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Washington Redskins tight end Jordan Reed went down with a concussion in Week 11 and has not played since as he deals with the lingering effects of the injury, so it was not a surprise to see him officially placed on season-ending injured reserve on Thursday. He will finish his rookie season with 45 receptions for 499 yards and three touchdowns in nine games played, as he also missed a game back in Week 4 with a quad issue. Reed’s most productive stretch of the season came from Week 6-Week 10, coming out of Washington’s Week 5 bye, when he had 31 receptions for 381 yards and two touchdowns in those five games.
Reed suffered two concussions during his college career at Florida, but there does not appear to be a lot of concern about his ability to be ready for Washington’s offseason program and he should be able to continue his career without issue. Of course the shaky nature of concussions can change things, but should fantasy football owners still hold Reed in high regard going forward?
Reed had just one catch for 12 yards in the game he suffered his concussion in, and even with missing five full games he is still tied for 17th in fantasy points (65) among tight ends in ESPN standard leagues right now. If you project his per-game production (7.2 fantasy points per game) over 14 games, Reed would currently be the eighth-highest scoring tight end in ESPN leagues. It’s dangerous to blindly project what he could have done if he’d been active for every game up to this point, but the exercise points to Reed’s potential if he can stay on the field.
An inevitable coaching change in Washington should not impact Reed’s fantasy value at all, in 2014 or beyond. The bigger concern is the lingering aftermath of this most recent concussion, and if he is slow to progress during the offseason his draftability next summer would take a hit.
Brad Berreman is a contributing writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradberreman24.
