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Jordan Reed was drafted in the third round of the 2013 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins out of the University of Florida primarily to be a pass catching tight end. With the ability to line up as an in-line tight end, detached tight end, slot receiver and occasional H-back, Reed is versatile enough to line up wherever he is needed. He has vice-grip hands to go along with that, make him an attractive fantasy commodity next year.
He came into the year relatively unknown, and even though his season was cut short due to injury, fantasy owners simply cannot ignore the staggering production that Reed produced this past season.
In 2013, Reed finished his season on injured reserve, but with nine games started, he recorded 45 receptions for 499 yards and three touchdowns averaging 11.1 yards per reception. The 45 receptions Reed had were on 59 targets, which means that Reed caught a whopping 76 percent of passes thrown his way.
To put that number in perspective, Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski (the perceived top-two fantasy tight ends) caught 60 percent and 58 percent of their passes. This is a very small sample size to look at for Reed. Imagine what kind of numbers he can post with a full 16-game season under his belt?
Reed was voted to the NFL All-Rookie team in 2013. He should be able to build on his impressive debut season. Since Washington does not have a legitimate no. 2 receiving threat behind Pierre Garcon, Reed was and will be heavily featured in the offense. After a full offseason to recover and getting a 100 percent healthy Robert Griffin III back at the helm, look for Reed to flourish in Washington’s read-option offense next season.
In terms of fantasy football, owners may be a little worried about drafting such a young player so early, but they should view Reed as an elite TE1 option heading into the 2014 season because of the successful amount of balls he is able to catch and his ability to find the end zone. He should enjoy the same level of success he had in 2013.
Alexander Muir is a writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter @AmuirAlex, “Like” him on Facebook or add him on your network on Google.
