FAB 2. REYNOLDS WANTS AN AGGIES REUNION IN TAMPA BAY
The Buccaneers have mined the Senior Bowl for talent for years, especially under general manager Jason Licht.

In Licht’s first draft in 2014 he and former head coach Lovie Smith drafted running back Charles Sims in the third round, guard Kadeem Edwards in the fifth round and wide receiver Robert Herron in the seventh round. In 2015, the Bucs drafted offensive linemen Donovan Smith and Ali Marpet in the second round. Last year it was defensive end Noah Spence who starred at the Senior Bowl and became Tampa Bay’s second-round pick.

Don’t be surprised to see the Bucs come away with another Senior Bowl pick – or two – in this year’s draft. One player on their radar is Texas A&M’s Josh Reynolds, who was the best and most consistent wide receiver this year in Mobile, Ala. Reynolds, who checked in at just under 6-foot-3 and 187 pounds, has enough size to be labeled a big receiver and he would love the opportunity to join former Aggies receivers Mike Evans and Derel Walker in Tampa Bay.

Texas A&M WR Josh Reynolds – Photo by: Getty Images

“Honestly that would definitely be cool,” Reynolds said. “Being able to play with former Aggie greats and alongside them, learning stuff that they’ve been through, it would definitely be a cool little deal. And catching passes from Jameis Winston, that wouldn’t be bad at all. It’s an up-and-coming offense. They’re young but they’re coming up.”

Part of the allure of transferring to Texas A&M from his junior college for Reynolds, who was the Bucs’ fifth-round pick in PewterReport.com’s initial 2017 Bucs’ 7-Round Mock Draft, was the chance to follow in Evans’ footsteps. Evans left after his redshirt sophomore season and was drafted by the Bucs with the seventh overall pick in 2014 and that created an opening in the starting lineup.

Reynolds took full advantage in 2014 during his sophomore season, catching 52 passes for 842 yards (16.2 avg.) and 13 touchdowns, which broke Evans’ single season touchdown record with the Aggies. As Texas A&M continued to add talent to the receiver position with the emergence of Speedy Noil, Christian Kirk and Ricky Seals-Jones, Reynolds’ production plateaued. He recorded 51 catches for 907 yards and five touchdowns on 2015.

While the Aggies continued to spread the ball around during his senior season, but Reynolds emerged as Trevor Knight’s favorite target, catching 61 passes for 1,039 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Reynolds had seven 100-yard games at Texas A&M, including a 12-catch, 154-yard, two-touchdown performance in a 33-28 loss to Kansas State in the Texas Bowl to end his collegiate career.

“We lost and that’s something we never want to end on, but being able to go out the way I did was definitely a proud moment,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds dominated the stingy Wildcats defense and was the primary target in the passing game in the Aggies’ bowl game. With so many weapons on Texas A&M’s offense, that hasn’t always been the case.

“We had a lot of talent at receiver at A&M,” Aggies defensive end Daeshon Hall said. “That taught him patience, but I feel like Josh was hungry when he first got here and he was getting fed. Then he broke Mike Evans’ record for touchdowns in a season, so Josh has been that kind guy for us.”

Reynolds agrees with Hall’s assessment.

“It definitely teaches you to be patient and basically to run your route hard and full speed every time you get the chance because you never know if the ball is coming to you or not,” Reynolds said. “In the NFL sometimes you’re going to be with other guys, the Steelers, for example, have a good receiving corps, and you just have to be patient and finish all your routes.”

Route running is something Reynolds wanted to use the Senior Bowl to polish up on. After Saturday’s game he’ll head back to Bradenton, Fla. where he will resume his training and try to put on some weight.

Texas A&M WR Josh Reynolds – Photo by: Getty Images

“I need to work on strength and size,” said Reynolds, whose goal is to get to 200 pounds in the NFL.

Evans, who really admires Reynolds’ game and would like to see the Bucs draft him, even agrees he needs to bulk up to hold up at the next level.

“Josh isn’t talked about as much as he should be in my opinion,” Evans said. “He’s a tall guy and he’s faster than you think. He has great hands and he can go up and get the rock. He’s 6-foot-4, but he’s really skinny. That’s the only knock I have on him.

“He makes the contested catches and he goes up and gets the ball at the highest point. He’s fast, too – very fast. He has some of the best hands I’ve ever seen. I went and watched one of the practices one time and he was making one-handed catches and catches behind his back. He has really good ball skills.”

Despite his wiry frame Reynolds is a physical player for weighing just 187 pounds.

“I’m definitely field strong too,” Reynolds said. “It’s always more of I just want to punish the person in front of me. It’s just that competitive nature out of me. I never want to get tackled by one guy or the first guy. I’m trying to score every time I get the ball.”

Reynolds is currently considered a mid-round pick that helped his draft stock with a great week in Mobile. If he can run faster than a 4.5 time at the NFL Scouting Combine next month or at his pro day, which he’s expected to run, he could make it to Day 2. When I asked Reynolds what he planned to run in the 40-yard dash in Indianapolis he was as elusive with the answer as he is to defensive backs that try to cover him.

“You’re just going to have to wait until the draft, you’re going to have to wait until Combine day,” Reynolds said. “I’m going to shock people. A lot of guys play faster than they time, too. They’re field fast and game fast. Larry Fitzgerald, for example, you still see him running past DBs and I think it’s just more of how they play you. They think you’re running smooth and slow until you’re passing by them and it’s too late.”

Reynolds has spent time studying some of the NFL’s greats when it comes to improving his game.

“I watch Larry Fitzgerald, and of course you have to go T.O. with his footwork,” Reynolds said. “A young one I like is DeAndre Hopkins. I kind of see myself similar to him a little bit.”

Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter has said that the team needs more playmakers on offense that are capable of creating explosive plays. Reynolds averaged a healthy 17 yards per catch and produced 16 catches of 40 yards or more at Texas A&M, including touchdowns that covered 70 yards, 92 and 95 yards during his three years with the Aggies.

That has to be appealing to Koetter, along with his height because they have bigger catch radiuses to help quarterback Jameis Winston, whose accuracy improved from 58 percent during his rookie season to 60 percent last year, but he had his share of high throws in 2016.

Bucs WRs Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“By nature prefer I big receivers, so that’s just my preference,” Koetter said. “That’s totally a Dirk Koetter preference and not anybody else. You don’t always have control with that. When you’re bringing guys in – look at Adam Humphries a guy totally off the street – one of the things I think Jameis will continue I believe to become more accurate as he plays more.”

Evans would love to have an Aggies reunion in Tampa Bay.

“I’d absolutely love to have Josh down here,” Evans said. “I’ve been telling all of our coaches about him. He can play some ball. Get him down here.”

Reynolds wants to continue to shine in the Senior Bowl game on Saturday and then it’s preparation for the NFL Scouting Combine.

“I want to show I’m a competitor and that I can learn on the fly,” Reynolds said. “Having to learn a whole new offense in three days is pretty tough, but if you lock in and do what’s asked of you, you’re liable to succeed. For me to show my talents with the best seniors definitely helps. I’m just focused on getting better. I’m waiting for the Combine and I’m going to shock the world a little bit.”