The Jets recently acquired former Rams linebacker Troy Reeder, who has been active several times due to linebacker injuries. Today, we break down Reeder in detail.
The 32-year-old Reeder is listed at 6’3” and 245 pounds and went undrafted out of Delaware in 2019. He has started 38 games in his NFL career, including five more in postseason action.
Reeder was a three-star high school recruit, and committed to Penn State in 2014 where he redshirted his first season. In 2015, he started all 11 games and totaled 67 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, and one interception.
At the end of a fairly successful first season, it was perhaps surprising that he chose to move to Delaware but it was partly because he wanted to be closer to his family and his brother was also in Delaware. He is also expected to move into a backup role behind players like Jason Cabinda if he stays with the Nittany Lions.
Reeder was an immediate success 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 a second-team all-American and he was again selected to the first-team all-CAA. He set career marks in multiple categories with 127 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
Despite this success, Reeder was not selected 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 again played a key role in seven starts, and was second on the team with 81 tackles, and added three sacks.
2021 was the best season of Reeder’s career, as he played a big role in the Rams’ Super Bowl victory. He started 10 regular season games and had 91 tackles, six pass breakups, two sacks and two interceptions.
Reeder transferred 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 no starts.
In 2023, he initially joined the Vikings, but failed to make their roster and ended up back with the Rams signing 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 before suffering a season-ending injury in the sixth. He finished with 46 tackles, one tackle for loss and one pass breakup.
Last season, he returned to the Rams but only started one game, although he played a big role on special teams. He finished with 25 tackles and two pass breakups.
This year, Reeder was without a team until early in training camp when he was picked up by the Lions. However, they released him at the end of the preseason.
The Jets acquired Reeder and signed him to their practice squad after final cuts and have since been signed to the active roster after Marcelino McCrary-Ball was placed on injured reserve.
Let’s move on to some more in-depth analysis of what Reeder brings to the table, based on in-depth research and film study.
Reeder has good size in terms of his height and weight, but his arm span is less than 30 inches. That’s incredibly rare for an NFL linebacker as only six players in combined history have measured under 30 inches and most of them didn’t have much of a professional career. This is probably the main reason why he went undrafted.
His other stats are great though. He ran a 4.63 in the 40-yard dash during his pro days and did 27 bench press reps with solid explosiveness and agility numbers.
Reeder has always been an off-ball linebacker, matching up in the slot or creeping to the end on rare occasions. He played as an outside linebacker and as a Mike.
He also played running back in high school.
Reeder is a productive run defender, whose performance grades on analytical sites like Pro Football Focus have steadily improved over the course of his career from poor to nearly average.
He is adept at plugging gaps between tackles but can take overly aggressive angles in pursuit at times.
Reeder has been exposed to many coverage situations over the course of his career, which has inevitably led to him giving up some key plays at times.
He gave up a catch on 80 percent of his targets during his career and, though that percentage was lower in recent years, he gave up more yards per catch.
However, it says something about his coaches believing in him that he is trusted in these situations and that he has shown some playmaking ability as well.
The only two interceptions of his career came in the Rams’ Super Bowl winning season, where he also had a career-high six pass breakups.
Reeder missed a ton of tackles in his first three seasons, with his tackle radius and range clearly affected by his lack of arm length.
However, he has really improved his handling skills in recent seasons and can close quickly on the ball and stop a runner in their tracks.
He only had one forced fumble at the NFL level but had five in college.
Reeder hasn’t blitzed much during his career, but he had one game in 2020 where he had three sacks. That was somewhat of an anomaly, however, 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 in his NFL career, but it’s been low since 2021 and he’s rarely been used as a blitzer since then.
Reeder brings a lot of special teams experience to the table and has already made an impression on the Jets as he has four special teams tackles in his first two games with them.
He has played on every unit except the placekicking unit and has made 45 special teams tackles in his career, including 15 last year. He had four special team penalties, though.
At Delaware, Reeder blocked a kick in each of his three seasons and contributed to the punt rush at the NFL level.
He also had a big recovery of a muffed punt in a postseason game with the Rams.
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 had just one defensive penalty at the NFL level, although he had five in his final season at Delaware. The NFL’s only penalty was for unnecessary roughness though.
He was ejected from a preseason game for a late hit on a sliding quarterback though.
Reeder has great intelligence and football IQ, as evidenced by his need to pick up the green dot for the Rams in the middle of their postseason run.
Having done that successfully, Reeder will 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 misreading play fakes and misdirection.
He had many academic honors in college, both while he was at Penn State and at Delaware.
Reeder is considered a great leader with the Rams’ coaches at one stage referring to him as a “pseudo-coach”. He has also been a great mentor, taking young players under his wing on a regular basis.
Reeder has been solid throughout his career but then suffered a hamstring injury in week six of the 2024 season that sidelined him for the rest of the year.
In addition to that, the only game he has missed in his NFL career was the first week of this season while he was still on the practice squad.
Reeder could back up at any of the inside linebacker positions for New York, though it’s clear that the main reason for adding him is as a special teams contributor. He played in both 3-4 and 4-3 systems.
Current Jets who have been Reeder’s teammates in the past include Kene Nwangwu, Jordan Meredith, Jack Heflin, Tyler Johnson and Tre Brown.
As mentioned, Reeder has already made an impact on special teams, which is welcome with the release of McCrary-Ball. However, the unit as a whole has had some struggles in games where Reeder has been featured.
Although he had a successful career, Rams fans were surprisingly negative about Reeder throughout his tenure with them, even after he served as a key contributor to their Super Bowl-winning team.
The Jets are likely hoping Reeder won’t be needed to fill in on defense this year, but if he has to do that on a short-term basis, at least he has the experience, intelligence and versatility to do so.