Tulsa World: Reynolds leads from the middle

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Reynolds leads from the middle
Sooner linebacker earns praise from his teammates.

MIDDLE MAN
Ryan Reynolds: OU middle linebacker is in his first year at the position and is second on the team with 19 tackles. He's had injuries to both knees in the past two seasons.

By GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer
Published: 9/23/2008 2:08 AM
Last Modified: 9/23/2008 3:25 AM

Sooner linebacker earns praise from his teammates.

NORMAN — There have been times during Oklahoma's first three games that Keenan Clayton has gotten, as he puts it, "mindboggled."

"I'll be out of it, " said Clayton, in his first year as OU's strongside linebacker. "But I know I can always look to one guy."

It's the same guy freshman weakside linebacker Travis Lewis looks to. The guy Lewis calls "the rock of the defense."

Ryan Reynolds. The same guy fans worried wouldn't make it to October in his first year at middle linebacker.

Reynolds isn't just surviving in his new job, he's thriving at it.

"I'm very happy with how he's managing things and leading out on the field," linebackers coach Brent Venables said. "He doesn't miss a beat out there."

That's evident by much more than Reynolds' 19 tackles, second to Lewis' 25 on the Sooners.

"Ryan's the one who puts me in the right place to allow me to make those plays," Lewis said. "He gets me lined up; he makes all the calls."

It isn't just Lewis and Clayton who benefit.

"People don't realize he orchestrates the whole deal," head coach Bob Stoops said of Reynolds.

"It's everybody in the front seven," Venables said. "They're starting to improve that way, but he's still helping."

It is a real luxury, having a player with bottomless aptitude in the middle of a defense. And while Reynolds may not pile up the 157 tackles that middle linebacker Curtis Lofton did a year ago, it would be foolish to underestimate him physically.

"You look at Ryan's 40, and you see a guy that runs a 4.7 or 4.8," Clayton said. "But he plays like a guy that runs a 4.4. Look back at the Cincinnati game."

Sept. 6, on a day no other Sooner could keep up with Cincinnati wide receiver/kick returner Mardy Gilyard, Reynolds caught him down the sideline after a catch and punched the ball loose for a near-turnover. He ran sideline-to-sideline both that day and again a week later against Washington quarterback Jake Locker, who is a 4.4 guy. He even knocked Locker from the game late in the second quarter.

"That's Ryan," Lewis said. "He's going to bring consistency, but he's going to bring the hat, too."

Not bad for a player who sustained ligament damage to his left knee in 2006, then to his right knee in '07.

"It's amazing to see a guy who has gone through what he has — surgery on both knees — and still be able to move like that," Clayton said.

The reason Reynolds didn't move as well as a weakside linebacker in '07 was he simply had not given himself enough recovery time. By this preseason, everything was fully healed.

Now, as TCU comes to Norman for Saturday's 6 p.m. kickoff, Reynolds is playing as well as he feels.

"It's a great thing to have," Clayton said. "A guy in the middle that leads the show."

Guerin Emig 581-8355
guerin.emig@tulsaworld.com By GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer

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