The 2026 NFL Draft has officially come and gone. Over the last three days in Pittsburgh, 257 young players found out where their NFL journey will begin—from Indiana quarterback Fernando Medoza to the Las Vegas Raiders at No. 1 overall to this year's "Mr. Irrelevant" in Buffalo linebacker Red Murdock to the Denver Broncos.
A defensive lineman may not have been the No. 1 overall pick this year, ala Travon Walker in 2022 or Myles Garrett in 2017. But the defensive front was well represented. Texas Tech edge rusher David Bailey went second overall to the New York Jets. Another edge rusher (maybe) went in the top-five in Ohio State's Arvell Reese. All told, eight defensive linemen came off the board on the draft's first day. By Pick No. 50, 11 edge rushers had been drafted.
For many, it was a time of elation—Reese and Bailey were all smiles. For others, not so much—after Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. fell to No. 15 overall, he hit the stage like someone who looked ready to hit someone with his teeny-tiny T-Rex arms.
Joking aside, he's going to be a problem for opponents.
For IDP managers, the draft is an important part of rookie valuation. Talent is king on both sides of the ball, but even more so than on offense, defensive fantasy success is about location, location, location. The right landing spot can be the difference between short-term stardom and long-term lamenting.
If only everyone landed in the right spot. But that's not how the draft works, so at this point we have to take things for what they are and determine the draft's effect on this year's top D-Linemen.
EDGE David Bailey, New York Jets
Round 1, Pick No. 2
What They Are Saying
"I'll say this, both of those guys, because we're talking about those two guys, are really good players. Listen, Arvell (Reese) is going to have a really good career in this league, but when you just continue to evaluate those guys, we just felt like Bailey fit us better when it comes to he's a 6'4″, 255-pound man with 34-inch arms that has a ton of production in college. Listen, we looked at all those things, and he fits us." – Jets Head Coach Aaron Glenn
What It Means
It's not an upset that Bailey went first—he's a more NFL-ready pass-rusher than Reese and had 14.5 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss last year at Texas Tech. The supporting cast around Bailey isn't great, and he might not have Reese's IDP ceiling. But he's the highest-ranked rookie DL in both dynasties and redrafts and could be in the lower-end DL2 conversation in 2026.
EDGE Arvell Reese, New York Giants
Round 1, Pick No. 5
What They Are Saying
"Arvell is a versatile player, and we're going to play him at inside backer, Will linebacker. Our defense is pretty flexible, position-less, you might call it. We'll have an opportunity to move those guys around. But he'll line up next to Tremaine, and he'll be in the A gap, the B gap, the C gap, the D gap, off the edge. He'll be moving around with all of our guys. Abdul and Brian and Kayvon and Tremaine." – Giants Head Coach John Harbaugh
What It Means
This is eerily similar to what the Dallas Cowboys said about Micah Parsons in 2021, before moving him to edge rusher full-time later that season. If Reese is a full-time player who can flirt with 100 tackles and add 6-8 sacks, he'd break IDP leagues where he has positional eligibility as a defensive end. If he's a part-timer mired in a "tweener" role with eligibility just as a linebacker, he could barely be rosterable in shallower formats. It's a situation to monitor closely as spring turns to summer.
EDGE Rueben Bain Jr., Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Round 1, Pick No. 15
What They Are Saying
"Well, I think [when] you add a player like Rueben, and he does what we think he can do, it opens a lot of things up. It makes everyone along the defensive line better when you can have two edge presences. The line, the protections don't slide as much, you have to decide where to slide them [and] it opens things up." – Buccaneers General Manager Jason Licht
What It Means
Short arms or no, Bain was a game-wrecker at times for the Hurricanes last year, with 9.5 sacks and 15 tackles for loss. He's a gift in the middle of Round 1 for a Buccaneers team that badly needed an edge rusher opposite Yaya Diaby. Bain also landed with a coach in Todd Bowles, who can scheme around his shortcomings. He could flirt with top-20 IDP numbers if all goes well, but Bain's best viewed as a DL3 in 2026.
