Don’t sell your stock on Josh Reynolds just yet – even after the Los Angeles Rams drafted Van Jefferson in the second round.
Reynolds, a fourth-year player who has been a solid fill-in for the Rams in the last few seasons, is expected to step up in place of Brandin Cooks, who the team traded to the Texans. Given his experience in this role, Reynolds should be able to produce as the No. 3 receiver.
Much of it will come down to opportunities and targets, but Reynolds has had an impact in limited action before. His role has never been bigger than it’s expected to be in 2020, especially with the way Sean McVay is talking about him.
McVay made it a point that the Rams wouldn’t have traded Cooks if they didn’t have Reynolds, and they didn’t plan on drafting a receiver until they dove into the class and identified Jefferson.
“He’s a guy that we have a lot of confidence in,” McVay said on a conference call this week. “We would not have made the move on Brandin Cooks had it not been for the confidence we have in Josh Reynolds. We were able to get a player we had a lot of value for in with Van Jefferson but that was not part of the plan going into the draft until we got a chance to dive into that receiver group and say, ‘OK, this is a guy that fits, has a skill set.’”
“Josh is a guy we anticipate being a big-time part of this offense. as far as those things in the future go, we’re really just taking it a day at a time right now.”
Reynolds has seen his fantasy stock ping-pong in recent weeks. It went up after Cooks was traded, for obvious reasons, but then it sank a bit with the arrival of Jefferson. Reynolds should have a leg-up on Jefferson as the No. 3 receiver, but the Rams clearly like Jefferson a lot.
They’ve shown a lot of confidence in Reynolds over the last few years, primarily because he showed the ability to play and succeed in a starter’s role.
“He’s stepped in and been a starter and he’s got the ability to play really our X or Z, he can play in the slot. I think, really, we just feel like he’s a capable starting receiver if you’re getting into some of those three-receiver sets,” McVay said.
Reynolds will be a free agent after the upcoming season, so it’s an important year for him. If he breaks out as the third receiver, he could land himself a nice contract next offseason. If he doesn’t stand out and remains nothing more than a backup, he might be cheap enough for the Rams to re-sign – especially if Cooper Kupp prices himself out of their range.
Regardless, this will be an extremely important season for Reynolds.
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