The Jets recently acquired former Rams linebacker Troy Reeder, who has already been active a few times due to injuries at linebacker. Today, we break Reeder down in detail.
The 32-year old Reeder is listed at 6’3” and 245 pounds and was undrafted out of Delaware in 2019. He has started 38 games in his NFL career, along with another five in postseason action.
Background
Reeder was a three-star high school recruit, and headed to Penn State in 2014 whereupon he redshirted his first season. In 2015, he started
all 11 games and generated 67 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, and an interception.
At the end of a pretty successful first season, it was perhaps surprising that he opted to transfer to Delaware but this was partly because he wanted to be closer to his family and his brother was also at Delaware. He was also expected to move into a backup role behind players such as Jason Cabinda if he stayed with the Nittany Lions.
Reeder was immediately successful with the Fightin’ Blue Hens, as he had 63 tackles, two interceptions and two forced fumbles to earn second-team all-CAA recognition in 2016.
In 2017, Reeder went a step further as he earned first team recognition by registering 89 tackles, 2.5 sacks and an interception.
His final season saw him named as a second-team all-American and he was once again a first-team all-CAA selection. He set career marks in multiple categories with 127 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
Despite this success, Reeder was unselected in the 2019 NFL draft, but he made the Rams’ roster as an undrafted rookie and ended up making eight starts as he recorded 58 tackles and two forced fumbles.
In 2020, he once again played a significant role with seven starts, and was second on the team with 81 tackles, adding three sacks.
2021 was the best season of Reeder’s career, as he played a major role in the Rams’ Super Bowl success. He started 10 regular season games and had 91 tackles, six pass breakups, two sacks and two interceptions.
Reeder moved on at the end of the 2021 season, to join the Chargers, but he ended up in a rotational role with them. He had 11 tackles, a forced fumble and a pass breakup, with zero starts.
In 2023, he initially joined the Vikings, but failed to make their roster and ended up back with the Rams having signed to their practice squad after final cuts. He was added to the active roster before the season and ended up playing in every game with 23 tackles and six starts.
Reeder began 2024 as a starter and was productive in the first five games only to then suffer a season-ending injury in the sixth. He ended up with 46 tackles, a tackle for loss and a pass breakup.
Last season, he was back with the Rams but started just one game, although he played a major role on special teams. He ended up with 25 tackles and two pass breakups.
This year, Reeder had been without a team until early on in training camp when he was picked up by the Lions. However, they released him at the end of preseason.
The Jets acquired Reeder and signed him to their practice squad after final cuts and have since signed him to the active roster after Marcelino McCrary-Ball went onto injured reserve.
Let’s move onto some more in-depth analysis of what Reeder brings to the table, based on in-depth research and film study.
Measurables/Athleticism
Reeder has good size in terms of his height and weight, but his arm length is below 30 inches. That’s incredibly rare for an NFL linebacker as only six players in combine history have had a measurement of under 30 inches and most of them didn’t have much of a pro career. This was probably the main reason he went undrafted.
His other measurables are excellent though. He ran a 4.63 in the 40-yard dash at his pro days and managed 27 bench press reps with solid explosiveness and agility numbers.
Usage
Reeder has always been an off-ball linebacker, matching up in the slot or creeping up to the edge on rare occasions. He has played both as an outside linebacker and as a Mike.
He also played running back in high school.
Run defense
Reeder is a productive run defender, whose performance grades on analytical sites such as Pro Football Focus have steadily improved over the course of his career from poor to about average.
He is adept at plugging gaps between the tackles but can take over-aggressive angles in pursuit from time to time.
Coverage skills
Reeder has been exposed to a lot of coverage situations over the course of his career, which has inevitably led to him giving up some key plays at times.
He has given up a catch on 80 percent of his targets during his career and, although that percentage has been lower in recent years, he’s given up more yards per catch.
However, it says something about his coaches’ belief in him that he was trusted in these situations and he has shown some playmaking ability too.
The only two interceptions of his career came in the Rams’ Super Bowl winning season, during which he also had a career-high six pass breakups.
Tackling
Reeder missed a ton of tackles during his first three seasons, with his tackle radius and range clearly being affected by his lack of arm length.
However, he’s really improved his tackle efficiency in recent seasons and can close fast on the ball and stop a runner in their tracks.
He only has one forced fumble at the NFL level but he had five in college.
Blitzing
Reeder hasn’t blitzed that much during his career, but did have one game in 2020 where he racked up three sacks. That was a bit of an anomaly, though, as he only had two other sacks in his other six NFL seasons combined, and five in his college career.
His pressure rate was pretty good in college and early on in his NFL career, but it’s been low since 2021 and he’s rarely been used as a blitzer since then.
Special teams
Reeder brings a lot of special teams experience to the table and that has already made an impression with the Jets as he had four special teams tackles in his first two games with them.
He has played on every unit apart from the placekicking unit and racked up 45 special teams tackles in his career, including 15 last year. He has had four special teams penalties, though.
At Delaware, Reeder blocked a kick in each of his three seasons and he has contributed in the punt rush at the NFL level.
He also had a big recovery of a muffed punt in a postseason game with the Rams.
Physicality
Reeder has good size and can make some impressive hits as a tackler and in coverage.
He also shows a willingness to take on lead blockers and can be aggressive when setting up stunts.
Reeder has only ever had one defensive penalty at the NFL level, although he had five in his final season at Delaware. The lone NFL penalty was for unnecessary roughness though.
He was ejected from a preseason game for a late hit on a sliding quarterback though.
Instincts/Intelligence
Reeder has good smarts and football IQ, as evidenced by him having to take over the green dot for the Rams in the middle of their postseason run.
Having done that successfully, Reeder would take on those responsibilities full-time in 2024 but the team started 1-4 and then went on an 8-3 run after he got hurt.
He has shown that he can make good reads and communicate before the snap, as well as showing instincts in terms of avoiding blockers.
However, he can make mistakes in terms of mis-reading play fakes and misdirection.
He had plenty of academic honors in college, both while he was at Penn State and at Delaware.
Attitude
Reeder has been regarded as a good leader with coaches on the Rams’ coach at one stage referring to him as a “pseudo-coach”. He has also been a good mentor, taking young players under his wing on a regular basis.
Injuries
Reeder had been durable throughout his career but then suffered a hamstring injury during week six of the 2024 season and it sidelined him for the rest of the year.
Aside from that, the only game he has missed during his NFL career was week one of this season while he was still on the practice squad.
Scheme Fit
Reeder can probably back up at either of the inside linebacker positions for New York, although it’s clear the primary reason for adding him is as a special teams contributor. He has played in both 3-4 and 4-3 systems.
Current Jets who have been teammates of Reeder in the past include Kene Nwangwu, Jordan Meredith, Jack Heflin, Tyler Johnson and Tre Brown.
Conclusions
As noted, Reeder has already made an impact on special teams, which is welcome with McCrary-Ball out. However, the unit as a whole has had some struggles in those games where Reeder featured.
While he has had a successful career, Rams fans were surprisingly negative about Reeder throughout his tenure with them, even after he served as a key contributor on their Super Bowl winning team.
The Jets will probably hope that Reeder isn’t needed to fill in on defense this year, but if he does have to do that on a short-term basis, at least he has experience, smarts and versatility to do so.
