2014 Houston Texans Training Camp: Brooks Reed Will In Fact Move To ILB

As fans we speculate, speculate, speculate, and then speculate some more about the teams and games we love. Most of the time this pondering leads to silly ideas like "The Texans will regret the day they pass on Johnny Manziel", but a slim number of ideas open up actual discussion.

For the past two seasons or so, we've witnessed Brooks Reed's lack of speed make pass rushing an impossible task as he flailed after opposing quarterbacks as an outside linebacker. Yet we also observed Reed's ability to shed pass blockers and contain the edge in the run game. It was clear Reed's skill set did not match his position. This pondering led to speculation that Reed should move to inside linebacker.  This speculation has now wiggled its way into the truth.

In an interview on Texans radio that was turned into a post by Deepi Sidhu on the mothership (and now turned into a post on Battle Red Blog), Brooks Reed has confirmed that he is moving to inside linebacker full time and will play on the edge sparingly.

"It’s totally different," Reed said in an interview with Texans Radio on June 9. "Right now, I’m playing middle full-time. I also have to prepare to play outside too. I’m doing that as well. I have got to know a lot of stuff. I have to know a lot of adjustments and checks but it’s coming along. It just takes repetitions to see it. You can get it down paper-perfect but when you get down on the field, people are moving quickly and it’s a lot different. In that regard, it’s still a work in progress. There’s always things I can fix and improve upon but that’s just me being critical of myself."

With the addition of Jadeveon Clowney outside and Reed rarely rushing the passer in his new role, it's looking like the Texans' pass rush may turn from impotent to maniacal this upcoming season.