The potential Reed signing does seem a bit unnecessary given the numbers we have in that area (the 2 in front of the back 4). However, in my view he is better than anything that we have in there currently and Tony sees it as a chance to upgrade in that area. Yes, Smallwood and Evans were good servants last year, but Tony needs to be ruthless and if there is an upgrade available at a manageable cost then he has to go for it. Especially with it being such a vital area of the pitch - if you have a good 2 in there it makes a world of difference.
So I say go for Reed and pair him Davenport, with Palmer, Dack, Rothwell/Armstrong in front of them.