Jerrick Reed Drafted by Seattle in 6th Round

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jerrick Reed II, an All-Conference performer at safety and a three-year starter for the Lobos, was selected with the 21st pick on the sixth round of the NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks.  He was the 198th overall pick in the draft, and was the only safety selected in the draft by Seattle, out of its 10 selections.

Overall he was the fourth Mountain West player selected in the 2023 draft, and he becomes the first draft pick in the Danny Gonzales era, although in Gonzales’ previous stint at UNM from 1999-2008, 10 Lobos were drafted.  Reed is the first Lobo selected since 2018 when Jason Sanders was selected in the seventh round by the Miami Dolphins.  He is the highest draft pick since Glover Quin was selected in the fourth round (112th overall) by the Houston Texans.

Reed played 41 games in his career, nearly all of those as starts.  He finished his career with 267 tackles (164 solo), 9.5 TFLs for 24 yards, 22 passes broken up, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and seven interceptions.  His 41-yard interception return for a touchdown paved the way for a wild 55-52 win over New Mexico State in 2019, and he recorded a career-best 15 tackles on November 18 of this past year against San Diego State.

New Mexico has had 66 players drafted, including Reed.  Only once before has Seattle ever drafted a Lobo, and it was back in 1976 when the Seahawks selected UNM quarterback Steve Myer with the first pick of the fourth round.  The 1976 draft was Seattle’s first, as it was an expansion team along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Reed was also a two-year captain and he represented UNM twice at Mountain West Media Day in Las Vegas.  Seattle last season went 9-8 and was the final NFC Wild Card team, losing to San Francisco 41-23 in the opening round of the NFL Playoffs.