PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Austin Reed’s path to the NFL draft doesn’t look like many others.
He started just one season in high school and played at three colleges during his career. Reed won a Division II national championship, led all of college football in passing yards as a junior and parlayed that success into a likely spot in the NFL.
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As the draft approaches this month, Reed (6-2, 220) finds himself in a position that didn’t seem plausible even a couple years ago. He’s kept the same hunger and chip on his shoulder that he had back in high school where he was an unranked recruit at St. Augustine. Reed has enjoyed the journey and knows that nothing in the draft is guaranteed. At best, he’s seen as a Day 3 draft pick who will have to fight for every rep. If he goes undrafted, that’s fine, too. Reed views being overlooked or underrated in a way that others may not.
Some may see it as disrespect. Reed uses it as fuel.
“Hopefully I can hear my name on day three. I expect to, but hopefully I do. If I don’t, you know, that’s been my career in general. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if I went undrafted and I had to earn my way onto a roster like that,” Reed said. “It’s one of those things where I expect to hear my name called. I hope I do. And if I don’t, then time to compete.”
Like he’s done time and again, Reed only wants an opportunity. He’s succeeded everywhere that he’s had the chance to get out on the field, St. Augustine and then West Florida and then at Western Kentucky. He parlayed all of that college success into an invite to the NFL combine where he soaked in every single moment.
“I was at the [NFL] combine couple months ago, and you kind of see guys that just expect it and they don’t really appreciate the moments and appreciate the magnitude of what we’re accomplishing,” he said.
“And so for me, like the fact that all this stuff has been probably not expected has made me appreciate the moment and have more gratitude for everything that I received. And so that’s kind of like what it’s taught me is just humbleness of being appreciative and feeling extremely blessed I even have the opportunity to accomplish these things.”
Reed had a stellar final season at St. Augustine High School in 2017, leading the Yellow Jackets to an unbeaten regular season and into the state semifinals before running aground against Armwood. He was a second-team all-area and a Super 24 selection after passing for 2,925 yards and 34 touchdowns.
As good as that final season was, it was Reed’s only year starting in high school. He was an unranked recruit by the major industry services and played in the shadows locally of quarterbacks Joey Gatewood and Riley Smith at Bartram Trail and Providence’s Carter Bradley. Gatewood is attempting to make the NFL as a tight end and Bradley is also a prospect in this year’s draft. Reed viewed his place among the local quarterback landscape as a bit of a slight — and a challenge.
“I used to sit there and be like, ‘I’m as good as those guys are, and better.’ And so that really drove me a lot, kind of drives me a lot in life in general,” he said. “You know, a lot of times I walk into a room, and I’m not the most recognizable face or name. And to me, it’s like, OK, one day, you’re going to realize that. And that comes from a place of like humbleness and confidence, not really cockiness.”
Reed signed with Southern Illinois and spent a year there as a redshirt. He transferred to West Florida and his time with the Argos was spectacular. Reed went 13-1 as a starter, passed for 4,089 yards and 40 touchdowns to lead the program to the Division II national championship in 2019. The pandemic shuffled things up after that, and that led Reed to an opportunity with Western Kentucky.
He followed Bailey Zappe at quarterback with the Hilltoppers, starting 26 games there and passed for more than 8,000 yards and 71 touchdowns. Zappe, of course, supplanted former first-round pick Mac Jones in New England and is 4-4 as a starter. Reed led all of college football in passing as a junior, throwing for 4,744 yards a total that was ahead of Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. (4,641), USC’s Caleb Williams (4,537) and North Carolina’s Drake Maye (4,321). Williams and Maye are projected top three selections in the draft, and Penix is likely no lower than a Day 2 pick.
That earned Reed invites to the East-West Shrine Bowl and the NFL combine. Reed said that while his draft status is a little less certain than some of the quarterbacks he’s trained with over the years, he’s got the same mindset that he’s always had.
“I said, every time you put me on the field I’m going to produce and you’re going to have to deny me,” Reed said. “St. Augustine, West Florida, Western Kentucky, just produce, produce, produce. And I think that’s just the key. If you go out there and you play ball and you ball out … they can’t ignore you.”