After shattering touchdown records for Navy in college football, Keenan Reynolds might have a place in the NFL according to the interest shown in him by the New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens.
Reynolds finished his career with an NCAA Division I record 88 career touchdowns and an NCAA FBS record 4,559 rushing yards by a quarterback. He was a third-team All-American last season, finished fifth in the Heisman voting and won the AAC Offensive Player of the Year. He rushed for 1373 yards and 24 touchdowns, while throwing for 1203 yards and 8 touchdowns. The Midshipmen finished with an 11-2 record, and the Naval academy announced they were retiring his number, the fourth player in school history to receive that honor.
But Reynolds isn’t going to be a quarterback in the NFL except for gimmick plays. He did more running than throwing in college anyway. It’s either going to be receiver or running back, with return man also an option, but he hasn’t showed great ball security during his time in Annapolis. The question is whether he has the body to withstand NFL punishments. As elusive as he is, it’s not enough to make people miss tackles. He’ll need to show he can break them too.
The Patriots have shown the most interest in Reynolds, with Bill Belichick having a thing for Navy players. The Titans worked him out as a wide receiver. It’s not quite clear what the Ravens want out of him, but the Pats are probably thinking something creative as always. Their running back platoon is rather thin, and after last season, Belichick has probably figured out he can’t rely just on the passing game. That wasn’t the only thing to derail their excellent regular season, but that was part of the problem.
Reynolds might be sixth round pick at best, but it won’t be surprising to see him go undrafted before getting signed. There is the issue of his commitment to the Navy, although as the link to the Boston Herald article shows, these things can be worked out, with the right connections like Belichick has probably not doing any harm.