finished the season ranked first on the team in tackles with 89 (34 solo).added 1.5 sacks, seven tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, one interception, three pass breakups. named a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, given to FCS' top defensive player.as a junior in 2017, started all 11 games at outside linebacker for the Blue Hens named First-Team All-CAA. currently ranks 22nd all-time at Delaware in total tackles.earned First-Team All-CAA honors all three years as a Blue Hen.in 2018, earned All-American accolades after recording 131 tackles on the year, the fifth-most in a single-season ever by a Delaware player. So I think all those things are learning.COLLEGE: In his three seasons at Delaware, totaled 283 tackles. A lot of guys I think have never even been in real spring practice. As a group, we’ve tried to help our guys along. “He’s smart enough to know what he doesn’t know, and he continues to learn. “He is a veteran, so he doesn’t get crazy about things that he doesn’t know,” Heacock said. To this point in the spring, Iowa State defensive coordinator Jon Heacock has seen a guy who is up to the challenge.

The 6-foot-3, 235-pound transfer certainly has big shoes to fill in that role after the departures of 2020 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Mike Rose and longtime defensive stalwart Jake Hummel. Reeder is expected to slide in alongside returning starter O’Rien Vance and returning contributor (and part-time starter) Gerry Vaughn as the leaders in a talented linebacker room. I feel like I’m an athletic linebacker, so I want to be able to show my versatility in space covering and also playing against great run teams.” Being a defender, I wanted to play against the best. “Probably have the best offenses in the country. “I knew that they love athletic linebackers, (the Big 12 schools) have high-powered offenses that like to spread it out,” Reeder said.

He sees his upcoming season with the program as an opportunity to showcase the ability that was flying under the radar at Delaware. He was a third-team All-CAA performer in 2021 and was the league’s Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2017. It’s a great scheme, but it’s tough mentally for a new guy coming in.”ĭespite the constant change in schemes, Reeder excelled during his time as a Blue Hen, compiling 172 tackles, 20.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks and four interceptions in 35 games. It’s a lot different than anything I’ve run. Here is so much more complicated, so many more moving parts. We tried to copy a little bit of Iowa State’s defense my last year at Delaware, but it’s not nearly the same. “It’s always hard to learn a new defense. “I’ve kind of gone through this process a few times,” Reeder told reporters during a Zoom call on Tuesday. Yeah, four defenses don’t seem like that much for that kind of veteran. While that obviously sounds like a lot, it makes a little more sense when you learn the following fact - the 2022 season will be Reeder’s seventh year playing college football. The Delaware transfer linebacker is currently in the process of learning his fourth defensive scheme at the collegiate level during Iowa State’s spring practices. 20, 2021.Ĭolby Reeder is no stranger to a new defense. Delaware linebacker Colby Reeder sacks Villanova quarterback Daniel Smith in the second quarter at Delaware Stadium, Saturday, Nov.

Colby reeder