Utes on the rise: Linebacker Karene Reid

With the 2021 Utah Football season now fully in the rearview mirror and spring ball just around the corner, it's time to reflect and review on the notable performances from the season. While players like Cameron Rising, Tavion Thomas, Devin Lloyd and Nephi Sewell made most of the big plays and helped lead the team to their first ever Pac-12 Championship, there were a handful of younger players who made notable contributions and are certainly players on the rise.

The following is a recap and analysis of freshman linebacker Karene Reid, his 2021 contributions, and what potential may lie in store.

Reid’s path to Utah wasn’t your typical high school to college journey. After being significantly overlooked and an opportunity with Utah State falling through, Reid found himself with the Utes this last spring and quickly made the most of it.

Not only did he turn a fair amount of heads by leading the spring game with six total tackles, but Reid took the collegiate gridiron by storm as he led the Utes defense against Washington State in his first-ever start. Against the Cougars, he posted 15 total tackles, one of which was a loss for six-yards in addition to a timely and critical interception.

#Pac12FB Freshman of the Week, presented by @Nextiva: Karene Reid. 🙌

Full release ➡️ https://t.co/ndWqwHj6Aj #GoUtes | @Utah_Football pic.twitter.com/5z0tA6e5zd
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) September 27, 2021

As the season continued, Reid finished with 45 total tackles in 10 games for eighth most on the team. From those tackles he strung together notable performances that included three critical stops in the fourth quarter against ASU, nine stops against UCLA and finished the season with five-plus tackles in four contests.

For his efforts, Reid was the Pac-12 Freshman for the week of September 27, recorded the most tackles in a single game by a true freshman since 2005 and was one of only four freshmen nationally to produce as many tackles in their first career game with a tackle.

Reid proved from the beginning that he can play at this level. To lead his team with double-digit stops in his first career start, especially with a player like Devin Lloyd on his squad shows that this kid can play. Similar to Lloyd, Reid possesses that sixth-sense ability to predict how the play is developing and find himself close to or on the end of a stop.

As for his future contributions, Reid certainly poses as a potential candidate to fill the shoes of Nephi Sewell and Devin Lloyd who are taking their talents to the next level. While the linebacker room is certainly overflowing with talent and the competition continues to become more fierce, it would come as no surprise to see Reid either starting or heavily contributing as a staple of the defense in 2022.

Facebook - @UtahSportsIllustrated

Twitter - @SI_Utah

Instagram - @SI_Utah