Some NFL teams would line Virginia receiver Joe Reed up out wide at the pro level; some would rush him out of the backfield. The Charlotte Court House, Virginia, product is game for anything. Heck, if teams want to use him at quarterback, safety, or on kick returns, he’s got experience doing that, too.
Reed leaves Virginia as a true do-it-all threat, with a team-high 77 receptions in 2019 (and seven touchdowns) and two kicks returned for touchdowns, tied for second-best in the FBS. Though he lit up the field at running back his senior year at Randolph-Henry High School (2,100 yards, 38 touchdowns), the Cavaliers astutely thought he’d be even better with the ball in his hands as a pass-catcher.
“Throughout my recruiting process, Virginia was the only camp I even attended. I always knew I wanted to go to Virginia,” Reed says by phone.
“I wanted to go to multiple camps a year and try out multiple positions, and let the coaches know they could put me in anywhere and also find myself and find out what I wanted to do. I committed to Virginia my sophomore year, and I had a fast recruiting process. When I got to Virginia, I was a receiver.”
Though Reed didn’t see much action on offense his freshman season with the Cavaliers, he made an immediate impact on special teams, returning 28 kicks for 678 yards total, a 25.1 average.
The following season, Reed was an honorable mention All-ACC pick as a kick returner. His return average of 29.7 ranked eighth in the FBS, and his two kicks returned for touchdowns were tied for fifth. It was in this season the Cavaliers started to call his number more on offense; in 12 games, he tallied two touchdowns on 23 receptions and a rushing score on 21 carries.
In 2018, Reed was named third-team all-conference as a returner and set Cavaliers records for career kick-return yards and touchdowns. It was just a prequel to his senior campaign that would see him earn first-team All-ACC honors as an all-purpose player and return specialist.
When all was said and done, Reed, who graduated with a major in American Studies with a focus on pop culture, sports, and gender, and started a graduate program in Educational Psychology, finished his Cavaliers campaign as the all-time leader in multiple categories: kick return yards (3,042), kick returns (106), kick returns for touchdowns (five) and tied for longest return (100 yards).
He also holds the distinction of being the only player ever in the FBS to have more than 3,000 career kick return yards and a career return average exceeding 28 yards.
Now, Reed is ready to take everything he’s honed and package it up with a bow for the NFL team that calls his name at the draft later this month. He knows he will have to earn his keep on special teams, but more than an obligation, it’s a thrill.
“Kickoff returns and special teams in general is something I use to my advantage to help my team out,” Reed says.
“I have a unique combination of size, speed, vision, just being fearless when I have the ball. My biggest thing when I’m returning kicks is I just go. I love changing the game through special teams, even more so with returning the ball. I treat it just like I treat offense. I watch film; in practice I’m taking it seriously, I take extra reps after practice.”
It’s that extra, intangible element that should seal the deal for scouts after Reed’s impressive performance at the NFL combine in February, where he did better than expected with a 4.47 40-yard dash, 21 reps on the bench press, and a 38-inch vertical.
It ended up being a boon that Reed met his goals at the combine, as Virginia canceled its April 8 pro day due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, though Reed will take virtual meetings with teams, he has no further events at which to impress scouts before the NFL draft opens on April 23.
“I was pleased about the combine,” Reed says. “I’m the type of guy where I like to see the outcome of my sacrifices, the training I went through, the social life I put on hold, the meal plan, the sleep, all those sacrifices, I think my testing went really well and I was pleased with the outcome.”
Reed’s combine training was, indeed, immersive. He spent weeks preparing at XPE Fort Lauderdale, working closely with agent Jon Perzley of Sportstars. After Virginia played in the Orange Bowl against Florida, Reed took about a week off to rest his body and regenerate with friends and family, and then it was off to work at XPE, where he overhauled everything from his diet to his conditioning to his sleep.
“I started off with a meal plan that was tough at first. It didn’t taste the best, but within two or three weeks I felt a big difference in my body,” Reed says. A typical day would include gluten-free mini pancakes and two eggs for breakfast, a turkey burger on wheat with sweet potato fries for lunch, and grilled chicken, rice, and broccoli for dinner.
“My only cheat day is Saturday,” Reed says, laughing. His cheat meal of choice? “I get a cheeseburger and fries, every time.” While in Fort Lauderdale, his go-to stop was BurgerFi.
In all, Reed reaped the benefits of his diet overhaul, gaining four pounds, decreasing his body fat, and getting stronger overall. His conditioning workouts, geared toward combine workouts like the 40 and vertical, were markedly different from college, where he lifted at a much heavier weight. The name of the game for combine training? Short-burst running and more reps at lower weight.
“Another thing that I really had to dial in on was my sleep,” Reed adds. “I would try to get 10 to 11 hours of sleep every single night, turn my TV off, turn my phone off. That really helped my body, as well.”
Perzley also helped Reed prepare for the whirlwind of NFL team interviews, setting up video chats with mock interviewers who asked him sample questions and gave him feedback on his performance.
Especially in isolation, there’s not much left for Reed to do now as he waits for the NFL draft to approach, except think about the ways he can contribute to a team next season. Over draft weekend, he’ll be in Charlottesville with his mom, dad, and brother. That was the plan even before the pandemic—Reed’s home is so remote that he doesn’t get cell service there, a somewhat crucial element during an entirely remote draft process—but with campus closed, the Reed family will now likely get a hotel suite.
Mom, who teaches kindergarten; Dad, who works security, and Reed’s brother “have been my biggest fans throughout these years,” he says.
“Whatever happens, I’ll be blessed either way.” He tries not to look at mock drafts or read too many projections; he’s confident there are enough teams with holes on their rosters he could fill. Reed touts his versatility in the slot, creating mismatches, motion, moving around, and running routes out of the backfield.
We discuss how the Super Bowl, in particular, with the way the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs use their pass-catching backs and offensive weapons, was a showcase for how NFL teams might use a player like Reed. “Just the way that they use their guys, I was looking at it and I was like, ‘That’s the type of player I think I can be at the next level,'” Reed says.
“Whatever the coaches ask of me, I have the ability to go out there and do it and just not be a one-dimensional receiver.”
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