On December 29, 2011, Greg Reid played his final game as a Florida State Seminole. 15 Days later, Jeff Fisher changed the fate of the franchise by choosing the Rams head coaching position over a similar offer from the Dolphins. Let that sink in for a moment..... Greg Reid hasn't played a meaningful down on a football field since the Jeff Fisher and Les Snead took on this rebuilding project.
Fast forward two and a half years and Reid has been booted from the FSU program, had 2 ACL surgeries, and been arrested for a parole violation. I won't get too far into details, but if interested, you can find them here. It's a surprisehe hasn't been invited to a mentoring session by ever-probing commissioner Roger Goodell.
Roster Battle
Assuming that Janoris Jenkins and Trumaine Johnson are the starters at CB, that leaves Reid to compete for playing time at Nickel CB. The issue is, the Rams are suddenly flush with promising potential at DB and that playing time is going to be fiercely battled for. In addition to Reid, you will have 2014 second round selection Lamarcus Joyner, the loser of the Rodney McLeod / Mo Alexander FS battle, Brandon McGee, and EJ Gaines... all jockeying for playing time in the slot.
Personally, I'm expecting Joyner to lock down the Nickel position in camp... so the real battle, in my opinion, is going to be between Reid and the others for the 4th and 5th CB slots. This is THE spot to watch on the defensive side of things during training camp. There will be arguably five guys (Reid, McLeod, Alexander, McGee, Gaines) with a legitimate shot to win the 4th CB job. I'm looking forward to seeing who steps up.
Expectations
First and foremost, Reid will have to show that his knee is back to 100% (he was reportedly running sub 4.4 before his injuries). After he shows that he is fully healed, he will have to stay clean and out of trouble with the law (and Roger Goodell).
If he can accomplish those things, I expect him to push for playing time in a dime DB role if he can manage to make the team. Which leads me to......
Will he Make the Team?
This is probably the toughest Rams Roster Preview I've had the pleasure of writing thus far. What it boils down to in the end is health and roster spots. I see the Rams carrying five CBs, with three of those spots being reserved for Jenkins, Johnson, and Joyner. With Brandon McGee largely disappointing last year, that leaves E.J. Gaines and a glut of UDFA's fighting for 2 roster spots. Again, if healthy, I think Reid will win one of those final 2 spots.