Film Room: Is Malik Reed Ready To Replace Chubb's Pass-Rush Production For Denver?

This past August, undrafted rookie Malik Reed had a huge preseason for the Denver Broncos, earning himself a spot on the 53-man roster. During the preseason, Reed picked up four sacks (leading the team), and just dominated opposing offensive linemen.

It was a treat to watch because there were no rookie hangups. Reed looked like he had been in the NFL for a few years, and even managed to show off a few moves he learned from Von Miller since arriving in Denver early this past spring.

In this article, I am going to break down his four sacks from the preseason and his first career QB takedown from Week 4 vs. Jacksonville. Reed wins in multiple ways and has shown tremendous improvement since the draft, in which he wasn't selected.

I was high on him during the draft and thought he should have been a fifth-round pick, but that didn’t happen and now he has a chip on his shoulder. Will Reed turn into a star like Chris Harris, Jr., Rod Smith or some of the other high-profile undrafted free agents Denver has had over the years?

If he continues to build on his preseason, it’ll be hard to not think Malik Reed won’t be.

Play 1 vs. Atlanta

Reed is lined up on the bottom of the screen as a wide 9. Atlanta runs a play-action, and Reed is taking a wide arc, which, if it was a run, would’ve left a huge hole for the ball-carrier. That hole was left to CB De’Vante Bausby, allowing Reed to go fully after the quarterback.

The Falcons' tight end was mismatched, and couldn’t hang with the speed from Reed. Reed gets the outside shoulder of the TE and just uses his speed to round the arc and get the sack on the QB.

This is a good sign of the speed that Reed has, but he can’t win with it alone. It was a good start, but there wasn’t any technique really shown from Reed here. Thankfully, there other sacks that he shows the technique.

Play 2 vs. Seattle

You find Reed as the top edge rusher, and this sack is one of his better ones. On the right side, you see DeMarcus Walker and Justin Hollins apply pressure to get the Seahawks' QB to step up in the pocket where Reed is for the sack. Let's focus on Reed.

To set this play up, Reed kept attacking the outside with speed. Pass rushing is a game unto itself where you repeat certain things to set up a move and exploit a tackle. That is what Reed was doing and on this play, he shows what he was setting up, and it was something that was missing from his college tape.

Off the snap, Reed once again goes hard at the edge and the RT oversets and starts to lunge. When Reed sees that, he counter spins back inside and leaves the RT spinning. Because of the pressure from Walker and Hollins, Reed was right there to meet the QB for the sack.

At Nevada, Reed lacked a true counter pass rush move. This often led to him losing reps because his first move didn’t work. His first sack showed the speed, which was always there, but here we see a well-developed counter-spin move that he set up the RT with. Coaches spoke about Reed's development and how quickly he was coming along and we can see the fruits here.

Play 3 vs. Arizona

Here we have another play where Reed is the top edge rusher. Again, he was setting up his rush on the edge and ended up getting the sack after coming inside. To get this sack, we see a common pass-rush move — the 'Von Miller special'.

Reed gets the edge, gets under the tackle’s pads and extends, giving the tackle a push and knocking him off balance. We see plenty of strength from Reed to knock the tackle off so easily. With the RT stumbling backward, Reed just cuts inside and gets the sack.

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Play 4 vs. Arizona

This is another great sack by Reed that really highlights his development. He uses the same technique as the last sack we looked at, but the timing of his shove was impeccable. When he gives the RT a shove, he is bringing his inside foot in as he shuffles his feet. With the leverage, Reed has and the strength to take the RT off of his feet.

Throughout the preseason, Reed showed growth game-to-game. These are only his sacks, but he also showed a lot of progress as a run defender, and doesn’t even include all the pressures he racked up. If he continues to grow at the rate he grew this offseason, Denver could have three great pass rushers this time next year.

Play 5 vs. Jacksonville (Week 4)

At this stage of the Jacksonville game, the Broncos' defense had been struggling and they could really use a boost to try and get the momentum. With Bradley Chubb on the sideline nursing what we later learned was a torn ACL, Reed stepped in to take his place.

Reed long-arms the LT, and keeps him from getting good position for the block. This forces the QB to step up in the pocket, where he does have a slight lane. However, the Broncos brought fellow rookie Justin Hollins on a blitz, and he stunts inside and clogs this lane.

Not only does Hollins keep Gardner Minshew from stepping up, but DeMarcus Walker shuts down any attempt to escape right, while Dre'Mont Jones forces the QB to step back in the pocket, but he stumbles as he collides with the center.

Reed, with his long-arm of the LT, was able to get off cleanly as soon as Minshew started to climb the pocket. He originally was going to chase Minshew down, if he escaped through the lane, but as mentioned, is closed by his teammates. Reed is able to finish this up with a quick change-of-direction, wrapping up the QB for the sack.

It wasn't just Reed who played this snap extremely well. This sack was the work of the young guys up front with three rookies and Walker all playing integral parts in getting Minshew to the ground.

Bottom Line

Malik Reed is showing that he has taken to Miller's mentorship and putting it into practice. He still has a lot of growing left to do, especially as a run defender, but the rookie is making his presence felt as a pass rusher, which can only be viewed as encouraging as the Broncos lean on him to help replace the injured Bradley Chubb.

Follow Erick on Twitter @ErickTrickel and @MileHighHuddle.