LAS VEGAS — When junior lineman Matt Reynolds began his BYU career two years ago, he was a true freshman anchoring the offensive line at left tackle.
Now, Reynolds is a proven All-Mountain West Conference performer and an Outland Trophy candidate. If the 6-foot-6, 329-pounder opts to forgo his senior season, NFL draft experts have projected him to be a first-round draft pick.
But Reynolds isn't worried about all of that — he's focused only on the upcoming season.
Reynolds is the leader of the offensive line and, considering all the new players at the skill positions, he's also one of the leaders of the offense.
It's a role Reynolds relishes.
"I want to be the guy who people can look at and see what a BYU player should be doing and how we should be acting both on and off the field," he said. "The best way to do that is by being myself and doing things the way they should be done."
Last year at this time, there were plenty of observers who questioned how the offensive line, which was replacing four starters, would fare. Reynolds was the lone holdover and he wasn't surprised by the O-line's strong performance in 2009. Going into the 2010 campaign, the offensive line is regarded as the strength of the Cougar offense.
Reynolds is confident that the offense will continue to roll up yards and points and the team will continue to rack up victories.
"Our history has shown that we're going to win a lot of games," he said. "We've got the potential to be as good as we want to be. We have guys that have the potential to be all-stars. We have a handful of them. We have a good, solid offensive line and our skill positions have a really unique opportunity to say, 'Here we are and this is what we can do.' If they perform the way they can, and we perform as we should as an offensive line, there's no question in my mind that we can be one of the best offenses around."
Depending on who wins the quarterback battle, Reynolds could find himself playing either right or left tackle. Junior Riley Nelson is a left-hander and, when he's in, Reynolds lines up on the right side.
"I'm more comfortable at left tackle because I've played there my whole career, but I feel comfortable at right tackle," he said. "I could be flip-flopping positions all the way through (fall) camp."
As for the notoriety that has come Reynolds' way, he said he doesn't pay attention to it.
"If you're going to be a consistent, solid player, you can't look to outside sources. You have to look within yourself," he said.
"Whenever you work hard on anything, and you get recognized, it's rewarding. You want to be recognized as a good player. It means you're doing a good job. But if you focus on that too much, it changes the way you start playing."
While an NFL career could be on the horizon, Reynolds, who plans on graduating in April, said he's focused on helping the young Cougar offense develop.
"As a freshman, my role was about not getting beat. Last year, my role was to be a constant source of strength that the guys could look to and say, 'Matt's been through this. We can perform and pull out of this,' " he said. "This year, the offensive line as a whole has gotten to be that type of example to the whole offense."
e-mail: jeffc@desnews.com