Washington Redskins 2018 season tight end grades
Jordan Reed
Reed’s season was an odd one. It was certainly frustrating, and frankly speaking, it wasn’t what many fans had hoped to see out of Reed.
Reed logged the second-most games in 2018 of his career. He appeared in 13 contests and from the start of the season, he appeared to be healthy. He only missed time late in the year after aggravating his ankle. By then, the team had already been marred by injuries, and many fans weren’t used to seeing Reed on the field that long.
However, despite Reed’s ability to stay on the field, he wasn’t as big a factor in the offense as many had hoped. In terms of talent, he is arguably the best receiving threat on the roster. One could argue that Jamison Crowder could challenge him, but Reed is the type of matchup nightmare that teams look for at tight end. That never really materialized last season.
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Reed was solid when on the field, but he was unspectacular. He never emerged as a red-zone threat. Early in the season, he started off decently but became inconsistent and failed to establish a strong rapport with Alex Smith. Considering the strong connection Smith had with Travis Kelce in Kansas City, this was a major disappointment.
There was a glimmer of hope for Reed late in the year, as he posted the two best games of his career when Colt McCoy was on the field. The pair of 70-plus yard outings proved that Reed could still be a top receiving target, and Reed was McCoy’s go-to option in the red-zone during his brief, 1.5 game stint as the starter. If McCoy is the starter moving forward, that will bode well for Reed’s potential as a top target in the offense.
While Reed’s production — 54 catches, 558 yards, two touchdowns — was solid, it was still just an average season for him at best (13th among TEs in receiving yards). He did suffer an injury at the end of the season, too, so that continues to fuel the well-earned “injury prone” label. If he had been a better red-zone threat, he may have gotten to the high-C/low-B range, but the fact that he could barely score with Smith in the lineup definitely moves him closer to the below-average category.