Daejon Reynolds accepts he can make plays in case he’s given the opportunity, and he’s got receipts to back it up.
“I cruel, I feel just like the Vanderbilt amusement that I played, it was the only chance I truly have to be put my gifts on show, and see what I did,” Reynolds said final week.
The Vanderbilt amusement in address was Reynolds’ breakout execution and the unchallenged highlight of his two-year career as a Florida Gator. In mid-November final drop, Florida went to Vanderbilt for a late-season SEC challenge, and whereas the Gators misplaced to the Commodores 31-24, it wasn’t for a need of exertion – or generation – on Reynolds’ portion.
The redshirt first year recruit collector caught eight passes that day and turned them into 165 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns. The primary scoring capture saw Reynolds get behind the Vanderbilt defense for a 74-yard play. The moment saw him run out of the opening past a Vanderbilt protective back to capture a 14-yard landing.
The amusement was Reynolds’ best in Gainesville by lovely much each degree. His passing targets (10), gatherings (8), getting yards (165) and touchdowns (2) were by distant the foremost of his college career. Indeed his hostile snaps (59) set a career check. He played another 60 snaps within the regular-season finale at Florida State, but as it were saw two targets and didn’t make a capture.
By the by, Reynolds accepts that what he appeared against Vanderbilt is the layout for what he can do with a steady supply of openings.
“People are getting to name me as a playmaker,” he said. “On the off chance that the quarterback tosses the ball to me, it’s either my ball or no one else’s ball. I feel as in spite of the fact that I can play any position on the field as a recipient:
I can play space, I can play exterior, I can block.”
Presently Reynolds serious to do all of those things at Pitt. He entered the exchange entrance less than a week after the Florida State diversion and was not with the Gators for their Las Vegas Bowl misfortune to Oregon State.
Pitt collectors coach Tiquan Underwood was in interest of Reynolds early and frequently, and his consistency was a enormous portion of the reason Reynolds picked the Jaguars.
“He was truly the only coach that I felt like, after I got within the portal, they were the foremost reliable with me,” Reynolds said. “He really came to my house; he was the only coach that came to my house and talked to my mother, stuff like that.”
Reynolds said that West Virginia, Miami, Mississippi State and “a few other SEC schools” appeared intrigued in, but Underwood’s early and reliable contact, as well as what he saw from the Jaguars final season (of choosing Pitt over Miami, Reynolds said he “saw what they did to [the Storms] final year, so I’d or maybe come here than there”) driven the previous four-star prospect from Georgia to Pittsburgh.
But not at all like so numerous of his counterparts – and even contrary to his possess activities as a tall school select – Reynolds didn’t make much commotion on social media almost exchanging to Pitt. In reality, he was enlisted at Pitt and on campus for more than two weeks some time recently he indeed declared anything.
“I feel as in case there was truly no point to me saying I was committed,” Reynolds said. “I cruel, all the coaches knew I was here and marked. I’m a social media fellow, but not really; the coaches needed me to get that out. But I feel as if it doesn’t truly ought to be. I was here. In the long run, it was likely going to surface, but I was as of now here working.”
For Reynolds, getting to work implies building connections with his new quarterbacks and learning the Panthers’ offense. Pitt’s increases of exchange quarterbacks Phil Jurkovec and Christian Veilleux were portion of what drew Reynolds to the Jaguars, whereas hostile facilitator Straight to the point Cignetti too sold Reynolds on the season Jared Wayne had in 2022, when he caught 60 passes for 1,063 yards and five touchdowns.
“[Cignetti] talked to me a parcel around Jared Wayne and what he did here,” Reynolds said. “He nearly went for 1,100 yards and he’s within the Draft this year. He feels like I can copy kind of what he did in this offense final year, exploit our passing diversion a parcel more.”
Reynolds knows he contains a parcel of work to do to urge to Wayne’s level and he knows that the another seven months will be went through doing that work. But he’s also very on edge to move through those seven months and get to the season.
“I fair wish I could time travel into the season right now. The offseason’s something else, but I feel as if I’m ready to play, prepared to urge back in action.”
