Who's next? Reynolds could take lead on OU defense Reynolds could stabilize unit with five new starters Who's next? Reynolds could take lead on OU defense
NORMAN — For the last two seasons, the Big 12's best defensive player has started at linebacker for Oklahoma.
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The result?
Back-to-back Big 12 titles.
But to mold another championship-caliber defense capable of winning an unprecedented third consecutive Big 12 title, OU will be relying on Ryan Reynolds to emerge as the next in a long line of big-time Sooner linebackers.
Sooner coach Bob Stoops said earlier this month OU will experiment with moving Reynolds to middle linebacker from the outside during spring drills, which begin Wednesday.
By playing him in the middle, the Sooners are hoping Reynolds can stabilize a unit that will have as many as five new starters — seven in the spring due to injuries — and a bruised ego after being picked apart by West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl.
And even though knee problems plagued his sophomore season, Reynolds has the ability, experience and intelligence to help ease the early loss of All-American Curtis Lofton to the NFL Draft.
Reynolds will also be counted on to fill the defensive leadership role left vacant by the departures of Lofton, linebacker Lewis Baker, cornerback Reggie Smith and safety D.J. Wolfe.
"He has great maturity,” defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. "He always kept the faith and has had a terrific attitude.”
Keeping a positive attitude has been tough.
Reynolds arrived in Norman in 2005 out of Las Vegas as one of the top linebacker recruits in the nation.
But an anterior cruciate ligament tear in his left knee the spring of 2006 followed by a severed lateral collateral ligament during spring drills in 2007 have derailed his chances of stardom so far.
"Very few have dealt with what he had to the way he did,” Venables said. "Ryan stayed on point. That takes incredible inner strength.”
Reynolds rehabbed from his latest knee surgery in time to start at outside linebacker last season. But all that effort spent rehabbing meant he had little time to work on anything else, namely speed and conditioning.
That, coupled with chronic soreness in his knees, slowed Reynolds, who once boasted a 40-yard dash time of 4.57 seconds.
Essentially, Reynolds never regained full strength last season.
"I've felt real weak in my knee. I haven't been the athlete I know I can be,” said Reynolds before the Fiesta Bowl. "But as time goes on, my knee feels a lot better.”
Now, for the first time since his true freshman year, Reynolds will be able to focus his off-season on improving as a player instead of rehabbing his knees.
And that could lead to a breakout season, which could be a major key in how OU's defense performs.
"He's going to have a good few months in the weight room to develop his lower body strength that he hasn't been able to,” Venables said.
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not having Lendy, McCoy and Smith in the Fiesta was a huge loss. If Blake Griffen can heal in a week, Smith should have been able to play with a broken toe afte 6 weeks. That is what tape is for! Smith was looking our for his draft status, selfish. Lendy and McCoy's failure speeks for themselves, which is pretty low. We need more guys like Ryan reynolds, reminds me of Calmus in his work ethic.
I hope the defense gets a better and consistent attitude this year. They played both great and terrible games last year. I really think the secondary read too many of their press clippings and did not play up to capabiltiy many times. The entire defense did not come to the Fiesta Bowl. The West Virginia game was the worse I had seen the defense play in many many years, especially in the second half. The defensive calls were questionable and the missed assignments were terrible. The offense came alive in the second half only to have the defense give up big play after big play. Hopefully the new starters on defense this year will bring that attitude of the great defensss of the past.
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