Five most important Seahawks entering 2020
By Lee Vowell
3. Jarran Reed
Jarran Reed was a beast in 2018. He had 10.5 sacks, far more than he ever had in his career in any season before that. In the first six games of 2019, Reed was suspended for an incident from many years before. When he returned, he was nothing like he was in 2018.
Maybe some of this had to do with Frank Clark was not on the outside of the defensive line wreaking havoc and allowing Reed to be a bit more creative on the inside. But Reed also did not help out Jadeveon Clowney last year either.
If Reed can get back anywhere near his 2018 level in 2020, he would immensely help the Seahawks defense and make them much more dangerous. Seattle only has two proven veterans on the interior of the defensive line, Reed and Poona Ford. Only Reed can supply interior pass rush.
As we get nearer to training camp, the Seahawks edge rushers are probably not good enough to get to the quarterback without help from Reed on the inside. I don’t expect Reed to ever get that close to 10.5 sacks again in his career but if he were able to get to 7 sacks consistently, Seattle could be a top-15 defense again.