Karene Reid, LB, Utah
Size:
Height: 6’0” (v) | Weight: 227 lbs (v)
Accomplishments:
First-Team All-Pac-12 (2022) • Second-Team All-Pac-12 (2023)
“Karene Reid is an instinctive and extremely active linebacker who is consistently first to the football.”
Strengths:
High football IQ
Instinctive
Tough
Competes sideline to sideline
Concerns:
Size/length
Success vs. larger pass-catchers
Film Analysis:
Karene Reid is an instinctive and extremely active linebacker who is consistently first to the football. He aligns primarily as the ‘MIKE’ linebacker inside the Utes’ defense.
Against the run, while Reid has to slide and slither his way through bodies to make plays at or behind the line of scrimmage, he does well to key and diagnose the run game quickly after the snap. Constant communicator pre-snap who doesn’t stop moving. He’s undersized with below-average length to have success against larger opponents, but Reid does well in triggering downhill with excellent pursuit angles to the football. Not an elite athlete, but has the movement skills to wrangle down ball-carriers both inside and outside the hashes. Reid has showcased the ability to drop his shoulder to work around linemen inside tight areas, forcing misses. Will rarely approach contact head-on, forcing linemen to read and react. He's also a sound tackler.
In zone, Reid showcases a high level of comfortability. His eyes constantly remain on a swivel over the middle of the field, quick to react to anything in front. Can run into issues at times when asked to flip and run, however. Reid plays with a high energy that is evident on tape, which consistently puts him in spots to make plays on the football. While larger pass-catchers can have success against Reid over the middle of the field, he competes his tail off to make each catch an exhausting process. Not a ton of snaps in man, but Reid is best against RBs out of the backfield or when asked to disrupt timing against TEs. Picking up pass-catchers in open grass at depth is where he can run into problems.
Size and length will remain a knock on Reid, but his smarts and instincts at the second level, at times, mask those aspects he simply can’t control. More snaps in man will also assist in his ability in coverage. Improving in that aspect will also boost his chances for snaps on passing downs.
Overall, Reid is an active and instinctive ballplayer whose toughness and willingness to mix it up from sideline to sideline has to be appreciated. He projects as a multi-phase contributor whose immediate path to snaps could come as a core special teamer and hybrid second-level defender.
Prospect Projection: Day 3 — Role Specific Contributor
Written By: Ryan Fowler
Exposures: Washington (2023), Oregon (2023), Oregon State (2023)
