Arizona Football: Brooks Reed is causing chaos for opposing QB’s in the NFL

By Nick Matt | Sep 20, 2017

ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 14: Brooks Reed /

A long time ago, Arizona football was actually respected and had players opposing teams feared.

Tucson native, Brooks Reed was one of those players. Reed was relentless by playing most of each game in the opposite team’s backfield blowing up running plays and bringing down the quarterback.

Reed’s motor never stops and has had success in the NFL since coming into the league back in 2011. The Houston Texans drafted him in the 2nd round. That was one of his attributes that NFL executives fell in love with in Reed. So far the product of Sabino High School in Tucson has had a productive career and so far after the first two weeks of 2017, he has recorded two sacks in Week 1 against the Bears and was limited in his second game against the Packers on Sunday night.

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Brooks Reed didn’t put together Scooby Wright type numbers in college but he was consistently causing problems with key big plays on defense. Whether it be a late-game sack to ice the game or causing a fumble in a crucial situation, Reed was usually in the right place at the right time and was loved in Tucson for being born and raised in the Dirty T and choosing to play at Arizona.

Reed helped Arizona go to bowl games in 3 of his 4 seasons at Arizona. 2008, 2009, and his senior year 2010, Reed led Arizona to 3 bowl games.

Brooks was interviewed after the Alamo Bowl game in 2010 by 247sports.com, “When I first came in here we hadn’t been to a bowl game in nine years. We were that class that was starting that rebuilding state. I didn’t start until 2007 but a lot of these guys, this is a huge class, I felt like weâ€™ve had a huge contribution to the success this program has had in the last three years.”

“When I first came in here in we hadn’t been to a bowl game in nine years. We were that class that was starting that rebuilding state. I didn’t start until 2007 but a lot of these guys, this is a huge class, I felt like we’ve had a huge contribution to the success this program has had in the last three years.” Brooks Reed in 2010 After His Senior Season

Reed was picked by the Houston Texans as the 10th pick in the 2nd round of the 2011 NFL Draft, which was higher than he was originally projected to go off the board. Scouts questioned his durability but Wade Phillips, the new Defensive Coordinator of the Texans in 2011, knew he was a special talent and made him the 42nd player off the board in ’11.

Reed most productive season came during his rookie season when he recorded 6.5 sacks while starting in 11 of the 16 games. The Texans went all defense in their first two picks because they selected JJ Watt in the first round. Reed had the privilege of competing in Practice every day with JJ Watt in Houston and Dwight Freeney in Atlanta for a year. That is a lot of Knowledge to gain by playing along with both players.

Reed has started off this season by picking up two sacks in his first game of the season including the game-sealing sack against the Chicago Bears in the last minutes of the game. There were a few of these same hustle plays Arizona fans saw while Reed was at Arizona including big plays against the Ducks and the USC Trojans.

Here is a taste of a huge play against the Bears made by Brooks Reed:

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Brooks Reed was a contributing factor for the NFC champs in 2016-2017 starting in 7 of the 16 games but playing a lot of minutes. Time will tell how well Reed plays in year 3 with the Falcons. Falcons fans are beginning to see why Wade Phillips, a defensive guru, saw he was a second-round talent. Teams need players like Brooks Reed and we’ll see how the defending NFC Champs, use him this season. So far so good for the 7th year player and one of Tucson’s finest local products.

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