When you’re his size, and play his position, the “he’s just too small” assessments are impossible to, well, duck.
But Saturday night, no one came up bigger in the Seahawks’ 20-14 victory over the San Diego Chargers than the undersized defensive end from the University of Oregon. The 6-foot-1, 247-pound Reed collected a sack and also intercepted as pass in the second half of the Seahawks’ preseason opener.
The player he blew past to drop Charlie Whitehurst, the Chargers’ No. 3 quarterback, was backup left tackle L.J. Shelton – a former first-round draft choice who is five inches taller and 98 pounds heavier than Reed.
The screen pass he picked off was thrown at point-blank range, but Reed snagged it without hesitation – playing into the oft-whispered line that he looks not like a linebacker, but a big safety.
No one was happier to witness Reed’s latest in-your-face performance than rookie offensive lineman
“Nick had a helluva game, I tell you what,” Unger said in the locker room at Qualcomm Stadium, unable to hold back a smile – or his obvious satisfaction.
“That was like a flashback Oregon game. He was all over the place. That’s vintage Nick Reed, and it just shows that size doesn’t really matter as long as you can make plays.”
Reed’s big plays sparked an overall impressive outing by the Seahawks’ defensive linemen.
Left end
Therein lies Reed’s biggest problem: Where does he fit on the team with so many D-linemen capable of making plays.
But this is nothing new for Reed, the too-small guy who has been making big-time plays since his days at Trabuco Canyon High School in Mission Viejo, Calif. At Oregon, he had a school-record 29½ sacks – a total that also ranks fourth-best in Pac-10 history and No. 10 all-time in the NCAA.
“We’ve watched Nick in the Pac-10 for years and he’s a playmaker,” coach Jim Mora said. “It was good to see him show up. I had a feeling that he would. I had a feeling he’d show up and make some plays.”
So did Unger. “Nick definitely showed what he can do,” he said. “And it was a pretty typical performance for him, to be honest with you.”
So once again, Reed was able to show-up everyone who continues to lament his lack of size. The too-small talk has become so redundant that he’s really tired of making small talk, and instead uses it to drive his nonstop motor.
“I take it as motivation,” he said. “I need to work harder than the next guy. I need to know the playbook better than the next guy. I need to know the other team better than the next guy.
“I understand that. It’s never going to be easy for me, but that’s how it has always been.”
Reed politely listens, but then lets it all roll off his back like – what else? – a duck.
