Haason Reddick heating up under the Miami sun

[time2rock]

Haason Reddick heating up under the Miami sun

 

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Haason Reddick had to fly all the way to Cleveland and then to Miami just to get away from Lane Johnson.

It’s working.

Early in training camp, Johnson did a great job against Reddick, keeping the $15 million-per-year edge rusher relatively quiet. Johnson is one of the best tackles in football; that’s gonna happen.

"Lane is very good. I’ll say that,” Reddick said last week. "I’ve said that before, I’ll say that again. Lane is very good.”

But Reddick won’t have to face Johnson during the 2022 season. And all that work against the Eagles’ resident three-time Pro Bowl right guard has been paying off. Last week in Cleveland, Reddick was great.

And on Wednesday against the Dolphins, he might have had his most explosive practice yet.

"Dude, Haason’s good. He’s good,” said rookie Jordan Davis, shaking his head. "And to be able to play [with] a guy like that, have him on the good guys, it’s great. He’s like a Swiss Army knife, he’s pretty much everywhere on the field.”

While there has been a lot made about how much defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon will use Reddick to drop in coverage — Reddick will likely be used limitedly in that capacity — we’re also seeing the variety of ways Reddick will be deployed as a pass rusher.

Of course, he’ll always be a dynamic threat on the edge, using his speed to fly past tackles. But at times we’ve seen Reddick line up inside a defensive end, which opens possibilities with stunts. And on Wednesday, Reddick had one of the most fun reps of camp.

Reddick busted through the A gap as running back Salvon Ahmed’s feeble attempts to stop him failed miserable. The poor running back basically tried to tackle Reddick, was called for a hold and didn’t even slow Reddick down on his way to Tua Tagovailoa.

That was just one of Reddick’s "sacks” on the day. He had a few.

His teammates are taking notice.

"Haas is a guy who can rush well, he can cover, he can move in space,” linebacker T.J. Edwards said. "Having a guy like that, that you can kind of move around and put in different looks and different formations and how the O-line counts him and things like that.

"He makes it more difficult and he makes it a little easier for us because he knows what he’s doing as well. There’s a lot of his plate but he knows exactly where he’s supposed to be. He’s been a vet since Day 1.”

Reddick, 27, has 23 1/2 sacks over the last two years, which ranks fifth in the NFL. Sacks, of course, aren’t everything, but the Eagles had just 29 as a team last season.

As long as Reddick doesn’t have to face Johnson this season — and he won’t — the Eagles will be relying on him to help up that total.

While Reddick is happy not going against Johnson in Cleveland or Miami, he realizes how much that work has helped him.

"I loved it,” Reddick said last week in Cleveland. "Just because I’ve been working against Lane all camp, to finally come out here and work and see some different sets, see some different things that I could possibly get during the season.

"It was a good thing. I think you need practices like this so you can work different things. I can’t work all my moves on Lane because of the way Lane sets. I got to go against a different tackle and I could work different moves because I’m getting a different set and a different look.”

None of those looks have slowed Reddick down yet. Pretty soon we’ll get to see what he can do when the reps count.

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/eagles-training-camp-2022-haason-reddick-heating-under-miami-sun

[UK_EaglesFan89]

Very very excited to see Reddick in an Eagles jersey. I think he's going to cause a lot of problems and get to the QB a lot.