Richmond, Va – As the Washington Redskins enter tonight’s home opening preseason game against the New England Patriots, new head coach Jay Gruden will be looking to see which players can translate what they have learned in training camp over to gametime. The team has had to learn new schemes and concepts which can be a tedious task when trying to show what you can do as a player at the same time. Some players have had no problems adjusting to the new terminologies and some as what was on display at times in scrimmages this week against the Patriots, struggled mightily.
One player that has found a comfort level and has excelled during camp is wide receiver Ryan Grant. The fifth round pick out of Tulane University continues his ascension up the depth chart in my opinion. He impressed Gruden back in May during rookie mini-camp. Gruden said then “that Grant plays like a 10-year veteran already.”
Fast forward to training camp and Grant has caught my eye almost on a daily basis. His route-running is supreme for a rookie player. It is no secret that the Redskins posses one of the best route-running receivers in the league in veteran Santana Moss. After looking at Grant in every training camp practice it is obvious that his smooth on ball skills have been improved by watching the likes of Moss as well as wide outs DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garçon. Grant even acknowledged the he sees the value in working with the dynamic trio.
“I feel like it has helped my game tremendously,” he said this week after practice. “I just get behind these veteran receivers and try to learn from them, pick up some things and you know put it in my tool box.”
He made note of Moss and the other veterans for giving him advice on the field
“Oh sure they are very helpful,” he continued. “Most of the time I go to Santana Moss because you know he is the oldest veteran in the room. He has more experience than the other guys.”
Gruden even hinted to the importance of Moss’s leadership in one of his press conferences by mentioning both players.
“He is a very valuable asset to this football team,” the head coach said, “not only from an experience standpoint [but] from a leadership standpoint in that receiver room when you have young guys – Ryan Grant – guys looking up to some veteran leadership-type guys. Santana is a perfect guy to look at.”
Grant is smart for picking the brain of the wile veteran and it clearly has not gone unnoticed.
He has a lot of diversity in his “toolbox” and this is important. He can catch in traffic or he can get to the outside. This past Tuesday there was a sequence when he was working one-on-one against New England cornerback Kyle Arrington. Grant seemed as if he was stopping his route and then he cut left in a second sequence of moves fooling Arrington who is a 6 year veteran. Arrington bit badly on the move and Grant finished the play with a nice catch in the end-zone.
These type of plays are indicative of what he has been doing from the day he was drafted. Fortunately, the rookie also knows his weaknesses and what he feels he needs to continue to work on.
“I need to get better at running after the catch and being more physical in the running game,” he said as well.
Tulane is a University who’s basketball team gets more recognition than the football team. Because of that, it’s no surprise that as this year’s draft approached, Grant was not mentioned with the “elite” receivers in his class even though he had a productive year. During his final two seasons at school, the sure-handed receiver had 153 receptions for 2,188 yards and 15 touchdowns.
There is an irony in that, although I did not know who Grant was and had never heard about him, he impressed me at this year’s NFL combine. There were four to five receivers who stood head-and-shoulders above everyone. There were 3 more that kept my attention in their direction to see what they were going to do, and he was one of them. Sammy Watkins, Kelvin Benjamin, Brandin Cooks, and Mike Evans were the “can’t-miss” prospects but I came away thinking that Odell Beckham, Philly Brown and Grant could be huge sleepers in what was widely regarded as the deepest wide receiver class in history. I still have penciled in on my roster from the combine “Who is Ryan Grant?” and “Why is he not being viewed as a 3/4 draft pick? School??”
The opportunity is here now for Grant to seize the opportunity that has been given to him by the Redskins. In tonight’s game against the Patriots, Grant, as well as fellow rookies Rashad Lawrence and Cody Hoffman (who have also shown flashes) will have the stage (neither Jackson nor Garçon will not play because of their minor injuries). Grant could all but cement his status on the team with continued stellar play. He has gotten the attention of everyone from his coaches, teammates and the media.
One such supporter of Grant’s just happens to be the most important player in the building… quarterback Robert Griffin, III. Griffin spoke glowingly of Grant when we spoke with him after a recent practice.
“You know he’s a great talent,” Griffin said. “I think he does a lot of things instinctively and naturally that you look for out of a receiver. It’s something that I was coaching him before on so he came in here and he was doing some things that caught everybody’s eye. So he is a reliable guy, he is young guy so its great that he caught on to the system as quick as he has and is doing the right things.”
“He is a great kid and he shows up everyday to practice like its a game and that’s what I like,” the QB went on, “That’s what the coaches like, because that’s what it is. Everyday is like game-day and he shows up like that.”
“He has everything you want out of a receiver,” Griffin finished. “He runs great routes, he’s precise, he has great hands, he does a good job of attacking the ball at its highest point down the field. He is where he is supposed to be and that’s what you want out of your receivers and he can make plays after the catch which you guys have seen out here in practice but I think you will see it in these preseason games and hopefully into the season.”
Grant has not surprised me with his route running and catching but he looks a little faster to me than he did at Lucas Oil Stadium during the Combine. The speed of the game seems to have slowed down for him which is something that makes players more instinctive at going out and playing ball.
“I feel like I’m progressing pretty well,” Grant said about the speed of the game. “I’m adjusting to the game and the speed of the game… I’m also picking up the offense pretty well so I feel like I’m adjusting pretty well overall.”
Being soft spoken and reserved may fool some but he is competitive and working to make a name for himself. He does feel like maybe he has opened some eyes and earned some respect for his game. But he still wants to work harder each day.
“You know I’m out here everyday just trying to earn some respect, make a name for myself and hopefully make the team at the end of the day,” the Tulane alumn said this week.
When asked to tell fans something about himself that maybe they don’t know already he gave homage to his hometown.
“I’m from Texas… Beaumont, Texas,” he said. “The football capital of the world.”
If Ryan Grant continues his strong preseason, fans will undoubtedly know where he is from and where he is staying.