A Trendsetter and Tradition Breaker, D.J. Reed Ushering in New Era of Cornerback Play With Seahawks
Tumbling down an historically poor slope on defense through the first half of the 2020 NFL season, with injuries continuing to mount up, the Seahawks broke the trend that made them an icon in the mid 2010s. Once changing the NFL landscape with outside cornerbacks boasting heights north of six-feet tall and arms of 32 inches or more, they pivoted to the complete opposite end of the spectrum for the 5-foot-9 D.J. Reed in need of a spark.
They got one.
The saying goes: "One man's trash is another man's treasure." While Reed is certainly the furthest thing from trash, he quickly became damaged goods to a 49ers team that had just come off a Super Bowl appearance. Suffering a torn pectoral muscle during bench press reps in the offseason, Reed was consequently waived by San Francisco and Seattle became the benefactor, claiming him in early August.
With Shaquill Griffin on the mend with a hamstring injury, the Seahawks were light at cornerback entering a crucial Week 8 matchup against Reed's former team. As it just so happened, Reed, now removed from the non-football injury list, had completed his rehab far earlier than anticipated and was activated by Seattle before the game. Partaking in a little over half of the team's defensive snaps, he immediately made his presence felt with a feel-good interception of 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in the 37-27 Seahawks victory.
In the weeks leading up to the game, as Reed's recovery became more apparent, the Seahawks were unsure of where the Kansas State product would contribute for them. Depleted by injuries at both safety and cornerback, head coach Pete Carroll inquired with Reed about his positional preference and received an answer that would eventually shift one of the organization's core policies.
"I told him corner all day," Reed recalled in an interview with Jim Rome on The Jim Rome Show earlier this month. "I told him, you know, I was an All-American at corner in college. You know, I could really play that position at a high level, and he said: 'Okay, with all these injuries, I'mma throw you in there.' And just for him to have the confidence to say that after seeing me practice, it meant a lot 'cause a lot of coaches, you know, coming into the league just labeled me as a slot corner just because I was 5-9. So for him to give me that opportunity, I have the utmost respect for Pete."
Following Quinton Dunbar's season-ending knee injury, Reed was firmly planted into a starting role. With Griffin healthy and superstar safety Jamal Adams back in the lineup as well, the Seahawks' defensive backfield was the best it had been all year.
Dragged down by their dreadful first half, they still finished 30th in the NFL in opponent passing yards allowed. However, after their loss to the Bills in Week 9, opposing quarterbacks averaged just 228.8 yards per game against them—a number that would have placed them 12th in the league last year.
In fairness, a good portion of those final eight games came against a lackluster group of quarterbacks such as Colt McCoy (105 yards) and Dwayne Haskins (273 yards). The matchup with Haskins and the Washington Football Team specifically stands out as the culmination of Reed's breakout in 2020, which pitted him against budding star receiver Terry McLaurin for most of the game.
McLaurin put up a modest seven-catch, 77-yard performance. Reed, on the other hand, allowed an opponent passer rating of just 8.3 with four catches surrendered for a meager 15 yards. Additionally logging his second interception of the year, along with two pass breakups, Reed made it clear his smaller stature does not inhibit him from being a consistently impactful defender.
"Being 5-9, it's a statement for me," Reed told reporters after the game. "Because corners that are 5-9 are not corners anymore, they're playing in the slot, so I feel like I've got to make a statement. ... I'll have a chip on my shoulder, forever. For real, it's heavy."
Saying he entered the game "pissed off," Reed's performance was an obvious indication of why Carroll has compared him to former Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin in the past. Baldwin, who famously earned the nickname "Angry Doug Baldwin" for his intensity on the field, was constantly driven by his history as an undrafted free agent and the lack of national recognition he and his peers received.
Reed's motivations stem from various moments in his playing career; going in the late rounds of the 2018 NFL Draft, being typecast as a slot player or a safety due to his size, being tossed aside by the 49ers following his injury. Upon his return, he's been a man on a mission, so to speak, and goes into every game with a controlled head full of steam, but even more so on that December day in Landover, Maryland.
"You know, when I'm playing against a good receiver, it gets it cranked up a little more," Reed told Rome. "I just felt like, during that week, I just felt a lot of nervous energy from my team - particularly the coaches - because we were playing against a good receiver and I didn't like that, so I took it as a challenge, like, I'mma dominate whoever I'm playing against. And I just went out there and had a great game."
Cleansing the team of that "nervous energy," Reed's showcase forced the Seahawks to reevaluate their stance on cornerback size. After the game, Carroll acknowledged how limited it had made them in the past and offered a glimpse at what was to come in the near future.
“Everybody's known the long-arm corners and all that stuff, that's what I've always wanted,” Carroll explained. “They come in different shapes and sizes, you know. And we just have to be open to it and not be stubborn about everyone has to be like this mold.”
A little over five months later, the Seahawks doubled down on their change of heart, selecting 5-foot-9 cornerback Tre Brown in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. And when day three of the draft ended and Carroll and general manager John Schneider met with the media, they were adamant Brown wasn't taken to play in the slot.
"He’s a corner," Carroll announced. "He’s going to play outside and start there, and we’re going to see what he brings to the competition."
Despite his size, Brown will get an opportunity to compete against free agent addition Ahkello Witherspoon, Tre Flowers, Damarious Randall, and Pierre Desir for a chance to replace Griffin, who signed a three-year contract with the Jaguars in March. To Reed, who's set to start opposite the winner of that battle, the selection of Brown was a special moment.
"For them to draft Tre Brown, you know, it meant a lot to me," Reed explained. "Because they broke out of their code, you know, what they've usually been doing for about 10 years since the Pete era. So for them to do that, really showed the confidence that [Carroll's] seen in me and how I play, and obviously he's seen similar characteristics to Tre and they didn't want to pass up on him because of his height. So it's a blessing, bro, to be able to set that trend, like, I think it meant a lot to me personally."
Whether he'll be working in tandem with Brown or not, Reed is determined to maintain the momentum he built in 2020 and continue ushering in a new era of dominant cornerback play in Seattle this fall. To put himself in the best position to do so, he's currently training at Jamal Liggin's gym in Hollywood, California.
"We've been getting to it, to say the least," Reed detailed of his offseason workouts. Just doing explosive work, you know, running up hills, lifting heavy in the weight room. A lot of explosion work, lot of linear work, and now I'm starting to get into position where I just focus on football and playing corner, so it's going really well."
And when he steps back out onto the gridiron, the goal will be the same as it was in Washington.
"I just want to set the tone," Reed stated. "I think that's the biggest thing and that starts at the beginning of the game. I just want to set the tone. Obviously, I want to do my job, but I want to do my job at the highest level. And, you know, that comes from film study, that comes from the demeanor and how I practice, and that just gives me confidence to go out there and dominate the person in front of me."
"For me, it's never been about who I'm playing against, it's always about myself. If I'm right spiritually, mentally and physically, I feel like I could dominate anybody that's in front of me."
