Racking Up Sacks in Bunches, Seahawks DT Jarran Reed Finding His Groove
Speaking with reporters for the final time following a Divisional Round loss to the Packers at Lambeau Field last January, it didn't take long for Seahawks coach Pete Carroll to field a question about Jarran Reed's future with the team.
Just one year earlier, Reed had shed his previous label as a two-down run stuffer by breaking out with 10.5 sacks and 24 quarterback hits. Entering the final year of his rookie contract, he had hoped to come close to replicating that pass rushing production to break the bank with a multi-year deal.
Unfortunately for Reed, the veteran defensive tackle endured a highly disappointing 2019 campaign on and off the field, serving a six-game suspension and yielding just 2.0 sacks and eight quarterback hits in 10 starts. His pedestrian play continued into the postseason, as he posted just three tackles and one quarterback hit in two games.
While Carroll admitted Reed wasn't able to reach expectations "numbers wise," he quickly came to the defense of the fifth-year defender, indicating the struggles of Seattle's defensive line as a whole in the pass rushing department impacted his ability to get to the quarterback.
“He still a really good football player and means a lot to this team and really tough and terrific all-around player," Carroll said at the time. "Because he’s an inside guy and plays like he plays, he needs the support around him to open up the rush lanes and things like that. We weren’t able to help him enough.”
Carroll took things one step further at the NFL Scouting Combine in late February, emphasizing that Reed hadn't fallen off a cliff in 2019 despite diminished sack and quarterback hit totals.
"I'm not going that way at all," Carroll explained. "When you go back and watch his film that we've been through and watch all the attempts at making sacks and the opportunities that were there, right in front of him, you know, he had six, probably five or six plays were he could have made a clean sack and it got away from him for one reason or another. That changes everything. He missed six games, he could have had five or six sacks anyway, easily."
Backing up Carroll's claims statistically, Reed didn't have much help pursuing opposing quarterbacks in 2019. While Frank Clark, who the Seahawks traded prior to the NFL draft, produced 8.0 sacks and played a starring role in the Chiefs run to a Super Bowl title, his replacements in Jadeveon Clowney and Ezekiel Ansah combined to register just 5.5 sacks between them. Seattle finished as a team with 28.0 sacks, tied for second-fewest in the NFL.
Believing Reed's 2019 season to be an aberration, the Seahawks re-signed him to a two-year, $23 million deal shortly after free agency opened in March. For the 2020 season, he would earn $9.35 million.
Through the first seven games of the 2020 season, Seattle's decision to re-sign Reed didn't necessarily look like a strong investment. While he started all seven games and the team opened with a 6-1 record, he generated just one sack and two quarterback hits during that span.
But as had been the case in the season prior, Reed wasn't getting much support from the rest of the defensive line. Following a Week 8 win over the 49ers, safety Jamal Adams still was tied for the team lead with 2.0 sacks and he hadn't even played in the past four games due to a groin injury. Benson Mayowa was the only other player on the roster with 2.0 sacks and the Seahawks had just 12.0 sacks combined at that time.
Luckily for Reed, general manager John Schneider knew after the Seahawks failed to generate a single quarterback hit on Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray in a Week 7 loss that the team had to make a move. With the deal coming together quickly, he shipped center B.J. Finney and a seventh-round pick to the Bengals for disgruntled defensive end Carlos Dunlap, instantly adding a proven edge rusher to the mix.
Once Dunlap entered the lineup in Week 9 against the Bills, it's not a coincidence that everyone else on the Seahawks' defensive line started performing at a far higher level. Though they gave up 44 points in that game, the defense amassed a season-high 7.0 sacks, led by Reed's impressive 2.5 sack performance.
Since that point, with Dunlap doing his part contributing 5.0 sacks and 12 quarterback hits in seven games, Reed has been rejuvenated and finally rediscovered his 2018 form. In the past eight games, the former Alabama standout has been dominant from the interior, racking up 6.0 sacks and 12 quarterback hits.
"He's been a big factor and it's not just the rushes he brings, it's really the breakdown of the pocket for the other guys," Carroll said about Dunlap's impact on other Seahawks. "J. Reed has had a really good run from that and a lot of the responsibility can be put back on what Carlos is bringing."
Analyzing his play a step further, according to Pro Football Focus, Reed has recorded 24 quarterback pressures in the past eight games. He's been especially disruptive in the past two games against Washington and Los Angeles, pressuring Dwayne Haskins and Jared Goff a combined 11 times while producing a pair of sacks and four quarterback hits.
In comparison, Reed had only 12 quarterback pressures in Seattle's first seven games and didn't have a single game with more than three. The Dunlap effect has been visible and obvious, making Carroll's offseason comments look all the wiser.
Earlier in the season, given his lack of pass rushing numbers, the Seahawks looked poised to move on from Reed after this season. Along with an $8.075 million base salary, he's due a $5 million signing bonus and carries an expensive $13.5 million cap hit in 2021.
But after seeing Reed find his groove following Dunlap's arrival, the 28-year old remains a cornerstone in Seattle's future defensive plans. Alongside rising star Poona Ford, who will be a restricted free agent this spring, the team will have one of the best all-around one-two punches at defensive tackle in the NFL.
After seeing Reed can indeed still be a weapon collapsing the pocket and bringing down quarterbacks with the right support around him, Carroll, Schneider, and the Seahawks front office shouldn't just want to keep him. A contract extension to lower his cap number next year and keep him in the fold for the foreseeable future should be a top priority this offseason.
