The Green Bay Packers entered the 2023 draft needing to add a dynamic receiver to their offense, and they may have accomplished the task with their second-round selection of Jayden Reed.
Reed’s college career began at Western Michigan, where he hauled in 56 receptions for 797 yards and 8 touchdowns as a true freshman. He then transferred a little over an hour away to Michigan State. Unfortunately, the NCAA’s transfer rules forced Reed to sit out a year, but he eventually picked up where he left off against tougher competition in the Big Ten. In three seasons with the Spartans, Reed finished with 147 catches for 2,069 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns.
Despite being undersized and falling below some of their athletic thresholds, Reed’s skill set and production were too impressive for the Packers to pass up.
After trading back twice in the second round, Green Bay took Reed with the 50th overall pick. Standing at 5-11 and 187 pounds, you would think he is an ideal fit for the Packers’ slot vacancy. However, the team’s Director of Player Personnel, Jon-Eric Sullivan, described a player who is much more versatile.
“He’s strong, and he’s fast,” Sullivan said following the selection. “To simplify it, he’s got exceptional strength for a smaller framed player, and he can run. He’s got good tempo, and the clock showed it. I believe we had him at 4.37. But more importantly, he plays fast. He’s got good tempo, and he’s quick. He can get in and out of breaks. Obviously, outside the numbers, the speed comes into play, but on the inside, he’s strong and can get in and out of breaks to create separation.”
Green Bay was much higher on Reed than the NFL Consensus Board, which ranked him 89th out of 587 players. Why? Sullivan’s explanation does offer some insight, but it would be much more telling to see it visually. So, we are doing a deep dive into Reed’s game by examining the tape. For this breakdown, we will be looking at film from four performances over the last two seasons:
2021 vs Michigan: 6 receptions, 80 receiving yards, 0 touchdowns
2022 @ Illinois: 5 receptions, 68 receiving yards, 1 touchdown
2022 vs Wisconsin: 9 receptions, 117 receiving yards, 1 touchdown
2022 vs Maryland: 7 receptions, 61 receiving yards, 1 touchdown
By the end, we should know more about what the Packers see in Reed.