Emitter Follower LED Circuit - LED in Collector, Resistor in Emitter
Seems in doing this the voltage at the collector of the NPN would be 5v-2.8v = 2.2v due to voltage dropped across the LED.


The forward voltage of the LED is only 2.8 V when there is a current flowing through the LED. If the current through the LED is lower than the normal operating value, then the forward voltage will be lower than the specified forward voltage value.

What will happen in this circuit is the collector would not drop below the base voltage. Therefore the voltage across the LED is 0 V and no current flows through the LED and into the BJT collector.

Therefore the base-emitter junction of the BJT acts as a diode and current to supply R1 will be supplied through the base, not the collector. Q1's emitter will be at about 4.3 V. This means about 24 mA flowing through R1, assuming you used 180 ohms. 

Since there is no current flowing through the LED, the LED does not light up.