Washington Football Team studs and duds from Week 16 loss vs. Panthers
By Ian Cummings
Dud No. 4 – S Jeremy Reaves
Jeremy Reaves is a nice story, for sure. He stuck around with the Washington Football Team as an undrafted free agent, survived a regime change, and now, he’s logging meaningful snaps as a tough, instinctive safety.
But Reaves very clearly isn’t a consistent player on the back end, and his struggles were magnified against the Panthers on Sunday. There were times when Reaves was picked on in coverage, and he was also the unfortunate highlight of a big play by the Panthers in the second quarter.
On first and ten near the 50-yard line, Teddy Bridgewater handed the ball off to Curtis Samuel, who streaked upfield down the sideline. Samuel made Ronald Darby miss, then met Jeremy Reaves, who couldn’t bring Samuel down. Despite having 10 pounds on Samuel, Reaves rode behind the receiver for 20 yards, only bringing him down near the 10-yard line when he finally received help.
Because Reaves has below-average athletic traits, the main appeal with him is his aggressiveness and tackling ability. When he struggles to tackle, it takes one of his core competencies away, and makes him a liability on the defense. Against Carolina, that was made clear.