Pump the brakes: 3 things we learned from Seattle Seahawks Week 1 loss to the Rams

Where has this Jarran Reed been these last four years?

It seems there are two different forms of Jarran Reed. The one we last saw was a pass-rushing 3-tech who could clean up messes made further back in the pocket and rack up huge sack numbers for a DT, but only at the cost of his ability to hold a gap in the run game. That one wore number 91 and was the guy Seattle spent big money on along the defensive line.

This year, number 90 is back. The Brandon Mebane heir apparent from half a decade ago. This guy doesn't get home nearly as often, but he is much harder to sneak past if you're holding a football. And after watching what Josh Jacobs did to this defense last season, I'm ready to call that a welcome change. He's not quite as sturdy as Al Woods was at the top of his game, but for what Seattle's asking of him, that will be more than sufficient.

And unlike Woods, Reed can be a three-down lineman if you need him to be. He still has a good first step, and isn't a complete non-factor as a pass rusher, at least any more so than the rest of the team was. For what it's worth, Reed ranked 9th in ESPN's pass rush win rate among DTs on Sunday and was the only member of the front seven to register a hit on Rams' QB, Matthew Stafford.

Granted, Darrell Taylor and Boye Mafe also ranked in the top-10 for edge rushers, and one would think having three players rank highly in a pass rush category would result in, well, a more effective pass rush. Perhaps there's more to it than that, though — after all, Reed did show out enough to stand out as a positive in a sea of reps to be thoroughly forgotten.

All told, though, the Seahawks still have plenty of time to get the pass rush sorted. Derick Hall didn't seem to be on the field much at all on Sunday, and the way the events of the game fell did Seattle's pass rush no favors at all. They could still be an effective unit through the rest of the season, especially if Reed can anchor the run game enough to give the edge group more opportunities to pin their ears back and go for the QB.