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Jordan Reed will be the Washington Redskins biggest X-Factor

By Ben Vasconcellos

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 30: Jordan Reed #86 of the Washington Redskins makes a break past Vontaze Burfict #55 of the Cincinnati Bengals to score a touchdown during the NFL International Series Game between Washington Redskins and Cincinnati Bengals at Wembley Stadium on October 30, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 30: Jordan Reed #86 of the Washington Redskins makes a break past Vontaze Burfict #55 of the Cincinnati Bengals to score a touchdown during the NFL International Series Game between Washington Redskins and Cincinnati Bengals at Wembley Stadium on October 30, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) /
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Jordan Reed has been giving D.C. nation hope since he arrived in the league in 2013. Unfortunately, that’s all he’s given the Washington Redskins: Hope.

In Jordan Reed’s five-year career with the Washington Redskins, he’s only had one memorable season. In 2015, he produced 952 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. Even in his best season, Reed didn’t play a full 16 games. In fact, Reed has never played a full season in his entire NFL career.

Reed has never been consistent with his production. There is only one area in which Reed has been consistent: Injuries. I think it’s safe to say that Reed has injured every area of his body, or at least close to it. He’s had concussions, hand, knee and hamstring sprains, a shoulder separation, and the lingering toe injury. Out of all these, the toe injury seemed to have held him back the most. Thankfully, Reed had a procedure done on the toe this offseason. Unfortunately, this most likely means that he won’t be participating in OTA’s, but that shouldn’t be concerning.

Many Washington Redskins fans are in favor of getting rid of Reed by cutting him or trading him for some future draft picks. I don’t blame them. The Washington Redskins are in a tough situation. Their backup tight end, Vernon Davis, is 34 years old, and he could possibly be entering his last extremely productive season as a standout tight end. Vernon Davis has been more than serviceable filling in the gap at tight end while Reed has been nursing his injuries. However, we shouldn’t be placing such a high expectation on Davis to keep bailing Reed out, especially at this age.

Jordan Reed will be the Washington Redskins biggest X-factor this coming season. If all pans out, and Reed can play 14-16 games, then the Redskins could push for one of those wild card positions at the end of the season. I know it’s hard to compare the Redskins to the New England Patriots or the Kansas City Cheifs, but it’s clear what a dominant tight end can bring to the table on offense.

Alex Smith has been known to rely on his tight ends and will continue to do so this year since he’s entered a new system. After watching what Smith and Travis Kelce did last season, I can’t help but get excited on the possibilities for the combination of Jordan Reed and Alex Smith. Kelce had 1,038 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns. There is no reason why Reed can’t produce those type of numbers, especially since he’s just as, if not more, athletically gifted than Travis Kelce.

Now that Smith has finally opened up as a passer and expanded his throwing arsenal downfield, Reed is going to have more opportunities across the middle of the field and in the red zone. Don’t even get me started on how awful the Redskins red zone efficiency was last year. A healthy Reed will only boost the team’s efficiency. It always helps to have a 6-foot-2, 246-pound receiver to lob the football to.

Washington has one of the toughest schedules in the league. They will have to play picture perfect football to have a shot at the playoffs. Therefore, Reed will be significant for the Redskins. He single-handedly kept the Washington Redskins close in games against the likes of Green Bay, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Philadelphia. These defenses will have to shift their focus to Reed in the middle, and this will allow the Washington Redskins to draw more one-on-one coverage downfield for Paul Richardson and Josh Doctson to capitalize on. This also will open up the playbook for Chris Thompson and rookie Derrius Guice in the passing game on third downs.

Next: Washington Redskins: Film breakdown of WR Trey Quinn

The Washington Redskins need to let Reed get fully healthy and just focus on getting him ready for game one when they play the Arizona Cardinals. Jordan Reed also needs to understand that if he can’t stay healthy and return to his 2015 play level, his relevance in the league could slip. I won’t say that the Redskins season will hinge on the health and productivity of Jordan Reed, but if they could get anything close to that 2015 production, the Washington Redskins could make some noise in the NFC East.

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