David King believes tall defender Zach Reid will take Aaron Francis’ position at Essendon in 2022.
Francis has struggled to make an impact as a defender so far at the Bombers, with Ben Rutten opting to turn him into a forward during the latter stages of the 2021 season.
Reid, who was taken early in the 2020 National Draft, only played one game during his debut season largely as a result of Glandular Fever, but has fully recovered and noticeably bulked up over the off-season.
After seeing a photo of the young Bombers defender alongside forward Harry Jones at pre-seaosn training, King was bullish about Reid’s future, tipping that Francis may struggle to see regular game time next season.
“I was looking at a photo on the Essendon website (of Harry Jones and Zach Reid)," he said on SEN Breakfast.
“I reckon Reid has grown two inches in 12 months, I reckon he’s three or four inches taller than Harrison Jones.
“Reid towers above Jones and I think he’s continued to grow. We’ve seen (Nik) Cox, we’ve seen (Archie) Perkins but we haven’t seen Reid.
“I think it will be hard for (Aaron) Francis to get a game, they have these young stars and they’re in a hurry to get AFL games into them.”
Francis played 15 games in 2021 and remains out of contract heading into the 2022 season.