Jarran Reed was a three-star recruit out of East Mississippi Community College in Scooba, MS. Reed, originally from North Carolina, attended Hargrave Military Academy for a year before switching to community college to prepare for a transfer to Alabama. He enters the 2016 NFL Draft as one of the top five interior defensive lineman.

Measureables

Stats and Awards

• Solid, well-built frame with good lower leg strength.
• Experience at all positions on the defensive line, but should be an interior run stuffer in the NFL as he doesn’t have adequate length to be an edge defender in the NFL.
• A 2-gap run stuffer using great leverage to hold down the point of attack
• Experience with double-teams holding them back at the point of attack.
• Consistent push into the line on running plays.
• Needs to develop his hands to separate from blockers after his initial push on both running and passing plays.
• Great hustle, but only for limited number of snaps as he tires.
• Shows an aggression in attacking blockers and ballcarriers driving them into the ground.
• Good sense for where the ball is going, and good overall read-and-react skills.
• Great at firing his feet down the line of scrimmage following runs and holding off blockers.
• Struggles at times keeping players off of him by not getting hands inside blockers’ hands.
• Great snap anticipation. Consitently one of the fastest on Alabama’s front seven.
• Very poor pass rusher and needs to develop counter moves.
• Needs to develop better hand technique and placement on his bullrush.
• Struggles to separate from blockers against the pass.
• Inconsistent at getting his hands up to block the pass.
• Occasionally used as a fullback on offense to lead block in goal line situations.

Jarran Reed, standing at 6’3″ 307 lbs, is a well built man with strong thighs and legs. He was a consistent force on Alabama’s defensive line clogging up running lanes inside to force ballcarriers outside. He shows an aggressive effort in his play style, but tires easily. He displays great snap anticipation, which helped him instantly attack and control a blocker in both phases of the game.

Pass rush is something Reed struggled with at ‘Bama and is something he will continue to struggle with in the Pros. Part of the problem is that he was consistently 2-gapping throughout all the film I watched on him, which definitely slowed down his attack.

Reed was inconsistent at using moves and his bullrush for his size was dissapointing. A lot of this stems from hand placement and overall technique, though. He needs to be more consistent with attacking a specific shoulder of his blocker to deliver his force. Also, he needs to follow this up with a useful counter move to respond when the rush isn’t going well.

Reed is inconsistent with getting his hands up in the air to block passes, but when he does he usually has a good sense for the ball.

Overall, Reed’s biggest weakness by far is his pass rush skills. He needs to work on generating power through his hands with proper placement and learn counter moves to assist in this regard.