Seahawks survived the loss of a far better player than Reed. Remember?
Jarran Reed will miss the first six games of the 2019 season. This is a good time to remember the Seahawks have handled far tougher circumstances than this.
Yes, the Seahawks will be without the services of defensive tackle Jarran Reed for the first six games this year. I’m not going to downplay the importance of this – well, not yet. Seattle already traded away 30 percent of 2018’s sacks (good luck in KC, Frank Clark!). Losing six games of the only other player that recorded more than three sacks doesn’t look too great on the face of it, does it?
For now, we’ll ignore that the Seahawks have already made a lot of moves to boost the pass rush. Okay, we won’t ignore it entirely. Seattle has brought in Ezekiel Ansah and brought back both Cassius Marsh and Mychal Kendricks. There are already several candidates to step in for Reed at defensive tackle as well. But again, this isn’t about what Seattle will do specifically for the first six games of 2019. Rather, it’s about how the team has handled adversity in the past.
Jarran Reed definitely had a breakout season in 2018. But let’s be realistic; until last season, no one would have been hitting the panic button over missing Reed’s contributions to the pass rush. The 10.5 sacks last year were great, but he had three total in the two previous years. Those three sacks came in 21 starts. So let’s not get too amped, like we’re losing a future Hall of Famer.
Seahawks lost a much better player last year
Seattle Seahawks
That’s worth noting because the Seahawks did exactly that last year. You may recall the guy who started the season at free safety, Earl Thomas. Yes, he held out for the entire summer. Yes, he could be kind of a pain in the derriere. But most of all, he was devastating on the field. He proved that again with his performance over the first four games of 2018. After getting their offense straightened out, Seattle was looking good with Thomas playing lights out.
And then he was gone. Injured in the fourth game of the season, it looked like the Seahawks were in big trouble in the secondary without the last member of the LOB. The defense did suffer, in large part to the performance of the secondary. And yet, Seattle made the playoffs, despite losing a future Hall of Famer with zero chance to plan.
Now compare that to the situation the Hawks face with Reed. Seattle has just seven weeks to figure out what to do about the loss of Reed. They had one week before facing their first contest without Thomas. Reed is a key component of the defense, but Thomas was second only to Bobby Wagner in his impact on the Seahawks D. Most of all, Seattle will get Reed back for the final ten games of 2019. The luxury of getting Thomas back wasn’t in the team’s future in 2018, and yet they returned to the playoffs.
Yeah, I know Reed is a key player at a position that’s thin in performance for Seattle. There’s no way to compare his temporary loss this year to the permanent departure of Thomas last season. With seven weeks to go, I’ll put my faith in Pete Carroll and John Schneider – and Ken Norton, Jr., for that matter – to figure out the best way to compensate for Reed’s suspension.