At 5-foot-9, D.J. Reed isn’t a big man on an NFL football field. But his confidence stands 6-foot-8.
“You just watch my film,” Reed said after being drafted by the 49ers in the fifth round this spring. “I’m a lock-down corner first and foremost. I don’t get scored on.”
The Niners drafted Reed out of Kansas State believing he could develop into a fine nickel cornerback. This past Sunday, in a win over the Denver Broncos, Reed proved them right, stepping in for injured No. 1 nickel corner K’Waun Williams to have a team-high seven run stops (while being in on 12 tackles overall), getting his first NFL sack, a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble.
Reed was nominated for NFL Rookie of the Week for his performance, which helped San Francisco to just its third win this season, a 20-14 decision at Levi’s Stadium.
“D.J. did have a very good game,” said head coach Kyle Shanahan this week. “I was very excited to see him do some of the stuff he did as the nickel. I think K’Waun has done a hell of a job for us in these two years. So if K’Waun is healthy, I expect K’Waun to be out there. But if he’s not, D.J. can hopefully do better than he did last week and it would be great to go in with some real good competition with those two next year.”
Reed has played in 12 games this season, with the one start, and has been in on 30 tackles, with three of those for loss. He’s also contributed on special teams, where he was a standout at Kansas State. Reed has returned 11 kickoffs for an average of 30.2 yards.
Reed admits this has been a challenging year as he’s had to learn safety and both inside and outside corner positions. In his only previous significant playing time in the secondary, in a Week 4 game, he filled in at free safety and had a rough game. But, he said he felt much more comfortable at nickel corner Sunday against Denver.
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“I had a lot of expectations for myself, coming in as a rookie, that I haven’t achieved,” Reed told reporters after the Broncos game. “Getting the opportunity to play this week, I feel like I made the most of it at practice and took advantage of the opportunity.”
Reed also said coaches and teammates – including veteran cornerback Richard Sherman – told him to play faster and stop overthinking things.
“They basically said I am a great player when I am just playing,” said Reed. “When I am thinking, I am not so great.”
With Williams still out of practice this week because of a knee injury, it appears Reed will get another chance to start this Sunday when the 3-10 49ers take on the 8-5 Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1:05 p.m.
