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Dan Quinn latest to praise Commanders' undrafted rookie
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- Dan Quinn latest to praise Commanders' undrafted rookie
After a few days of training camp, one undrafted Washington Commanders rookie continues to stand out: wide receiver Jaden Bradley .
This isn't new for Bradley, the 6-foot-3 wideout from UNLV. He stood out during the spring in OTAs and minicamp. That trend has continued early in training camp. Star wide receiver Terry McLaurin was seen mentoring Bradley last week.
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McLaurin shared his excitement about the undrafted rookie.
"I think he has a unique skillset where he's a bigger receiver, but he moves very smoothly," McLaurin said. "His releases are very smooth. He's sudden in his releases. He has really good feet at the top. He kind of has a pro-like feel. For him, it's just gonna be about detailing it, splits, timing. When you're running down the field, keeping your shoulder close so you can track the ball over your shoulder. Red zone, it's not as much space, so you gotta hold that defender off so you can give the quarterback more space to throw in that back corner of the end zone. Just little tidbits like that I try to pass along with him, but he's a sponge, man. He's been asking questions since he first got here and obviously he's undrafted."None of this means that Bradley will make the 53-man roster. While much has been made of the Commanders' need for a legit No. 2 receiver, there is great depth at the position. Could Bradley have a strong enough summer to force his way into one of those final spots?
Now, it's head coach Dan Quinn's turn to praise Bradley.
"We also got a chance to visit him on our local day," Quinn said. "And there was a competitiveness that we saw, and that kinda went through to say, 'Okay, through the draft, he's somebody that's gonna be on our space.' And so, with [Wide Receivers Coach] Bobby [Engram] keeping connected with him as it goes, certain times you think, there's a chance after the draft to add somebody with this type of competitiveness. And, like, let's face it, if you're gonna be undrafted, you better be a dog of a competitor and finding your spaces on teams and other spaces. And that's what I've seen from him so far. So, I'm looking forward to seeing the progress and seeing him develop. Having a hunger to wanna improve, that's the first step. And he definitely has that."
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If Bradley doesn't make the 53, he's almost certain to make the practice squad. When you have team leaders and the head coach praising you this early in camp, that's always a good sign. Bradley's size gets him noticed, but he offers much more than that. Will it be enough? We shall see.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Dan Quinn latest to praise Commanders' undrafted rookie
