CloakNNNdagger
Hall of Fame
Linebacker Reed fierce on the field, calm off it
But Reed has lots of tangible stuff in his favor, too.
As I understand it, Herring said, hes the strongest player on our team (pound for pound). What he brought here was play strength and thats the foundation of this game. You see a lot of guys come in and fall or falter early because theyre not able to handle the physicality of the NFL.
Or the mental pressure. Reed concluded the best way to avoid the myriad pitfalls was through dedicated preparation. Because Phillips and Herring had coached DeMarcus Ware in Dallas, and Ware had 60 sacks in his four seasons with them in the same system Reed was being asked to learn on the fly he concluded without being told that being a DeMarcus Ware film buff made sense.
Besides a surfeit of muscle and brain power, Reed possesses the kind of instincts that translate into quick feet, or what Herring calls great get-off. At the Combine, I believe he had the fastest first 10 yards of any backer in the group. Not the fastest for 40 yards, just the first 10 when it matters.
Herring also talked about Reeds linebacker body.
Thats where people get discombobulated with him, Herring said. Look, hes 6-2½, 250. The fact that he was playing with his hand in the dirt (the three-point stance of a defensive end) in college turned him into a tweener to some people. But he was always a Mike linebacker to us. Half the teams in the draft wanted him bad and the other half didnt think he could (make the transition). We were in the half that saw the upside potential. Hes still projecting and growing as a player. The skys the limit.