Due to poor grades, Reed was forced to attend Hargrave Military Academy for a year after he had graduated high school.

[7][8] Reed considered entering the 2015 NFL draft but decided against it and returned to Alabama for his senior year.

[9][10] Reed played in all 15 games his senior season and helped lead his team to a College Football Playoff national champion victory.

[14] As a rookie in 2016, Reed played 15 games and finished the year with 34 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and three passes defended.

[citation needed] Reed was suspended the first six games of the 2019 season for a violation of the personal conduct policy for an incident from early 2017.

[18] In the Wild Card Round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Rams, Reed sacked Jared Goff two times during the 30–20 loss.