When the Tennessee Titans added Josh Reynolds on March 23rd, there were plenty of reasons for optimism. He may not have been seen as one of the more sexy additions on the market, but for the Titans, this seemed like a nice mix of both cost and value.
Since Reynolds’ addition, the two-tone blue has added to the wide receiver room nicely via the NFL Draft (Dez Fitzpatrick) and a highly-publicized trade that you may have heard of (Julio Jones). That’s a long-winded way of leading up to the following statement. Reynolds’ addition might look a little better on paper now than it did when it originally happened.
The Tennessee Titans have a scary proposition for opposing NFL defenses.
As zany as it is to imagine that A.J. Brown might be lining up against the second-best cover guy on most of the teams he’ll be facing, Tennessee’s competition won’t be getting any breaks in the slot either.
Reynolds, a guy who might be the second option on so many other NFL teams, is now the third option in Tennessee’s offense. Can you say mismatch?
This could be a big year for him, but then again, you have to acknowledge the fact that Derrick Henry could tote the rock 20 to 30 times a game, and Jones and Brown will see a few passes thrown in their directions as well.
Reynolds doesn’t need to be a focal point in the Titans’ offense, and that could have defensive coordinators losing sleep. He could be dealy with a few targets a game as the two-tone blue is venturing towards having too many weapons on offense.
Check out some of what SI.com’s David Boclair said in a recent take on best-case scenarios for some of the franchise’s free-agent additions.
"Things changed dramatically for Reynolds with the trade for Julio Jones. When he signed, he was a candidate for a breakout year that possibly would make him a 1,000-yard receiver. Now, if he ends up with 70 or more receptions and anything in the neighborhood of 1,000 yards, it means something has gone really wrong with Jones and/or A.J. Brown. The best thing for Reynolds is to approach the numbers he put up last season, his fourth with the Los Angeles Rams (52 receptions, 618 yards). If he does that, he easily will outdo anything Adam Humphries did in his two years with the Titans and even help offset the free-agent departure of tight end Jonnu Smith."
The Titans were already getting a nice prospect at the wide receiver position and doing so for less than $2 million, and even though the numbers Reynolds put up in 2020 didn’t scream ‘Pro-Bowl-caliber receiver’ (52 receptions for 618 receptions and two touchdowns), there isn’t anyone that has been associated with the Los Angeles Rams organization that didn’t rave over Reynolds’ potential when his name was mentioned.
After being taken 117th overall in Round 4 of the 2017 NFL Draft, Reynolds has racked up 124 receptions, 1,636 receiving yards, and nine trips to the end zone. It wasn’t too long ago that he was seen as someone that could slide into the role vacated by the departed Corey Davis. Now, with the arrival of Julio Jones, he’s possibly the best third-option at the wide receiver position in the NFL, and that could lead to an extra win on the ledger for Tennessee.