Jayden Kevon Reed (born April 28, 2000) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punt (gridiron football), punts and kickoff (gridiron football), kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusivel ...

for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Western Michigan Broncos The Western Michigan Broncos are a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I program representing Western Michigan University (WMU) in college athletics. They compete in the Mid-American Conference in men's coll ...

and the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 Varsity team, varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan Army, Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the sc ...

. He was selected by the Packers in the second round of the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

Early life

Reed grew up in

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in northeastern Illinois, United States. It is located along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River west of Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, second-most populous city in Illinois, with a popul ...

. He initially attended

Metea Valley High School Metea Valley High School is a high school in Aurora, Illinois that opened in August 2009 in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage County. The school is one of four high schools operated by the Indian Prairie School District 204, Indian Prairie School D ...

, where he played basketball. He also played football with Michigan State teammate

Payton Thorne Payton Thorne (born June 26, 2001) is an American professional football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans and the Auburn Tigers. Early life Th ...

. As a junior, he caught 23 passes for 403 yards and four touchdowns. Along with Thorne, he transferred to

Naperville Central High School Naperville Central High School (Naperville Central or NCHS) is a four-year state school, public high school located in Naperville, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. The school, which enrolls students in grades nine through twelve, is a par ...

before the beginning of his senior year.

College career

Western Michigan

Reed began his collegiate career at Western Michigan. He was named a freshman All-American by the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

after catching 56 passes for 797 yards and eight touchdowns. After the season, Reed announced that he would be leaving the program.

Michigan State

Reed ultimately chose to transfer to Michigan State. Reed sat out and redshirted his first season at Michigan State due to

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

transfer rules. As a redshirt sophomore, he started all seven of Michigan State's games in the team's

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

-shortened 2020 season and had a team-high 33 receptions for 407 yards and three touchdowns. Reed also returned 16 kickoffs for 329 yards and two punts for 14 yards and was named honorable mention All-Big Ten Conference as a return specialist. He was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 4 of his redshirt junior season after returning a punt 62 yards for a touchdown and two kickoffs for 69 yards in a 23–20 overtime win against Nebraska. Reed won the 2021 Peach Bowl MVP after beating

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

by the score of 31–21.

College statistics

Professional career

Reed was selected in the second round, 50th overall, by the

in the

. He signed his rookie contract on July 20, 2023. Reed made his NFL debut on September 10, 2023, catching two passes for 48 yards and rushing once for −2 yards in a 38–20 win against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

. He scored his first two NFL touchdowns on September 17 in a 25–24 loss to the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

, on nine- and 10-yard passes from

Jordan Love Jordan Alexander Love (born November 2, 1998) is an American professional football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Utah State Aggies, where he was named to the seco ...

. In week 18, he had four receptions for 112 yards in a win over the Bears. As a rookie, he appeared in 16 games and started 13. He finished with 64 receptions for 793 yards and eight touchdowns, while also rushing for 119 yards on 11 carries with two touchdowns. In Week 1 of the 2024 season, against the Eagles, Reed had four receptions for 138 yards and a 70-yard receiving touchdown to go with a 33-yard rushing touchdown in the 34–29 loss.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

Green Bay Packers bioMichigan State Spartans bioWestern Michigan Broncos bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Jayden Living people American football wide receivers Michigan State Spartans football players Western Michigan Broncos football players 2000 births Players of American football from Naperville, Illinois Green Bay Packers players