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Published Mar 28, 2019

J.R. Reed wants havoc on his way to a national title

Riley Orr

Special Correspondent

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Starting Georgia safety J.R. Reed has a vision for the Bulldogs. He sees havoc coming.

“I definitely think we bring a lot more energy, definitely with a younger staff, and I think we are going to create a lot more turnovers, a lot more havoc plays,” Reed told reporters earlier. “More sacks and tackles for loss. I definitely see that happening.”

Reed, who was second on the team in tackles last year with 66, tallied two tackles for loss in the 2018 season. He wants to see that total rise, but will have his work cut out for him.

Reed will man Georgia’s secondary without possible first-round NFL Draft pick Deandre Baker this year. Thus he will need to replace the former Bulldog as the group’s leader and train his less experienced teammates.

“It’s just definitely about developing the younger guys, who play that position,” Reed said. “If we can develop those guys we can get them to be another Deandre Baker and then there will never be a drop off.”

With Baker gone, Reed is finding that his style of leadership needs to change.

“I have to take my role more serious, well I don’t want to say more serious, but it’s just a different role than I’ve had in the past,” Reed said. ”You know when I first got here I was old, but I was still young because I hadn’t really played on the field, and then last year I was an older guy. So, this year it’s really just me, Tyrique Mcghee, and that’s really it for the older guys that’s back there.”

Speaking of being an older guy, Reed had the opportunity to leave early for the NFL but chose to stay at Georgia.

" I wanted to come back and win a National Championship"

J.R. Reed

“I mean it was 100% talk to my family throughout the process,” Reed said. “You know it took me a minute to figure out what I wanted to do. We definitely weighed our pros and cons and talked to Coach [Kirby] Smart and told him I wanted to come back and win a National Championship.”

For Reed, one of the benefits of staying at Georgia is the opportunity to learn from new secondary coach Charlton Warren, who started his career at the Air Force Academy.

“You know you gotta be very structured and that’s one of the things, he comes in and he has preached to us and our secondary, “Reed said. “You know you don’t want to anyone to be late, don’t want anything to be out of order. He’s very detailed since he’s from a military background, as you guys know. He’s very detailed and it’s always the details that matter.”