Denver Broncos star defender Von Miller missed the entire 2020 season with an ankle injury and fellow outside linebacker Bradley Chubb missed the final two games of the season with an ankle injury of his own.
The absence of Miller (and to a lesser extent, Chubb) thrust Malik Reed into a starting role and he took advantage of it, totaling a team-high eight sacks. Last month, Reed said he improved his game in two areas last year, which lead to mini breakout season for him.
“Coverage was one of the first things I noticed,” Reed said on June 3. “I feel a big difference [since] the first year. I feel like it was learning a lot of what I’m supposed to be doing. I was thrust in with so much opportunity coming in. It’s kind of like learning on the fly.
“Having all that experience under my belt, I was going into the second year with a good understanding of the defense and a good understanding of route concepts and what other teams are trying to do. I feel like I took a step forward in the coverage aspect of it last year.”
Reed’s improvement in coverage is key for the defense, but it won’t show up in the box score like sacks do. His pass-rush skills also improved last year, and that’s what fans notice.
“The pass rush — just getting more comfortable in the things that I did well in the pash-rush game and sticking to those things,” Reed said. “Studying the tackles in a different way with the moves that I used the previous season and how I could affect the game going forward. Working on my craft each and every day has led to the improvement. That’s going to be what it is going forward. Continue to cultivate the things that I do well and work on the things that I don’t and keep trying to get better every day.”
Reed will now look to carry the momentum from his strong 2020 season into the 2021 campaign, starting in Week 1 against the New York Giants.
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