Only John Reid Until Penn State Football

Most freshmen football players end up sitting on the bench, waiting their turn, but not 4-star cornerback John Reid. Rated as one of the top five prospects in Pennsylvania and the top corner in the state, Reid helped lead St. Joseph’s Prep School to back-to-back PIAA Class AAAA Championships in 2013 and 2014, while playing both sides of the ball. As a senior, he had 699 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns on offense and a pick-six on defense.

With that kind of talent, Reid didn’t sit much as a true freshman in 2015 for the Nittany Lions.

Reid appeared in 13 games, and made an immediate impact, with five tackles in his first game vs. Temple, and went on to snag four tackles against Ohio State and five against Michigan State. By the end of his freshman year, Reid racked up a total of 29 tackles, 1 TFL, and 2 interceptions. That stellar freshman performance earned him a spot on ESPN.com’s Big Ten All-Freshman team (plus he earned Dean’s List accolades in the 2015 fall semester.)

2016 was even better for Reid, who, as a sophomore had 35 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, .5 sacks and 1 interception. He even helped with punt return duties, with 22 returns for 166 yards (7.5 average). In the Pitt game alone, he logged five tackles, recovered a fumble, returned four punts for 61 yards, breaking a career-long 59-yard return in the first quarter.

By the end of the season, he was named All-Big Ten honorable mention by the conference coaches and media panel, among other honors.

Sadly, Nittany Lions fans didn’t get a chance to see Reid play in 2017, due to an ACL injury that cost him his entire junior season. Fortunately, he had a redshirt to burn, and by all reports and accounts is ready to go as Penn State’s starting cornerback for 2018.

With his speed, focus on strategy and intelligence (he’s a data sciences major), Black Shoe Diaries staffers had to pick Reid as one of their top ten players for Penn State’s 2018 team.

Get ready for Reid’s comeback. Although he's been here for years.