Seahawks’ Jarran Reed gets a beastly grade for 2018

The Seahawks needed someone to step up to help Frank Clark in 2018. Jarran Reed did that and needs to be a Seahawk for years to come.

Jarran Reed was very good for the Seahawks in 2018. This is not news. 12s know well how good Reed was along the Seattle defensive line. But no one expected Reed to be as good as he was this season. Except maybe Reed himself.

Frank Clark has to be thankful for the season Reed had, too. Otherwise, Clark would have been the sole source of Seahawks pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Seattle’s pressure was inconsistent as it was, except for Clark and Reed. But Reed’s emergence in Clark’s last year of his current contract allowed Clark to get 14 sacks and will also allow him to make huge dollars this offseason in free agency.

Reed, too, put himself in a really good spot to make money next offseason. He is a free agent after 2019. With another season like 2018, Reed will earn north of $10 million per year. And the Seahawks need Reed to be just as great as he was this season.

The truth is that Seattle, other than retaining Clark, will probably not sign a  free agent proven edge rusher. Unless Seattle gets help from younger players like Rasheem Green, Seattle will again rely on Clark and Reed to bring pressure next year. If either Reed or Clark falls off in production, Seattle will give opposing quarterbacks tons of time to throw.

In 2018, though, Reed had 10.5 sacks, 12 tackles for loss and 24 quarterback hits. These were all easily his career highs in each category. 10.5 sacks might be difficult to duplicate next season, but Reed might be even more of a disrupter. Now he knows what he is truly capable of on an NFL level and will have more confidence next season. Not that he lacked much of it anyway, and that is a good thing.

Grade: A