Tim Twentyman

Veteran cornerbackD.J. Reedsigned with the Detroit Lions in free agency this offseason for three main reasons: He wanted to play for head coach Dan Campbell, he knew his man cover skills were a perfect fit in Detroit's scheme, and he was excited about the talent he was joining in the Lions' secondary.

He was exposed to the latter for the first time on the field during last week's OTA practices, and the reality didn't disappoint the expectations.

"It's what I thought it was," Reed said of the Lions' secondary. "It's the reason whyKerby (Joseph)andBrian Branchyou could arguably say that they're the 1A safeties. You could argue that they are both the best safeties in the NFL right now.

"And when you see them work day in and day out, it makes sense. And even working withAmik (Robertson), you can see why he's the best nickel or one of the best nickels, just with the way he communicates, the way he approaches every day, and the way he works."

And it's not just the established veterans who have caught Reed's eye so far.

"And TA (Terrion Arnold) right now same thing. He hit me up a couple of days ago when I was practicing and was basically watching my film for me and telling me what I need to work on, and he was correct too with what he emphasized I need to work on. So, the next day, I went and worked on that. So, we got a good group, bro. Ennis (Rakestraw Jr.) has been balling his [butt] off. He had a great day (last Friday), so our whole DB room is full of dogs."

Reed established himself as a reliable cornerback in Seattle in 2020 and 2021 after starting his career in a backup role in San Francisco in 2018 and 2019. He was in a heavy man cover scheme with the New York Jets the last three seasons, and that's where he proved his play in the Jets' heavy man scheme could be a great fit in Detroit.

According to NFL's Next Gen Stats, Reed forced a tight-throwing window on 37.3 percent of the targets he faced, the fourth-highest rate among qualifying cornerbacks. He posted an 18 percent forced incompletion rate last year, good for 10th among 127 qualifying cornerbacks.

He brings some veteran leadership to Detroit's DB room. Playing a lot of man in New York close to the line of scrimmage gives him a lot of experience in the quick passing game offenses try to attack man defense with.

"I'm more of a kind of show what I do, and if you pick off it, if you got questions, I got you," Reed said. "But I'm new here, so I'm not going to just come here and just tell people what works. It's like someone comes to me or asks me a question, and vice versa.

"I ask them questions. I'm new here, so they really know more than me as far as the playbook and experience, so I'm really asking them more questions than they're asking me right now."

Reed is excited about the makeup of Detroit's secondary. He believes they can take a huge step forward as a unit in 2025, especially if the front seven stays heathy and they marry the pass rush and the cover behind it.