WR Jaden Bray making his mark for West Virginia on special teams
West Virginia is counting on Jaden Bray to make an impact as a wide receiver, but the Oklahoma State transfer also is making his mark on various special teams units.
Bray played on punt and punt return teams for the Cowboys but has embraced a role as a gunner on the punt team, some on kickoff coverage and return as well as various other elements to find his best fit.
“He plays the game really hard. He’s coachable. He ran down 21 miles per hour on kickoff, that’s special,” head coach Neal Brown said. “He’s really good at gunner on punt, I think he’s going to be elite at that.”
And the wide receiver believes that his ball get off and his ability to stack the corner and get down the field quickly makes him a good fit there. West Virginia prides itself on forcing opponents to fair catch and his skill set is one that should certainly make an impact felt in that department.
“I got to get down there fast,” he said.
The Oklahoma native has already made his presence known on the offensive side of the ball with his size as well as how he can use his body and length, but his impact in other areas is something that is a bonus.
Brown believes that Bray has the opportunity to potentially play in the NFL so increasing all of the things he can bring to the table and showcasing that is only going to help him moving forward. It’s an area of education that the West Virginia coaches have taken an active role in to help players understand their impact.
For example, at the NFL level, there are typically one or two wide receivers that don’t play on special teams but the ones that are three through six on the roster typically need to do that. And figuring out the ways that you can fit there is only going to help with opening those doors in the future.
“We’re not going to do anything that hurts our football team, but we also want to put guys in position to put things on film. That’s the hope for him is some of these opportunities on special teams I really think from a scouting perspective the guys at the next level will be impressed and that’s going to help him,” Brown said.
It was something that West Virginia was very upfront with Bray about when he committed to the program in the winter, and he embraced it from the start.
“They told me every main guy here plays special teams and I’m completely fine with that. I’m on a couple special teams this year and when I’m in those roles just going hard at those,” Bray said.
That stems from a mindset across the roster that special teams is a key part of the game and if Bray is able to go out and make a play and force a fair catch on the punt or a tackle on kickoff he is helping the defense.
“Just trying to get there and make a stop for the defense because kickoff is the first play for the defense,” he said.
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