Rookie Reed gives defense a needed jolt
The best way to describe cornerback D.J. Reed’s performance Sunday: It was the opposite of “lackadaisical.”
A week after defensive tackle DeForest Buckner used that word to describe the 49ers’ run defense, Reed did plenty to ensure that uninspired performance wasn’t reprised.
The rookie fifth-round pick had a game-high 12 tackles — three behind the line of scrimmage, including a sack. Who would have guessed the run defense would receive a jolt from a 5-foot-9, 188-pound slot cornerback subbing for injured first-stringer K’Waun Williams?
“My coaches told me to play fast,” Reed said. Cornerback “Richard Sherman told me to play fast. They basically said I’m a great player when I’m just playing. When I’m thinking, I’m not so great.”
Reed followed instructions. His 12 tackles were five more than a 49ers cornerback had in any of the first 12 games.
Reed was one of several young players who provided energy to a defense that was a week removed from allowing a season-high 168 rushing yards in a 27-point loss at Seattle.
The result: The 49ers limited Denver running back Phillip Lindsay to 30 yards and 2.1 yards a carry. Lindsay arrived on a three-game tear in which he’d averaged 115.3 yards a game and 7.9 yards a carry.
Reed flashed the excitement he’d shown on the field when Lindsay’s paltry numbers were relayed in the locker room.
“Wow, it was 30 (yards)? Oh, wow,” Reed said. “… Wow, I don’t know we (held) him to 30 yards. That’s crazy.”
Reed, 22, spelled Williams, and two other young players — inside linebacker Elijah Lee, 22, and nose tackle D.J. Jones, 23 — took the spots of Malcolm Smith, 29, and Earl Mitchell, 31, respectively. Smith and Mitchell were in uniform, but didn’t play a defensive snap as the going-nowhere 49ers (3-10) auditioned members of their kiddie corps.
In addition, rookie sixthround pick Marcell Harris, 24, made his second career start. In the fourth quarter, Harris made back-to-back tackles — on 3rd-and-2 and 4th-and-3 — to turn away the Broncos inside the 49ers’ 25-yard line.
Reed, Harris, Lee and Jones combined for 48 percent (27 of 56) of the 49ers’ tackles and five of their six tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Their average age: 22.7.
The 49ers allowed their second-fewest points and thirdfewest yards (274) of the season.
“They played fearless,” Sherman said of his defensive teammates after the game. “They played with no hesitation. They didn’t second-guess themselves. They didn’t think about anything. They played fast (and) made tackles. They made some phenomenal one-on-one tackles in crucial spots.”
Reed was back in a familiar spot Sunday, which had something to do with his standout performance. He was a cornerback at Kansas State, but he’d played primarily free safety this season on a fill-in basis before Williams was sidelined.
Reed’s work in place of Williams has raised the question of whether he’ll be the firststring nickel corner in 2019. However, Williams, 27, was the first player signed after head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch were hired in 2017. Last year, Williams became the first player given a contract extension by the new regime.
“I was very excited to see (Reed) do some of the stuff he did as the nickel,” Shanahan said. “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. It would be great to go in with some real good competition with those two next year.”