Welcome to All 105, a Nittany Sports Now series profiling each Penn State football player. The series’ second article will profile third-year safety Jaylen Reed
Before Penn State: Reed was a three-year letterman at Martin Luther King High School in Detroit. He was a Metro Detroit Dream Team and All-State Selection in 2019 and helped Martin Luther King to a state championship the year before. Reed, a consensus four-star recruit was the No. 9 overall player in Michigan, the No. 17 safety nationally and the No. 272 overall player from the 2021 Class, according to 247Sports’ Composite Ratings.
2021: Reed appeared in eight games, recording six tackles (four solo) and a quarterback hurry.
Last Year: Reed played in all 13 games, recording 31 tackles (21 solo) two tackles for loss, and a quarterback hurry, providing depth in the safety rotation. His best game came against Indiana, where he recorded five tackles and a tackle for loss.
Where He Stands: Reed is part of a deep position group that has a lot of talent coming back, featuring Zakee Wheatley, Keaton Ellis, KJ Winston and incoming freshmen King Mack and Dakarri Nelson coming later this summer. Reed’s main competition will be Wheatly to start opposite Ellis, who was named a team captain. Regardless of if he wins the starting job or not, Reed will be factored in a heavy rotation as coordinator Manny Diaz and safeties coach Anthony Poindexter like to rotate their safeties and have special packages for Reed.
Reed Quote: “(Brisker) took me under his wing and saw something in me I didn’t see,” Reed said about Jaquan Brisker mentoring him as a freshman.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“And I just listened to him and kept going.”
Reed is switching numbers from 7 to Brisker’s old number, 1, for the 2023 season.
Quote on Reed: “I know that play doesn’t happen if it wasn’t for JReed… It just shows how dynamic the playmakers are and what we got in the safety room.”
– Wheatley on Reed’s quarterback pressure on TJ Finley that led to his interception in Penn State’s 41-12 win over Auburn Sept. 17. of last year
