Williams Blog: Reynolds doing well, other football notes

By Chris Williams

I’ve got some good football news for you Fanatics. Darius “Money” Reynolds will be practicing at 100 percent health when spring football begins in March.

“He is full-speed right now,” Iowa State’s offensive coordinator Tom Herman told CycloneFanatic.com on Monday afternoon. “He got some practice reps even during bowl preparation. He should be good to go for the spring.”

The wide receiver position was supposed to be a strength for the Cyclones in 2009, as far as depth was concerned at least. That didn’t turn out to be the case. Reynolds went down with a broken leg right before conference play. Darius Darks was never really 100 percent after a hamstring injury that he suffered in camp. Sedrick Johnson got banged up against North Dakota State.

All three will be back in 2010, along with Jake Williams and Josh Lenz. The only notable wide receiver that won’t be around is the team’s leading pass catcher from 2009, Marquis Hamilton, who will be gone due to graduation.

A few other notes are:

– Sedrick Johnson has been penciled in as a starter heading into the spring. The staff is still very confident in his talent and athletic ability. Johnson’s stats were less than disappointing last year as he caught only seven passes for 36 yards and no touchdowns. Darks didn’t set the world on fire either by catching only 26 passes for 265 yards. Herman told me that the injuries were a giant factor to the pair’s lack of production.

– Herman reiterated to me how important it is for this team to find a solid, consistent second running back to take some pressure off of Alexander Robinson. I’ve heard from more than one coach now that the verdict is still out on James White, Beau Blankenship and Bo Williams.

– What’s going on at quarterback? Obviously, Austen Arnaud is the clear front-runner to start heading into 2010 but Herman did say that Jerome Tiller will get a chance to prove himself. Herman made some great points about playing quarterback in his system and had some very positive things to say about Tiller as well.

Enough teasing. Again, check out the site on Tuesday afternoon for the complete interview. Tell your friends.