4 | Anthony Hill | TEN | 60 | 13 | 93.8 | 68 tkl, 1 TFL, 3 PD, 1 FF |
| 5 | David Bailey | NYJ | 2 | 1 | 91.9 | 34 tkl, 5.5 sk, 7 TFL, 1 PD, 3 FF |
| 6 | Josiah Trotter | TB | 46 | 18 | 89.1 | 61 tkl, 1 sk, 3 TFL, 1 INT, 3 PD, 1 TD |
| 7 | Kendal Daniels | ATL | 134 | Outside top 30 | 84.1 | 39 tkl, 1 sk, 4 TFL, 1 INT, 2 PD |
1. Arvell Reese, Giants
Arvell Reese is the best rookie in football by our impact number, if only barely. He's played 99.3% of New York's defensive snaps in seven games, and he does a little of everything: 55 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, an interception and 4 pass breakups. His performance score of 98 is the highest on the entire 2026 board. The Giants took him fifth. In a redraft he goes second, to the Jets, right behind the one linebacker who still outranks him.
2. Jacob Rodriguez, Dolphins
Nobody on this list has outplayed his draft slot by more than Jacob Rodriguez. Miami took him 43rd, and all he's done is play 99.7% of the snaps and pile up 60 tackles in six games, with 3 TFL and an interception. His performance score is 97.2, second only to Reese. The reason he sits 11th in the redraft and not higher is the prior: a second-round slot still drags on his total (a prior of 32.3 compared with Reese's 71). Keep stacking games like this and that gap keeps shrinking.
3. Sonny Styles, Commanders
Reese's old Ohio State teammate is right there with him. Sonny Styles has 44 tackles, a sack, an interception, 4 pass breakups and a forced fumble in six games for Washington, on 91.9% of the snaps. He was the seventh pick and now goes third in the redraft, to Arizona. He's the most well-rounded stat line in the group.
4. Anthony Hill, Titans
Anthony Hill has not come off the field. Tennessee's 60th pick has played 100% of the defensive snaps and leads every player in the redraft top 30 with 68 tackles. He moved up one more spot this week to No. 13, a 47-spot jump from where he was drafted. The line is light on splash plays (1 TFL, 3 PD, 1 FF), which is the one thing keeping him behind Styles.
5. David Bailey, Jets
Fifth on this list, first on the board. David Bailey is a different kind of linebacker from the four above him. He's a pass rusher, and his 5.5 sacks, 7 TFL and 3 forced fumbles all lead this group. His impact score (91.9) trails the tackle machines partly because he plays a little less, 81% of the snaps. Add in the strongest draft prior in this group (87.5) and his redraft score of 89.7 still holds the No. 1 slot, where the Raiders would take him.
6. Josiah Trotter, Buccaneers
Josiah Trotter went 46th to Tampa Bay and has 61 tackles, a sack, an interception and the only defensive touchdown in this group. He's played 79.8% of the snaps in six games. That's good enough for No. 18 in the redraft, 28 spots above his draft slot.
7. Kendal Daniels, Falcons
Here's the late-round name to know. Kendal Daniels went 134th and has an 84.1 impact score with 39 tackles, 4 TFL, a sack and an interception, all while playing only 61.3% of Atlanta's snaps. More playing time would push him a lot higher.
Performance, without the draft slot
Strip out the April prior and just look at production. This is each linebacker's performance score on the redraft board:
Four of the six are at 94.8 or better, and two of those four (Rodriguez and Hill) went in the second round or later.
One deep sleeper
Atlanta has a second late-round linebacker climbing. Harold Perkins went 215th and is the biggest riser on the whole board compared with his draft slot, up 147 spots to No. 68. He has 31 tackles on 54.4% of the snaps. That's not a starter's workload yet, but it's a lot more than anyone expected from pick 215.
The order is still moving every week, so check the live 2026 NFL redraft and the rookie rankings after Sunday's games.
The 2026 NFL redraft re-sorts every morning with the latest games.