The Kansas City Chiefs bolstered the interior of their defensive line on Wednesday by signing veteran defensive tackle Jarran Reed.
Here are five things to know about the newest member of the defense.
1. Reed had spent the entirety of his five-year career with Seattle before signing with the Chiefs.
Reed started 63 games over the last five seasons for the Seahawks, recording 58 quarterback hits and 22 sacks in that time.
Seattle drafted Reed in the second round (No. 49 overall) of the 2016 Draft, and after serving primarily as a rotational player his rookie season, the six-foot-three, 306-pound Reed has been a staple along the Seahawks' defensive line since 2017. He started at least 15 games in three of the last four campaigns, starting all 16 contests in 2020 while racking up 14 quarterback hits and 6.5 sacks in what turned out to be his final season in Seattle.
The Seahawks released Reed last Friday.
2. He's one of the best at getting after the opposing quarterback.
Reed has notched 159 pressures over the course of his career, tallying double-digit quarterback hits in two of the last three seasons. His 38 pressures in 2020 ranked 18th among all defensive tackles.
Over the last three seasons, Reed ranks seventh in the NFL among all defensive tackles with 19 sacks. Chiefs' defensive tackle Chris Jones, who Reed will join along Kansas City's defensive line, ranks No. 2 in that time with 32 sacks.
3. Reed's best season as a professional was in 2018, when he was paired with Frank Clark.
The 28-year-old Reed has been productive throughout his career, but his most impressive campaign was undoubtedly in 2018 when he racked up 55 pressures, 24 quarterback hits and 10.5 sacks.
His 50 pressures as an interior lineman that season ranked 11th among all others at his position while his 10.5 sacks ranked fourth behind only Aaron Donald, Chris Jones and DeForest Buckner.
Reed's breakout campaign came in his final season alongside current Chiefs' defensive end Frank Clark, who racked up 13 sacks that year for Seattle. Both players played a full 16-game slate that season, with one of the two accounting for at least a partial sack in all but three contests in which they shared the field.
The duo is now reunited in Kansas City, where they'll look to rekindle that previous success together.
4. Chris Jones and quarterback Patrick Mahomes seemed pretty pumped about the news.
Jones, who has established himself as one of the top pass-rushers in all of football over the last several seasons, appears excited to have a player of Reed's caliber joining the squad.
It looks like Mahomes approves, as well.
5. Reed played his college ball at Alabama.
Before taking his talents to the NFL, Reed was a standout on the Crimson Tide for two seasons and helped lead Alabama to a national championship in 2015.
His success in Tuscaloosa was preceded by a tremendous, two-year run at East Mississippi Community College – the school featured in the first two seasons of Netflix's "Last Chance U" – from 2012-13. Reed tallied 100 career stops during his tenure with East Mississippi and was a part of their NJCAA Championship squad in 2013.
That success has translated at the next level, and after an impressive run with Seattle, the next chapter of Reed's career will take place with the two-time defending AFC champions.
