Baltimore Ravens

Can Keenan Reynolds Contribute To The Ravens Offense?

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 1:06 a.m. ET

Fansided, Joe Schiller/FanSided via Ebony Bird

It is finally time to see if rookie Keenan Reynolds can add value to the Baltimore Ravens offense

The Ravens announced today that wide receiver Keenan Reynolds will be promoted to the 53-man roster. The team placed cornerback Jimmy Smith on injured reserve, which opened up a spot for Reynolds.

Other than the preseason, he has not seen any time on the field for the Ravens. He has struggled to catch passes and as a result he has spent the majority of the season on the practice squad.

Sunday’s game is essentially meaningless for the Raven’s so this will most likely be an audition for some of the younger players on the roster, especially Reynolds.

A chance to prove himself

Keenan Reynolds had a very impressive career as a quarterback at Navy. Over his 4 years at the academy he rushed for 4559 yards and 88 touchdowns. The Baltimore Ravens saw his potential and took a chance on him in the 6th round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

It is unsure how the Raven’s wide receiver depth chart is going to look next season. Steve Smith Sr. is most likely done playing football and Kamar Aiken is set to be an unrestricted free agent after the season is over. This leaves Mike Wallace, Breshad Perriman, Michael Campanaro and Chris Moore as the wide receivers left. There is also a chance the Ravens could sign a veteran in free agency.

With all of this, Keenan Reynolds needs to play confident on Sunday. The Ravens have been inconsistent at the wide receiver position this season. This will be a chance for Reynolds to show the coaching staff and front office that he can play on the 53-man roster next season.

More time to develop

I think Keenan Reynolds can provide value to an NFL offense, but it won’t be with Ravens. They already have Michael Campanaro, who is already playing the same position. When the Ravens cut Devin Hester and needed a return man, they promoted Campanaro instead of Reynolds. Assuming Campanaro can stay healthy, Reynolds will most likely find his place on the practice squad again next season.

Making the transition from one position to another is not easy. Reynolds was never a true quarterback, but he has not had much experience playing wide receiver.

We have seen this transition made before. It is becoming more and more common for option and run first college quarterbacks to transition to another position to play in the NFL. Brown’s wide receiver Terrelle Pryor is the prefect example. He played quarterback at Ohio State and transitioned to wide receiver for the NFL. Pryor has had a breakout season and is close to reaching 1,000 receiving yards on the season with the Cleveland Browns.