Alabama Football 2016 NFL Draft Profiles: Jarran Reed

Jarran Reed

Position: Defensive Tackle

Pro Day Height/ Weight: 6'3"/ 307 lbs

40 Yard Dash Time: 5.21 seconds

Bench Press Reps (of 225 lbs): N/A

Hand Size: 10.5 inches

Arm Length: 33 3/8 inches

Vertical Jump: 31 inches

Broad Jump: 104 inches

20 Yard Shuttle: 4.75 seconds

3-Cone Drill: 7.7 seconds

2015 Season: Started all 15 games for the Tide defense in 2015. Recorded 56 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and one sack.

Strengths: Reed proved himself a pivotal member of the Tide's historically strong run defense in 2015, using his powerful frame and aptitude at two-gapping to prove an immovable force in the Tide's interior line. Sure, Reed benefited from being surrounded by fantastic talent in the front seven, but he was among equals despite his rather circuitous road to greatness through the juco ranks. He has the natural gift of a powerful build and often occupies more than one blocker on a given running play. One could probably count on a single hand the number of times that Reed was stumped by a single blocker, a fact which freed his fellow Tide defenders up for explosive plays during the course of the 2015 championship season. Reed has tremendous size and leverage, and combined with his quick hands and lightning-fast arm extension, he was able to dominate blockers routinely in the SEC. Reed has fantastic football instincts and easily slides down the line, shedding blocks while tracking the ball.

Weaknesses: Not an elite pass rusher by any means, despite his disruptive nature in the opposing run games. Because of his pedestrian performance in pursuit of quarterbacks, Reed averaged playing approximately 55% of defensive plays across his two seasons with the Tide defense. His pass rush is quite vanilla, usually amounting to a straight-line attack with little speed or explosiveness at the point of attack. Reed must improve his hand technique in the pass rush, and when forced into a one-gap scheme, his weaknesses are magnified. Unless he evolves the pass rush portion of his game, Reed could find himself relegated to a run-stopping specialist as a pro.

Verdict: Regardless of Reed's current limitations in the pass rush, his upside is incredible. As big as he is, he still has room to pack on additional strength on a prototypical run-plugging frame. There are few better pure run-stoppers available in this year's draft, a fact which will get Reed strong consideration as an early round pick. The guy can be flat out immovable in the center of a defense, and with a few refinements to his pass rush technique, Reed could develop into quite the defender. With the right coaching (and in the right scheme), Reed will only improve into a more well-rounded nightmare of a defensive tackle.

Predicted Round: There's a case to be made that Reed is likely to fall to the second round, and it's not unreasonable to think that could happen. But given the way the Tide finished the season, and the premium placed on elite defensive linemen, it's also reasonable to think that Reed goes late in the first round. If he does go in the second, it will likely be early.