Seahawks’ Jarran Reed: ‘Refreshing to get something different in here’

Jun 3, 2024, 10:49 AM

Seattle Seahawks Jarran Reed Bengals 2023...

Jarran Reed of the Seattle Seahawks sacks Bengals QB Joe Burrow in 2023. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

(Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

Seattle Sports

On a Seattle Seahawks team filled with new players and a brand-new coaching staff, Jarran Reed is one of the few players with lengthy ties to franchise.

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The 31-year-old defensive tackle spent five seasons in Seattle from 2016 to 2020 and then returned to the Pacific Northwest last season after a two-year stint in Kansas City and Green Bay.

But like everyone else on the Seahawks, Reed is busy adjusting to all the newness that first-year head coach Mike Macdonald has brought to a franchise that spent the past 14 seasons under Pete Carroll.

“It’s refreshing to get something different in here – a different style, different coaching style and different playing style,” Reed said after Thursday’s OTA practice.

Reed is part of an intriguing defensive line unit that will be a focal point of Macdonald’s versatile and cutting-edge defense.

The Seahawks have invested heavily in the position group, with Leonard Williams, Uchenna Nwosu, Dre’Mont Jones and Reed accounting for four of the team’s 11 highest salary cap hits for 2024. Seattle also used significant draft capital on the position, selecting defensive tackle Byron Murphy II with the No. 16 overall pick in April.

Reed is excited to see how they all fit together in Macdonald’s scheme, which is known for moving players around and using positional versatility to mix up blitz packages and confuse opposing offenses. Williams and Jones both have experience moving along the line, and Reed said he played some defensive end during his 2022 season in Green Bay.

“I think that they (will) use a lot of my talents a little bit more, moving me around a little bit more,” Reed said. “I think we’ve got multiple guys that can do that. That’s the (biggest change), not just (having) us being stationary. I think moving us around a little bit, creating some mismatches for everybody along the line.

“I think that will benefit us a lot,” he added. “Guys won’t know where we’re gonna be at as much, so we can kind of create some confusion along the offensive line.”

Macdonald is coming off a highly successful two-year run as the defensive coordinator in Baltimore, where he coached the league’s top-ranked defense last season and developed a reputation for being one of the game’s brightest defensive minds. The hope is that Macdonald’s scheme can elevate a Seattle defense that finished 24th in points allowed last year.

“I love it,” Reed said. “I think it’s a great change for us. I think we got a lot of guys that can play a lot of different positions. I’m excited to see where we can go with this.”