Iowa State senior wide receiver Darius Reynolds hopes to be the quarterback’s best friend this season when the Cyclones are looking for something to happen. “When the game comes down and everything is going wrong in the pocket, they need somebody that they know is going to be open, or that they know they can throw the ball up to that’s going to get it,” Reynolds says.
He works with all of the quarterbacks in practice to try and develop that connection. While he wants to be the go-to guy in a pinch, Reynolds believes the offense will have more weapons this year to spread things out. He says they have the potential, starting with Shontrelle Johnson in the backfield, “he’s such a shifty guy that you never know what he is going to do.” Reynolds says Johnson and the other receivers give them many options so they don’t have to rely on one guy to take them down the field. He says the depth at receiver allows them to be fresher.
Reynolds says they’ve done a lot more rotating of the receivers and picked up the tempo so they can run some routes down the field and then rotate in fresh guys while the defense might be getting tired. He says this should allow them to take more shots down the field. Iowa State opens the season September 3rd at home against U.N.I.